Marriotts Ridge boys soccer storms back to defeat Route 99 rival Mt. Hebron, 3-2

Marriotts Ridge coach Quinn Khouri delivered a fiery halftime speech as his Mustangs trailed by a goal at Mt. Hebron. Khouri implored his players to dig deep, show their heart and find another level.

He ended that passionate halftime talk with four words: “Play focused and determined.” The Mustangs responded to their coach’s challenge, netting two second-half goals to complete the comeback victory over fierce rival Mt. Hebron, 3-2.

“That’s something you can’t teach,” Khouri said as his team improved to 3-1. “It’s something that has to come from within. It’s got to come from these guys’ hearts. And that’s something that when the chips are down this season, so far, they’ve showed that they have the heart to win those games. To win those 1-0 games and if a team is going to play a long high school season, you’re going to have to win those games to go far. This team is already showing that. We’d rather not get in that position, but when we do, it’s nice to know that I can trust these boys to step up and get us back to where we need to be.”

Marriotts Ridge’s midfield group, led by Gabe Montenegro, spearheaded that change. After the group struggled to win 50-50 balls at the outset, they won seemingly all of them in the second half. They also made a concerted effort to play more organized. That improved organization and heightened intensity level set up the go-ahead goal in the 74th minute.

Junior Ethan Spellen earned a takeaway and fed senior Mamdouh Babkir, who had tunnel vision for the goal. Babkir took a touch, cut inside and chipped the ball over Mt. Hebron goalie Logan Dempsey for his second goal of the game.

Mt. Hebron was generating prime scoring chances early. The Vikings took it to the Mustangs, netting a pair of goals in the first 16 minutes. Senior Jonathan Sanchez opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a rocket into the bottom corner of the net. Shortly after, Dominic Broccolino doubled the Vikings lead off a volley.

However, the Vikings were unable to sustain that momentum.

“You’ve got to give all the credit to them,” Mt. Hebron coach Mike Linsenmeyer said. “They responded well, and they really just outplayed us the whole rest of the game. They outplayed us all over the field. It looked like we stopping playing after we scored two goals.”

Marriotts Ridge cut into the deficit in the 38th minute. After a long cross in, Babkir found Jeremy Lee for the tally that brought the Mustangs within one. That gave them some momentum entering the second half, where the focus was simple: playing harder than the Vikings.

“When you put on the jersey, put on the badge, you’ve got to fight,” Babkir said. “You’ve got to play as a team. Play for each other and just go all out. Just win everything, no matter what. No matter how ugly it is, you just got to win.”

Babkir didn’t wait long to showcase that fight, netting the equalizer in the 42nd minute.

The Vikings (1-2) struggled to generate consistent possession, while the Mustangs pushed harder and harder for the go-ahead goal. Marriotts Ridge’s corner kick and indirect free kick were both turned away in the 59th and 60th minutes.

However, their relentless mentality remained and Mt. Hebron struggled to match the intensity.

All smiles postgame, the Mustangs credited Khouri halftime’s speech for pushing them when they needed it most.

“We owe this to coach,” Montenegro said. “He really pushes every day, and we show up and practice every day. I know it’s hard being a coach. I can’t imagine coaching us. I know we were playing for something more than just the score today, so it means a lot to take this win.”