Senior midfielder Adriano Garcia Gomez finished with a pair of goals and netted an assist, while eighth-grader Ronaldo Palma Martinez buried the game-clinching tally in overtime as No. 27 East Boston overcame a three-goal deficit to stun No. 6 Excel, 4-3, in the Div. 4 Round of 32.

“It even goes back to when we played (Excel) earlier in the season,” said East Boston coach Jayson Smith. “They beat us 5-0… then, just the continuous work that the kids have put in. Those guys show up everyday, and they make the decision that they’re going to work hard, that they’re going to get better everyday. That’s really our goal, is to just keep on getting better than we were the day before. They answered the call every day. I couldn’t be more proud of them. They’re fantastic kids, they really are.”

For the majority of the game, East Boston (8-9-2) found itself chasing. The Jets got off to a rocky start, as Excel standout Mohamed Mehaya buried two consecutive goals in a three-minute span. Just moments into play, East Boston was trailing 2-0. Excel would extend its lead to 3-0, as Jaime Cortez sniped a shot in the 18th minute. By that point, things were looking bleak for the Jets’ postseason hopes.

Then, lightning struck twice in the space of a seconds for East Boston, as Helio Spinola collected a ball in traffic, then deposited it in the Excel net to cut it to 3-1. Garcia Gomez netted his first tally shortly thereafter in the 34th minute, as East Boston shaved its deficit to 3-2 at the break.

Later on in the 69th minute, Garcia Gomez decided to try his luck with a prayer shot from over 30 yards out. The ball hung in the air for what felt like an eternity, then gracefully fell past the reach of the Excel goalkeeper and into the twine for the tying score. After a heated debate as to whether the goal should count, which even featured a brief video replay for confirmation, the referees decided to have it stand. In shocking fashion, the two schools were bound for overtime.

“Nobody believed in us to begin with,” Garcia Gomez said. “We have a very young team. Only three seniors, one of which it’s his first season. All I can say is that I’m proud of this team. We didn’t have a winning record. We were ranked really low, and we even lost to Excel, 5-0, in the second game of the season. But the boys showed up. That’s all I care about. The boys having pride in themselves, and coming out.”

With a chance to end things off a corner kick in the extra session, Garcia Gomez hooked a ball into the box. It skipped off Palma Martinez into the net, and the Jets stormed the field in pandemonium.

“It happened so fast,” Palma Martinez said. “I can hardly talk because my voice (is gone) from so much yelling. But when I saw (the ball), it came in kind of low… I knew I just had to touch it, and it would go in. When it went in, I don’t even know. I lost all my words.”

East Boston will face No. 11 Lunenburg in the Round of 16 next, looking to continue its Cinderella run.

“(Lunenburg will) be ready to go,” said Smith. “Everyone’s goal now is one game at a time. We’ve got to be ready. That’s about it.”