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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
The Rochester boys soccer team lost 9-0 to No. 4 Fort Wayne Concordia in a Class 2A, Sectional 22 quarterfinal at Fort Wayne Canterbury on Oct. 5.
Per the IHSAA mercy rule, the game was stopped when Concordia scored their ninth goal with 3:18 left.
Ayden Salway, Elijah Macke and Shazaly Musa scored twice each for Fort Wayne Concordia, who improved to 12-2-4. Garrett Werling, Sam Brunow and Max Derheimer had one goal each.
Macke also had two assists.
Rochester finished 7-8.
Fort Wayne Concordia eliminated Rochester from the sectional for the second time in the last three years. They outscored the Zebras by a combined 14-0 in those games.
“They definitely were the best team we’ve played all year,” Rochester first-year coach Elmer Roque said. “I wouldn’t say the best. I think they and Bremen are very, very similar. But that’s why they’re in the top 10 teams in 2A.”
Roque said Fort Wayne Concordia’s strength was their passing.
“They are just so good at passing the ball,” Roque said. “They move the ball so well, and before you know it, they’re moving up and down the field, not even super fast. Just efficiently.”
Roque said the team exhibited its 1-2 passing well.
But much work is needed to compete in a sectional which not only has Fort Wayne Concordia but also top-ranked Fort Wayne Canterbury, No. 11 Culver Academy and 2019 Class 1A state champ Argos.
“That sectional is definitely tough,” Roque said. “It starts from their youth programs and getting them involved and getting them better and better every year. And that eventually leads to a better high school program. I know it’s not going to be done over one or two years, but hopefully, the same thing can happen at Rochester.”
Roque and assistant coach Brent Markley came to Rochester from Argos. Roque was the varsity assistant on Argos’ 2019 Class 1A state championship team and their 2020 state runner-up team. Coincidentally, Argos was placed in Rochester’s sectional in 2021 when they moved up per the IHSAA Success Factor.
“A learning experience, for sure,” Roque said of his first season at Rochester. “I’m not the most perfect coach or anything, but it’s definitely been a fun learning experience and figuring out who I am as a coach and the coaching staff as well. It’s been different.”
Layne Backus, Adam Maroney, Zach Pickens, Gabe Scorsone and Kaleb Shaffer all had their prep careers end.
Pickens finished with 74 career goals, a program record. His 32 goals in 2020 were a single-season school record.
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