Kimandi Binns' hopes of coaching Mardela High School to a second straight State Championship Final were dashed in Maryland last week.

The former North Village footballer's team were beaten 3-2 by North Dorchester High School in a dramatic sudden death penalty shoot-out after the dreaded "golden goal" extra time rule failed to separate the two highly seeded schools.

Mardela hit the post twice in regulation time and enjoyed their fair share of possession, but just couldn't find a way to goal.

Binns' team actually led 2-1 after three rounds of penalty kicks to place themselves in a commanding position. However, team member Seth Keplinger blasted over and Dorchester levelled the scores with one round of spot-kicks remaining.

The situation quickly went from bad to worse for Mardela as lightening struck twice when defender Jory Oursler also fired over. Dorchester then took the lead for good as Mardela midfielder Shane Jones had his team's final penalty attempt saved.

Making matters worse was the fact coach Binns received the first yellow card of his US high school coaching career, while senior player Slava Kambalov sprained an ankle and dislocated his shoulder after being tackled from behind.

Mardela also lost home-field advantage after their venue was deemed unfit by league officials to host their play-off game against Dorchester.

"Here in the United States, play-off games generate a lot of money which in turn goes to the state. And because our field is not fenced in or secure enough to charge fans, the state said we could not host the game at our home ground," Binns explained.

Mardela completed the regular season undefeated at home where they also only conceded a remarkable single goal against.

League officials ultimately decided to play the match at the Wicomico County Stadium, a venue where Mardela have failed to win a game in four years and to score in seven games.

"It was tough trying to get the boys to stay focused on the task at hand," Binns added. "And in the end it was a tough loss for them because everything we worked for has gone done the drain.

"It was also a bitter pill for me to swallow because I knew we were the better team. But we must now take the negative and use it in a positive way and keep our heads high and work even harder to be better prepared next year."