Texas HS Boys – Playoffs – Tomball vs. Langham Creek
The playoffs are underway in the state of Texas and between now and April 15, the final day of the State Tournament, time will fly for the hundreds of teams involved in the postseason in the Lone Star State. Prep…
Access all of Prep Soccer
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe playoffs are underway in the state of Texas and between now and April 15, the final day of the State Tournament, time will fly for the hundreds of teams involved in the postseason in the Lone Star State.
Prep Soccer will continue to follow the action closely, covering as many matches as possible every week and providing reports featuring the players that had remarkable performances in those encounters. On Friday, we headed to the Cypress region, where the Tomball Cougars faced the Langham Creek Lobos in the bi-district round.
Tomball 2 – 1 Langham Creek
Tomball entered the UIL Division 6A postseason as the winners of district 15 (9-3-2), but Langham Creek were by no means the underdogs after they managed to qualify in fourth place in the brutal district 16 with a campaign of seven wins, five losses and two ties.
The Lobos got on the scoreboard first after midfielder Ayden Finley and forward Christian Castaneda combined to make a gold play on the left and Castaneda sent a low cross into the penalty box that found midfielder Elias Jerez free to score.
It didn’t take long for the Cougars to tie the score as a long pass to the penalty box found right-back Santiago Martinez near the end line and hed forward Emiliano Marcide free to tap it into an open net near the far post.
Marcide came up big again for Tomball in the second half as, with 26 minutes to play, he got the ball inside the penalty box, sent it over Langham Creek’s goalkeeper Felipe Cardozo and finished to an open net to give the Cougars the go-ahead goal.
Langham Creek pushed forward until the end, but missed key players Austin Rule and Carlos Baron during part of the second half and couldn’t create much. The Lobos sent all their players inside the penalty box for the final play of the match and saw goalkeeper Cardozo head the ball into the crossbar right before the final whistle.
Tomball will now play the Aldine Mustangs in the area round early next week.
Players of the Match
Emiliano Marcide
Emiliano Marcide
Marcide started the match on the bench and everything changed after he was subbed in, still during the first half. His physical presence up top helped the Cougars retain the ball in the final third as he did a very good job of getting on the end of long passes. Marcide offered a target for his teammates up top and made a great run to the far post to score the team’s first goal. He was also very calm in front of the goal to dribble Cardozo and score the second. The striker also did some good defensive work, pressuring Langham Creek defenders and even winning some balls back.
Santiago Martinez
Santiago Martinez
Playing as a right-back, Martinez had an important offensive role with the Cougars. As his counterpart on the left Stephan Lomeli didn’t advance too much, he had the green light to bomb forward and he was very dangerous with his attempts. Martinez was very strong in possession, using his pace and smartness to make combination plays and get to the end line. He also made some excellent runs off the ball, getting a dangerous header on frame early on and assisting Marcine for his first goal. Defensively, he had to deal with some of Langham Creek’s most dangerous players and did well for the most part.
Alexander Mutalibov
Alexander Mutalibov
Mutalibov was the leader of Tomball’s backline, leading the team from his center-back position. He was a very vocal leader for his team, organizing the defensive system and showing a lot of passion to celebrate good plays from him and his teammates. Mutalibov won the vast majority of the duels he was involved in and was particularly important with his strong aerial game to clear balls during Langham Creek’s final push in the game. He was also very confident in possession, connecting good passes from the back and taking free kicks.
Chrstian Castaneda
Chrstian Castaneda
Castaneda was the most consistent offensive player for Langham Creek. A forward with a very complete and direct game, he split his time playing on the left and up top, creating good chances from both positions. Castaneda is really dangerous in space because he’s really difficult to catch because of his pace while also making very good decisions under pressure. He made a beautiful play that resulted in the team’s goal, beating a defender off the dribble and feeding Jerez inside the penalty box.
Matthew Bonilla
Matthew Bonilla
Bonilla was very solid for Langham Creek in the center of their backline. He won a lot of battles with Tomball attackers and was also really good at using his pace to cover for his teammates when they were beaten. Bonilla played hard, but times his sliding tackles very well and wasn’t called for fouls. The defender was also important in the final minutes, when he sent some long free kicks inside the penalty box in an attempt to generate chances.