All-RTC4 boys soccer: When you wish upon a Stark: Winamac’s prolific scorer is RTC4 Player of the Year

Val T.
17 hours ago
3 min read

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

RTC4 Boys Soccer Player of the Year Sean Stark

Sean Stark had shown great promise through his first two years on the Winamac boys soccer team.

Still, we did not see this coming. But what we did was so impressive that he is the clear choice as the RTC4 Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

Stark scored nine nine goals as a freshman and then tallied 17 goals as a sophomore.

But this season, he scored 38 times. He broke the Winamac single-season school record. He finished in a tie for fifth in the state in goals.

Of the four who finished ahead of him, three were seniors, so we could see Stark being even higher on the list next year.

And Winamac made a huge jump forward under new coach Cullen Ulerick, going from six wins last year to 10 wins this year and playing Argos right down to the final seconds in the sectional final.

The story of the year in boys soccer, when it wasn’t Stark scoring goals by the bushelful, was the return of Argos as a sectional champion after a one-year absence. The team hung together very well against tough nonconference competition, which set them up for an undefeated run through the Hoosier North and the sectional before falling to eventual state champion Fort Wayne Blackhawk in the regional.

Now we will see if Argos will develop the transcendent stars that it had in the 2010s and early 2020s or just a merely very good team like this year.

Stark also headlines our All-RTC4 boys soccer team. We thank area coaches for sending us their statistics and sharing their thoughts with us on the field. Having said that, this list is our and ours alone, and we take full responsibility for it.

Spencer Backus Carlos Placencia Grant Bailey

All-RTC4

Sean Stark (Winamac) (Player of the Year) – Stark has ideal physical characteristics for soccer – short, strong and fast. He does not need much space to get off his shot.
Spencer Backus (Rochester) – Backus jumped from 10 goals last year to 22 this year. He is so agile that it was hard to knock him off the ball and so instinctive that he knew when and where to shoot.
Kenyan Beldon (Argos) – Beldon, a junior, scored 16 goals and was a joy to watch when the ball was at his feet because he could make things happen, even if being marked closely.
Jaybin Hines (Winamac) – Hines had a career-high 15 goals and a school-record 17 assists as Stark turned many of his passes into goals.
Carlos Plascencia (Rochester) – Plascencia grew in strength and that made it more difficult to knock him off the play. He was also so experienced that he always made correct decisions from his center midfield spot.
Pablo Arriaga (Tippecanoe Valley) – Arriaga, a sophomore, was the playmaker in Valley’s offense, making wise decisions with the ball and setting up his teammates, usually Damian Garcia.
Damian Garcia (Tippecanoe Valley) – Garcia, a junior, scored 12 of Valley’s 28 goals and took on a lot of responsibility on a team without a ton of offensive firepower.
Yahir Fajardo (Argos) – Fajardo, a sophomore, showed signs of being a good player, and he showed that he was a bigger, stronger athlete this year, and it led to him scoring 15 goals.
Grant Bailey (Rochester) – Bailey, a senior defender, played most every game for four years in the back row, and he was quick enough that it was hard to generate offense from the middle of the pitch against Rochester.
Ioan Petz (Argos) – Always making smart decisions with the ball, Petz had nine goals and four assists for his senior season.
Carter Ulerick (Winamac) – Ulerick was not a big-time scorer, but he was a key midfielder on a much improved team that possessed the ball much better than it did last year.

Honorable mention

Corbin Rex (Argos)
Mack Mappin (Caston)
Kyle Penn (Argos)
Christopher Rosas (Tippecanoe Valley)
Jake England (Tippecanoe Valley)
Liam Burton (Winamac)
Kael Buschman (Culver)
Kaemen Lee (Caston)
Myles Sherrick (Caston)
Sawyer Crace (Argos)
Jonas Kiser (Rochester)

RTC Boys Soccer Players of the Year

2020: Teddy Redinger (Argos)
2021: Zach Pickens (Rochester)
2022: Jonathan Ruiz (Tippecanoe Valley)
2023: Gio Arriaga (Tippecanoe Valley)
2024: Ethan Petz (Argos)
2025: Sean Stark (Winamac)