And they lived happily ‘Ava’ after: McCune scores twice, leads Culver past Rochester
Navara scores for Lady Zs in final prep game
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
CULVER — It could be argued that Ava McCune stops for no one.
Using her speed to beat opponents down the field, she came into the Culver girls soccer team’s Class 1A, Sectional 36 quarterfinal against Rochester Monday with 105 career goals.
But she also has a knack when she slows herself down to make a direct kick, and it was McCune who launched a direct kick that bounced past Rochester goalkeeper Alexandria Cortes-Gustafson for the game-winning goal as the Lady Cavaliers won 2-1 on their home field.
Culver improved to 13-1-2 and earned a matchup with Manchester, who received a bye, in the semifinals at 5 p.m. Wednesday. One of their ties was a 2-2 stalemate with Rochester on Sept. 3 during their regular season meeting.
Senior Taylor Navara scored for Rochester, who finished 8-7-2. Rochester has lost their sectional opener in five of the last six years, and they remain in search of their first sectional title.
After a scoreless first 47 minutes, Navara scored off a setup from freshman Morgan Simpson. Navara beat Culver goalkeeper Alyviah Williams with a right-footed shot she hooked into the back left corner of the goal.
Culver had five corner kicks in a six-minute span, but that could not lead to any offense.
But less than 40 seconds after Rochester’s Makhia Harding had to leave with a back injury, McCune scored the equalizer.
McCune took a short through ball from Eliana Andrzejewski and dribbled around defender Ali Field and took one more step before planting her leg and firing a shot that caromed off Cortes-Gustafson’s hand and into the net.
Rochester’s Bria Rensberger had a shot that Williams saved right at her legs, and that turned out to be Rochester’s only shot on goal of the second half.
And then after Charlie Backus was called for fouling Andrzejewski, McCune took a 30-yard shot. Rochester had set up a wall, but it might have impeded Cortes-Gustafson’s vision.
The ball bounced past her and into the back of the net for McCune’s 37th goal of the season. She ranks fourth in the state
“Every single day, I got her taking them from all different angles,” Culver coach A.J. Neace said of McCune’s skill with direct kicks. “And she’s been really working on trying to bend them a little bit, kind of like the guys do and stuff. “And she’s now getting a hold of that, so now it’s almost just strike it and it’s almost a drop ball then.”
Rochester’s defensive game plan was to play the ball wide. It worked for the first 61 minutes but not so well after that. Coach Eric Backus cited nerves as a factor.
“I think we got scared and stopped playing how we were supposed to play,” coach Backus said. “We started just running and trying to kick a ball instead of getting it out wide and counterattacking. We played it right back into their feet multiple times and gave them more opportunities. You just can’t do that against a good team. You keep giving them shots, and they’re eventually going to get one to go in.”
McCune had five shots in the first half, but the closest Culver might have to scoring was when McCune sent out a pass with the outside of her foot and gave Andrzejewski a running start. Cortes-Gustafson charged out from her cage and cut off the angle and deflected it away.
Cortes-Gustafson also fell on Coraline Day’s attempt to set up McCune moments later.
“You can’t complain with the effort,” coach Backus said. “The effort was there tonight. We just made a couple mistakes and gave them some good shots on goal. I wasn’t super upset with the draw because I thought we could play right with this team.
“We’re going to lose a lot of really good seniors, but the future’s bright.”
As for coming back from a second-half deficit, Neace expected nothing less.
“It seems like we always stay halfway poised,” Neace said. “Especially last year with the run that we made. I think we were down 2-1 with like three minutes left (against Manchester in the semifinals) and scored and then in overtime, we scored with like four seconds left. It seems like they hit that second gear. You can hear me on the sidelines yelling, ‘Hey, find your second gear. Find your second gear.’ And usually after one goes in, it’s like, OK, now we’ve got to lock in.”
The celebration afterwards was minimal. McCune and teammate Ashlynn Berndt were off to Knox for volleyball.
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