Quarterfinal:
Mt. Abram, 4 - Traip, 1

SALEM - Senior exchange student Mita Popovic delivered a hat trick and classmate Alex Crossman iced it in a 4-1 rout of Traip Academy in quarterfinal action last Wednesday. Mid-fielder Ian Daly, who stepped up in a big way was credited with two assists on the day.

Not only did the Roadrunners deliver this team their season ending loss, but the game officials delivered three cards to the private academy team, one of which was of the red kind.

Traip came out and drew first blood with a goal midway in the first half. After Crossman was tripped inside the 18 yard box, Popovic went to the PK line and shot the equalizer at 6:59 in the first half to tie the game 1-1.

"I try to not watch the goalie and pick a side I want and just go for it," Popovic said about his PK's after the game.

With the wind at the Roadrunners' backs, Popovic came inside with just two minutes remaining in the first and poked in the lead goal to make it a 2-1 game.

Popovic said he'd like to keep scoring and winning to extend the season as long as possible. "I don't get to play like this in Serbia so it's a unique opportunity for me. I want to capitalize on this opportunity."

DCM senior fielder Ethan Eisenhaur, who's been great of late, agrees with his Serbian teammate.

"This team is huge to me, Eisenhaur explained. "When I'm on the field especially during playoffs, I play every game like it's potentially my last game of soccer I'll ever get to play. Potentially if we lose, it might be my last game. I don't plan on playing in college. I like soccer and play it as hard as I can so we can have another game," he added.

With 17 minutes remaining, Daly poked the ball through the defense at mid-field setting up a half field breakaway for Popovic on the run. From the six yard line Popovic blasted a shot to the right of the keeper, who managed to get a piece of it. But not enough as the shot landed in the corner of the net and MTA started opening their lead 3-1.

"I was thinking that I needed to keep the ball close to me because I didn't think I was faster then the guy on defense. I was just trying to stay in front of him and keep him away with my body and I was fortunate to be able to do that and score," Popovic added.

With two minutes remaining in regulation, MTA kept the pressure on and delivered the final blow to the Traip team. Eisenhaur had a clean break-away and a look at the net at about 35 yards out. Instead he dished it off to Crossman who found the back of the net for the final goal of the game.

"Yes, I thought about it," Eisenhaur said about scoring himself. "But I like Alex and he had a better chance of scoring then I did. That's what I do, I pass it off."

The MTA offense came through but it was the defense, who stepped up and as coach Darren Allen explained it was the entire team to credit.

"I look forward to game days over any other day at school because our team has a better connection over any team that I've known," said senior defensive wing Greg Dexter. "We do things that nobody else has ever heard of. We hike the mountain and bury a jersey on the top of Mt. Abram just for luck and bring a rock back down from off the mountain. We have our 'One Blood - - One Team,' we have our own special song. We're really a tight knit group. Once in a while the offence and defense go at each other, but without both we cant do anything." Dexter explained that they need their offense to score goals and they need defense to keep the other team from scoring.

"Mt. Abram is been known to be a defensive team over the years and I'm proud to be part of it this year," Dexter explained.

After the game, the Runners didn't know if they were facing Livermore Falls who gave them their only losses of the season or Georges Valley in the semis.

"You can never underestimate a team no matter how good you are or how you played against them in the past," Eisenhaur explained in anticipation. "There are always those flukes; you have to go as hard as you can on people."

"You have to take one game at a time, one half at a time and one minute at a time," Coach Allen said. "We have set post season goals and each and every time the goal is to win the next game."

Allen explained that the Traip game was probably one of the most technical games and one of the best teams they've faced.

"I think our style of play took them by surprise. We play a direct and almost English style and they play a control style of game. We have very talented strikers and very talented mid-fielders. It's very difficult to play like that and try to contain us," Allen said.

With the Western C quarter finals played last Wednesday, the action brought us from eight to the final fours for the semis. Georges Valley did beat Livermore and visited MTA last Saturday. (See story on page 15.)