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Lady Dragons earn first win while paying tribute to Carr
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
ARGOS — The “#24” drawn in chalk on the field at Eugene Snyder Field and the moment of silence with players on both teams holding hands in a circle were
indications of a somber Argos girls soccer home game at Eugene Snyder Field Tuesday.
Three days after the death of Argos junior volleyball player Emily Carr in a car accident, the mourning Lady Dragons went out and beat Elkhart Christian 10-4 to improve to 1-1-2.
Lilly Hines, Kadyn Baughman and Lauren McGlothin scored twice each, and Emma Dunlap, Aryanna Allen, Bella Stults and Sophia Austin also scored for Argos.
Carr wears uniform number 24 in volleyball. Her visitation was Wednesday, and her funeral is Thursday.
“I don’t think it was hard to get them motivated,” Argos coach Joe Stone said. “I think this is what they needed to get it off their mind. Get something else going. Make them think of something else. And I think they responded with all things concerning.”
Argos scored three times in the first 14:08 and never trailed. Hines scored after a Dunlap steal and a feed that set her up in stride.
Baughman made it 2-0 on a 25-yard shot from beyond the box after neither side could control a corner kick
A 20-yard shot from Dunlap from the middle of the field that she popped over the Elkhart Christian keeper’s head made it 3-0.
Other Argos highlights included a creative lefty finish from Allen coming in one-v-one on the keeper, McGlothin somehow curling in a corner kick from the left side just inside the far post, a Baughman goal from the right flank that deflected off the far post and in and a sweet set-up from Dunlap to Stults in the 46th minute.
Hines made it 8-2 in the 59th minute after nifty footwork from an Allen assist.
Austin, a junior, scored her first goal since her freshman year off a Baleigh Binkley assist to make it 9-2 in the 63rd minute.
McGlothin scored Argos’ 10th goal on a drive down the middle of the pitch.
Elkhart Christian played a high line, moving their defenders and goalkeeper way up. That led not only to a higher than normal number of offsides calls but also a large number of scoring opportunities. Argos finished with 28 shots on goal.
“They play very high,” Stone said. “They love the offsides trap. We just got to learn to be patient. We weren’t tonight. It’s the old shark-in-the-water-smells-blood. We went in a little frenzy there. We just think we could have run all day and get them, and we could’ve, and we should’ve on a couple of them, but the offsides call, I had nothing to complain about. The girls just need to learn patience when they’re running up there like that. They didn’t tonight.”
Hines agreed.
“This game was kind of slacked off,” Hines said. “We could have definitely done better. I definitely think we’re better than that, yeah.”
Defensively, McGlothin is the sweeper, and Baughman is the stopper. The outside wings on defense are Samantha Redinger and Micah Heckaman, both of whom are left-footed. Sophomore Lydia Leed is the “number one goalkeeper,” according to Stone.
Binkley, a senior, brings speed to the flank of the offense. Hines was the RTC Player of the Year as both a freshman and a sophomore, and Dunlap, Allen and Stults are all seniors.
Argos started the year No. 5 in the Class 1A coaches poll but dropped to No. 10 following a loss to Kankakee Valley and 2-2 ties against Plymouth and Northwestern. Argos trailed 2-0 against Plymouth before coming back to tie but squandered a 2-0 lead against Northwestern and settled for a tie.
“This team’s potential is in this team,” Stone said. “There are times this team shows great ingenuity and great electricity and wanting to play. And there are other times this team turns around and says, ‘Yeah, I’m not just going to move for that ball today.’ Until they figure that part out, we’re not going to be a good team.
“But I think we could be so much better if they really push themselves.”
Hines said teamwork needs to mesh. But they still have time.
“I think we have a lot of potential,” Hines said. “But we kind of play with our individual talent. We haven’t really connected with our talents yet. It’s really individual still.”
Watch full match here:
