Newtown Pride FC, SLC FC reach final of The Soccer Tournament in inaugural season

The clock reached midnight early for Cinderella at The Soccer Tournament on Saturday.

Counted out after falling in their first two games on Day 1 to drop to 0-2 in group play, Zala FFF rode an uncanny ability to play its best in target time to the semifinals, but met its match in the only game of the tournament to reach target time in a scoreless tie.

SLC FC, representing Canada, got a goal from Raheem Rose 4:35 into the extra session of the second semifinal to advance to the million-dollar, winner-take-all TST final on Sunday afternoon, putting an end to a magical run for Zala FFF.

SLC FC will face Newtown Pride FC in the final after Newtown dispatched Sneaky Fox FC in Saturday’s first semifinal. Four different players scored for Newtown, which has grinded its opponents down with possession play all week. Kelvin Nunes had the clincher in target time.

The TST final between Newtown and SLC FC is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday.

But among the better stories of the week in Cary was that of Zala FFF, which was led by former USMNT and Guam international player AJ DeLaGarza, who also won two NCAA championships and three MLS Cups.

One night after stunning Raleigh Rebels FC with three goals in the unique extra session known as “target time,” which ensures every game at TST ends on a goal, Zala FFF one-upped itself with four goals in the extra session to win its quarterfinal, 4-3 over Como 1907.

Antonio Rocha scored the quarterfinal winner Saturday, 57 seconds after Michael Ambrose had tied the score. Both of those goals came at 3-on-3.

“It wasn’t a dream scenario how we started, but we knew if we kept it tight, we knew we would always have a chance in target time,” Zala FFF forward Lee Nguyen told the broadcast team after the game. “It came down to the wire, but the fans loved it, and that’s what we’re here for, to show some entertainment.”

And, of course, to win a million dollars.

But Zala very nearly didn’t even get out of the group stage. This tournament is set up like the World Cup, with 32 teams divided into eight pools of four. Only the top two from each pool advanced to the Round of 16, and after Day 1, Zala was 0-2, falling to Sneaky Fox FC and Jackson TN Boom. On Friday, they needed to win, and get some help.

The winning part, Zala took care of, thumping Team Dempsey, 7-1. The help came, too, from Sneaky Fox, which defeated Jackson TN Boom by enough to allow Zala’s goal differential of plus-5 to stand up in a three-way tie.

In the Round of 16, though, Zala FFF was again in trouble, trailing Raleigh Rebels 3-1 at the end of regulation. But, at 4-on-4, they managed two consecutive goals to tie the score, and then in 3-on-3 play, Eduardo Cortes won the game, sending them to the quarterfinals.

The rest of the field

The first team to punch its ticket to the semifinal round was Newtown. Among the best teams in the group stage, Newtown posted a 3-1 quarterfinal win over Hapoel Tel Aviv FC.

Tavoy Morgan and Kelvin Nunes gave Newtown a 2-0 advantage in regulation, creating a target score of three for the overtime. Tal Archel pulled Hapoel Tel Aviv within one in the seventh minute of target time, but the extra session got all the way into the 18th minute — and down to 4-on-4 competition — before James Thomas-Cruz ended the game with an unassisted goal.

In the second quarterfinal, Conrad & Beasley carried a 1-0 lead into target time on the strength of a Ricard Carhalho goal in the 29th minute, but Sneaky Fox FC struck back in the extra session — twice — to swipe the win.

The first goal for Sneaky Fox came nearly 14 minutes into target score time, with the teams already down to 5-on-5 play, and it came off the foot of Conrad & Beasley defender Jack Beck as he tried to defend a pass across the box, with the ball deflecting past keeper Hugo Da Silva to knot the score at 1-1.

Three minutes later, with the sides down to four players each, Seaky Fox ended the game with a more traditional goal when Nicola Perera fired a left-foot shot past Da Silva from left side.

The third quarterfinal produced more target-time drama.

SLC FC scored first on a Kai Martin strike in the 18th minute, but Blade & Grass FC’s Stephen Ireland responded just 22 seconds later to knot the score, and then added another in the second half to give his side a 2-1 advantage after regulation.

But, as so many matches have done this week, the tide turned in target time. Sammy Ssebaduka redirected a perfect Raheem Rose feed from in tight to knot the score in the 43rd minute, and Daniel Chamale beat the keeper in the 48th minute to close out the match in favor of SLC FC.