Argos blanks injury-plagued Rochester in sectional
- Val T.
- Oct 9
- 5 min read
With Lady Zs down to 9 players, Rensberger praises Argos’ Adley for sportsmanship
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
ARGOS — Ellie Bollenbacher scored twice in the first half, and the Argos girls soccer team held Rochester without a shot on goal in a 6-0 win over the Lady Zs in a Class 1A, Sectional 36 quarterfinal at Eugene Snyder Field Tuesday.
Samantha Umbaugh, Alleigh VanDerWeele, Kendyl Callahan and Elizabeth Pranger also scored for the Lady Dragons, who have won six of their last eight games.
Emily Pippenger and Madison Reynolds had two assists each, and Elliana Brown and Luna Nayar-Gomez also had helpers.
Argos (6-10-1) will next play LaVille, who received a bye, in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Thursday at Argos. Argos lost 3-2 to LaVille in their regular season meeting Aug. 28.
Culver and Manchester will meet in the first semifinal at 5 p.m.
Rochester finished 4-10-1. Rochester has not only never beaten Argos, but they have never scored on them in the 21-year history of the program. This was their first meeting since September 2021.
Rochester’s Taylor Navara, who had the game-winning goal and two assists against Twin Lakes in the regular season finale, was hampered with a left leg injury suffered in practice Monday and eventually left the game. Junior Hailey Crissinger also could not continue with a sprained knee ligament. Senior Mylee Heinzmann was also out with a leg injury suffered while playing Powder Puff Football.
“She’s the glue right there, and without her, we struggled,” Rochester coach Chantal Rensberger said of Heinzmann.
Rochester lists only 12 players on their roster. By the time the second half arrived, the Lady Zs were down to nine healthy players, and that included Makhia Harding and Bria Rensberger, who were also trying to play through injuries. Argos coach Ty Adley, a Rochester grad, chose to play with nine players after seeing how shorthanded Rochester was.
Coach Rensberger, an Argos grad, appreciated the gesture.
“We were very blessed that I’m personal friends with coach Adley and (assistant) coach Bo (Hines),” coach Rensberger said. “I mean, they’ve… known me since I was little, and their daughters have played with my daughter in travel, and I have huge respect for him and their program and thank God that they dropped down and played nine with us. Otherwise, that could have been really ugly. Not very many programs would have done that. They did not have to do that, and they did that out of respect. So kudos to him for doing that for our team.”
Adley said that he and coach Rensberger are “good friends and great colleagues in coaching.” He platooned in a new batch of eight players every 10 minutes in the second half.
“It boils down to just simply sportsmanship,” Adley said. “We talked a little bit before the game understanding she’s got some injuries and things. So wanting to be respectful of her girls, and several of her girls are multi-sport athletes, you always want to play an aggressive game, yes, but you’re not going out to terrorize or destroy anybody or anything along those lines. That stuff’s uncalled for. A good even game, getting different girls in, getting some opportunities that may not have been there in other games, it’s all about that sportsmanship aspect, teaching the girls, hey, if they go to 10, we’re going to go to 10. If she dropped down to nine, we’re going to go to nine. I let her know that beforehand: Hey, we’re in this together.”
Umbaugh scored off a give-and-go assist from Emily Pippenger with 28:26 left in the first half. Rochester goalkeeper Alexandria Cortes-Gustafson came out to try to cut off Umbaugh’s angle on the net but was a split second late as Umbaugh floated a shot in the back right corner of the net.
Adley called Umbaugh a “phenomenal utility player,” able to play anywhere on the field.
Pippenger assisted on Argos’ second goal, and again it was a give-and-go play to VanDerWeele, who took a short through-ball and finished inside the near post to Cortes-Gustafson’s left.
“The key turning point was getting the first goal or two in,” Adley said. “It gave the girls some composure and (let them) relax and those sorts of things and started to turn around in our favor. We were less in our heads, just kind of being able to relax a little bit, breathe a little bit and begin to take care of the ball.”
Bollenbacher’s goals came in a span of 5:45.
Her first goal came after she intercepted a Rochester goal kick and sent a pass inside the box to Ava VanDerWeele. She dropped a pass to Hayna Willis behind her, who passed it back to Ava VanDerWeele, who then passed it to Brown on the right side of the box. Brown then passed it to Bollenbacher in the box, who settled the ball and shot it in one motion. It sailed over Cortes-Gustafson’s head and into the back of the net.
Bollenbacher scored again with 10:07 left in the half. Reynolds took a free kick outside the box and hooked a pass to Bollenbacher, who drilled a shot to Cortes-Gustafson’s right.
“She’s continuing to come into her own in a leadership role and continuing to lead the team and bring that senior composure,” Adley said. “I’ve been very proud of her and her ability to lead the team.”
The fifth goal came with 27:30 left and involved Bollenbacher indirectly. Elaina Conklin drilled a low pass to Bollenbacher at the top of the box. Bollenbacher was not looking and the ball hit her in the legs and knocked her down.
The ball deflected to Callahan, who worked a give-and-go with Nayar-Gomez and got inside the Rochester defense and scored.
The five-goal lead triggered a running clock for the rest of the game, per the IHSAA Mercy Rule.
Argos made it 6-0 with 14:20 left when Reynolds deflected a shot off Pranger and a Rochester player and went in.
The game was the last for Rochester seniors Aubrey Miller, Kelsey Walker and Heinzmann. None of the three played soccer prior to high school.
Miller led Rochester with 11 goals.
Coach Rensberger called them “a very, very big loss for the program.”
“I’m sad and trying not to cry about it and think about it because they come and they go, and I know that, but those three are especially special because they are my daughter’s friends too,” coach Rensberger said. “I’ve known them since they were little, and I'm very proud of all three of them this season. They definitely led with senior leadership.”
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