The Class 3A No. 5 Bobcats survived an extended shootout and the ejection of its entire fan base to subdue upstart Southeast Polk in the Substate 4 championship game here Saturday, winning 3-2 on the strength of a 6-5 advantage on penalty kicks to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 2001.

Backup goalkeeper Ernesto Tellez delivered the save the Bobcats needed in the eighth round of a sudden-death shootout, making a diving save to his right against Southeast Polk’s Daniel Hornback to preserve his team’s 6-5 lead. Pah Dah Bu put the Bobcats up 6-5 before Tellez got his first stop on four shots after stepping up when starting keeper Jesus Munoz was yellow-carded and sent off in the fifth and final round of the initial shootout.

“Honestly that was pretty nerve-wracking, but I went in with all confidence and we got the win,” said Tellez. “We’re going to state.”

Munoz made consecutive saves to help Marshalltown rally from an early deficit during the shootout, and his third-straight stop appeared to preserve the 3-2 lead as his Bobcat teammates streamed onto the field in celebration. But the referee’s whistle and subsequent card called Munoz for leaving the goal line too early, sending the MHS contingent back to the bench and Southeast Polk’s Brandon Banyas back to the penalty spot for a second attempt.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - The Marshalltown boys soccer team poses with its Class 3A state soccer qualifier banner, the program’s first since 2001 and just the fourth in school history, after defeating Southeast Polk 3-2 thanks to a 6-5 shootout victory on Saturday in Pleasant Hill. The No. 5 Bobcats advance to face No. 11 Cedar Rapids Washington on Thursday at the James W. Cownie Soccer Park in Des Moines.

The decision was met with much consternation and aggression from the Marshalltown fans, and their verbal assault prompted the referee to remove the entire crowd from the bleachers. The unprecedented call required a 10-minute delay before Banyas buried his second chance to save the Rams and extend the shootout, sneaking a shot just beneath the diving attempt by Tellez.

Both teams were successful in rounds six and seven before Bu banged home his shot and Tellez settled in, waited and made the diving save — just his fifth of the season — to send Marshalltown to state for the fourth time in school history (1998, 2000, 2001).

“Going to state for Bobcat soccer is a place we should be,” said MHS head coach Scott Johannes. “I’m not saying others don’t deserve it, but I think that’s the quality of our guys and I’m glad to be there with them that we could make this happen.”

The Bobcats (16-2) receive the No. 3 seed for the 3A state tournament, meeting 11th-ranked Cedar Rapids Washington (13-5) at 5:10 p.m. Thursday at the James W. Cownie Soccer Park in Des Moines.

“It means so much,” said MHS junior midfielder Rene Hernandez. “This is all we’ve aspired for ever since the beginning of the season and we’re finally here so we’ve just got to keep working.”

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Marshalltown boys soccer players Pah Dah Bu (1) and Jack Play (2) join teammates in sprinting onto the field in celebration of what they thought was a 3-2 shootout victory over Southeast Polk. The team was sent back to the sideline as the shootout continued, only to return after an eventual 6-5 triumph.

Marshalltown has bowed out in the first round of its three previous trips to the Iowa High School Boys State Soccer Tournament. Cedar Rapids Washington will be making its 11th state tournament showing and sixth in the last 10 years.

The Bobcats had the upper hand for most of Saturday’s match, it seemed, but every time they took a forward step the Rams managed to reel them back in. Jose Torres put Marshalltown on the board at the 4:56 mark by collecting a long pass from Hernandez and curling a shot over Southeast Polk goalkeeper Logan Sunvold.

The Rams eventually answered as Matt West made good on a well-assembled play in the 21st minute. West capitalized on his one-touch opportunity and got the ball past Munoz for the tying goal.

Marshalltown again surged back to the front thanks to the foot of Alex Angel Fernandez, who fought off a pair of Southeast Polk defenders to collect a long goalie kick by Munoz, rifling a rolling right-footed shot from 30 yards out that bounced under Sunvold’s diving attempt for a 2-1 Bobcat advantage in the 30th minute.

Less than three minutes later, the Rams drew even again. West was the benefactor of a bouncing ball played into the offensive zone by Gavin Buntenbach, and West’s aim was true. Tied at 2-all, that’s where the score stood for the next 48 minutes, 11 seconds of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Bobcat junior Alex Angel Fernandez winds up to kick what would become a goal, giving Marshalltown a 2-1 lead in the 30th minute of Saturday’s substate final at Southeast Polk.

“I thought we just relaxed a little too much there, we absolutely can’t do that,” said Johannes. “There’s been too many moments throughout the year we’ve let up a bit and we’ve got to get focused on the next play.”

Truer words have never been spoken. Marshalltown outshot the Rams 9-3 in the second half highlighted by Torres breaking free ahead of three defenders. Sunvold came out and challenged the shot, deflecting the ball just enough to send it 3 yards wide of the far post.

The two met in double overtime, too, when Torres gained space and got more on his shot, but Sunvold again resisted the third-leading scorer in 3A.

With a state tournament berth on the line, the two teams headed for the shootout with their goalkeeper and first five attackers. Marshalltown, though the higher-seeded team in the substate bracket playing a true road game, went first as the visitors. Senior forward Brandon Ordaz, the Bobcats’ second-leading goal scorer this season, missed the entire cage on the opening attempt.

Playing from behind in penalties is a position nobody wants to be in, but Ordaz put his faith in his teammates.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

“It hurt but I trusted my teammates and of course I trusted my goalkeepers,” he said. “Even when we had a keep(er) come out, we knew that our sophomore keeper had it. We know he’s confident out there.”

Southeast Polk took a 1-0 lead in the shootout thanks to West’s conversion, and it went to 2-1 after good goals by Marshalltown’s Samuel Estrada and his Ram counterpart Ben Thompson. Austin Shomo saw his shot rejected by Sunvold’s sterling kick-save, but Munoz delivered too, denying Lawrence Solo with a kick-save of his own.

Torres did what Torres does, finding the back of the net to bring the Bobcats to even, 2-2, before Munoz made yet another highlight-reel kick save while falling to his left against Collin Perry.

Hernandez netted his opportunity to open the fifth round, giving Marshalltown a 3-2 lead with Banyas coming to the penalty spot for the Rams in a must-score situation. With his third save in a row, Munoz appeared to put the Bobcats in the state tournament with his lunging two-handed stop to his left, but as Marshalltown’s players streamed onto the field the referee’s whistle interrupted their celebration.

“He said I was off the line,” Munoz recalled. “I even looked down at myself on the line but it is what it is. I don’t know. I have all my trust in Ernesto, all of it. He made a great save. I’m proud of him, we work really hard.”

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

After an irate Bobcat fan base was ejected from the bleacher seating, Banyas bounced back to beat Tellez to his right to square the shootout score at 3-apiece. Jorge Carrillo kept it rolling for Marshalltown with his tally, and Sunvold took a turn of his own by scoring past Tellez to make it 4-all. Caleb Summers converted his chance for the ‘Cats, and Will Brandt found netting for a 5-all tie.

Bu boosted the Bobcats to a 6-5 lead when he lifted his shot into the upper 90 to Sunvold’s right, and Tellez rolled to his right and made a diving save against Hornback to seal the win.

Marshalltown’s players re-rushed the field to embrace Tellez this time instead of Munoz, though there was some hesitation when the referee’s final whistle signaled the end of the match.

Once confirmed, the celebration ensued and the Bobcats hugged, cried, shook their opponent’s hands and then made a mad dash for their friends and family watching from beyond the field’s boundaries.

“It felt amazing,” said Ordaz. “We’ve never seen this many fans out at away games. It feels so good the way they overloaded the home fans, and we had to do this for our fans and our community.”

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Southeast Polk’s season settled at 10-10, including a 3-0 regular-season loss to these same Bobcats back on April 23 on the same pitch. The Rams advanced by beating top-seeded and fourth-ranked Ankeny Centennial in a double-overtime showdown on Wednesday night in Ankeny, 1-0.

“For us to win last week against Ankeny Centennial in overtime was a big win and then to take this Marshalltown team to overtime as well as to get to PKs, that was a huge victory for our team,” said Southeast Polk assistant coach Matthew Crowl. “Our boys gave 100 percent today and that’s all we ask week-in and week-out and they did that for us.”

This game marked Marshalltown’s first win this season in which the opposition scored more than one goal.

Tellez, who surrendered one goal in five shots on goal during the regular season, saw 2:26 in net at the end of overtime when Munoz went down with an apparent injury. Munoz returned for double overtime and the shootout, only to give the spot back to Tellez on the yellow card in penalties.

“I don’t know if there’s a tougher place to come in in all of sports, but at the same time Ernesto played for me last year as a freshman, the freshman team went undefeated, and he was called upon to block several PKs,” said Johannes. “We believed in him, the whole team did. To be able to have the confidence in somebody like that, a sophomore, in a sense the biggest game of the season where he gets zero time to warm up, and he came up huge.”

Munoz was credited with five saves during regulation and the overtimes, while Tellez didn’t face a shot on goal in his limited relief stint. Not until the shootout, anyway.

“I was really nervous but we finished it, I got my teammates to state and that’s what matters,” said Tellez. “It feels great. I was really proud, this was my chance and I showed I was capable of being the goalkeeper for this team and I’m really happy. My tears, I couldn’t hold them in.”

Substate Finals

Friday’s Score

CLASS 3A

Waukee 5, Des Moines, Hoover 0

Saturday’s Scores

CLASS 1A

Center Point-Urbana 3, Dyersville Beckman Catholic 2 (2 OT)

Greene County 5, AHSTW, Avoca 2

Iowa City Regina 4, South Tama County 0

Iowa Mennonite 1, Solon 0

North Polk 2, Nevada 1

Sioux Center 2, Western Christian 1 (2 OT)

Waterloo Columbus 4, Humboldt 1

West Liberty 2, W.Burlington/N.Dame 1 (OT)

CLASS 2A

Cedar Rapids Xavier 9, Iowa City Liberty 1

Dallas Center-Grimes 3, ADM 1

Dubuque Wahlert 2, Marion 1 (5-3 PKs)

Gilbert 2, Bondurant-Farrar 1

Hudson United 1, Waverly-Shell Rock 0

Knoxville 2, Pella 1 (4-2 PKs)

Lewis Central 4, Harlan 0

Storm Lake 4, Sergeant Bluff-Luton 1

CLASS 3A

Ankeny 4, Des Moines Lincoln 1

Bettendorf 1, Pleasant Valley 0 (3-2 PKs)

Cedar Rapids Kennedy 2, CR Prairie 1

CR Washington 6, Iowa City High 2

Iowa City West 4, Cedar Rapids Jefferson 2

Marshalltown 3, Southeast Polk 2 (6-5 PKs)

Urbandale 2, Valley 1

——

Marshalltown 3, Southeast Polk 2

(Marshalltown wins 6-5 on penalty kicks)

MHS 2 0 0 0 — 2

SEP 2 0 0 0 — 2

First Half

MHS — Jose Torres (Rene Hernandez), 4:56.

SEP — Matt West, 20:32.

MHS — Alex Angel Fernandez (Jesus Munoz), 29:07.

SEP — West (Gavin Buntenbach), 31:49.

Second Half

No scoring.

First Overtime

No scoring.

Second Overtime

No scoring.

Shootout — MHS 6 (Brandon Ordaz NG, Samuel Estrada G, Austin Shomo NG, Torres G, Hernandez G, Jorge Carrillo G, Caleb Summers G, Pah Dah Bu G); SEP 5 (West G, Ben Thompson G, Lawrence Solo NG, Collin Perry NG, Brandon Banyas G, Logan Sunvold G, Will Brandt G, Daniel Hornback NG).

Goalkeepers — MHS: Jesus Munoz (7 shots on goal-5 saves), Ernesto Tellez (0-0); SEP: Logan Sunvold (14-12).

Shots — MHS 19, SEP 11.

Shots on Goal — MHS 14, SEP 7.

Fouls — MHS 10, SEP 12.

Corner Kicks — MHS 4, SEP 4.

Yellow Cards — West, SEP, 9:55; MHS coach, 29:07; Kabba Pins, MHS, 34:10; Cody Nixon, SEP, 35:59; Nick DeAngelo, SEP, 45:08; Pablo Cuevas, MHS, 77:22; Perry, SEP, 78:48; Munoz, MHS, 100:00.

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