‘I would like to start this game over:’ Zebra soccer falls to Manchester

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Isaiah Acosta scored twice and dished out an assist, and Wyatt Schroll also scored in the first half to lead the Manchester boys soccer team to a 3-0 win over Rochester at the Brent Blacketor Memorial Sports Complex Tuesday.

Manchester scored all three of their goals in the first half.

Manchester is 5-2-2 overall and 3-0 in the Three Rivers Conference. Rochester fell to 5-2-1, 1-1.

Rochester has lost the last three meetings against Manchester by a combined score of 20-0. They have not scored against the Squires since 2021.

Rochester’s last win over Manchester occurred nearly 10 years ago to the day – Sept. 9, 2014.

Rochester coach Eric Backus said the team “really wasn’t focused” during pregame warmups and that it carried over to the game.

“I just think we came out flat,” Backus said. “Our first half, that was close to the worst half we’ve played. … It’s just one of those things where you can’t do that against a good team. … We just challenged the boys at halftime to come out and play a better half, and we did. It was 0-0 the second half.

“We just have to get in our heads that we can play with these good teams. Because we’re a good team.”

Backus said Manchester attacks with six or seven players, which forces their opponents’ midfielders to get back on defense. The teams that can stop their attacks can then go on the counterattack.

“I would like to start this game over, to be honest with you,” Backus said. “Because I think on a different night, we come ready to play, and it’s a different result. … I think it’s more of a mental block right now.”

Without being specific, Backus said that “Internet stuff” might have affected his team’s focus.

“And I just think that sometimes they look at Internet stuff, and they get beat before they ever take the field,” Backus said.

Manchester’s first goal came on a rebound.

“The other two, we were ball watching instead of tracking our man into the box like we’ve been doing,” Backus explained.

Manchester is not a sectional opponent of the Zebras, but Rochester does have games against Northwestern, Peru, Tippecanoe Valley and Maconaquah within the next two weeks, and those four are sectional opponents.

“We’ve got Maconaquah and Northwestern in our sectional, so they’re going to play just as well as Manchester,” Backus said. “Manchester has been second in our conference for the last three years, and it’s just because they lose a close one to Maconaquah. I think last year when we played Maconaquah here, we played right with them until four minutes left to go, and it was kind of a little bit of a turning point in some of these kids’ heads when they realized maybe we can play a little bit of soccer. … We just have to try and heal up and go play a tough Northwestern team Thursday night.”