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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
ARGOS — During a timeout in which the three game officials conversed with Argos athletic director Jason Breden Thursday, many already-drenched Lady Dragon girls soccer players went into headfirst dives in the middle of Eugene Snyder Field while they waited to find out the fate of the rest of their Class 1A, Sectional 35 semifinal game with Trinity Greenlawn.
The headfirst dives were perhaps the most enjoyable moments of the night.
Trinity Greenlawn poured it on, so to speak, pulling away in the second half to win 6-0.
The No. 7 Lady Titans improved to 16-1 and will play Bremen or LaVille in the sectional final at 7 p.m. Saturday. The second semifinal between Bremen and LaVille was postponed to 5:30 p.m. today due to the torrential rains turning the field into an unplayable quagmire.
The Argos-Trinity Greenlawn tilt started under rainy conditions and eased up towards the end of the first half. But by the second half, heavy rains resumed and accumulated along the sidelines,
and a small pond formed in the center
of the pitch. With 4:55 left, the officials
and Breden conferred, and the game
was declared over. When asked how the
weather was a factor, Argos coach Joe Stone first spoke of his team’s lack of experience.
“They have big hearts, but they have a lot to learn,” Stone said. “They’re just young. At one time, I had all the freshmen out there together. They have a lot to learn. The weather, I think it affected (us) a little bit. It affected our movement. But a lot of it was starting six freshmen, and they’ve never had this experience before. They’ve never been in a game like this in their careers, so it was all new to them.”
Natalie Gabrielse finished a long ball pass from up the middle, and Charis Gabrielse scored to complete a dribbling run with a left-footed finish to make it 2-0 with 7:31 left in the half.
Tess Curran scored from long range when her high-arching shot beat Argos goalkeeper Alydia Leed with 34:25 left.
Audrey Lee scored on a rebound with 30:53 left to make it 4-0.
“Once they got their third and fourth goals, they kind of took the wind out of our sails,” Stone said. “It is what it is.”
Lee scored again on a rebound after Maggie Karban’s initial shot slipped through Leed’s hands to make it 5-0.
“We had our conference meeting last weekend, and they had all their stats, and they had four goals with 15 goals,” Stone said. “So who do you pick? Who do you pick to stop? So I tried to clog the middle up as best I could. I went with a 4-5-1 to try to clog the middle, and they just picked us apart. They got us on experience, and hats off to them. Last year was the first time I ever lost to them. This year, I lost to them twice now. It’s their turn. The last six years, it’s been my turn. Now it’s somebody else’s turn.”
Felicity DeLorenzo completed the scoring with another rebound goal in the 53rd minute.
Argos’ only shot on goal came from Lilly Hines with 20:40 left, but Trinity Greenlawn goalkeeper Katelyn Adams stopped it. By then, Argos was six goals behind.
“Oh gosh, it was so hard to see,” Hines said of the conditions. “It was definitely difficult. The ball wasn’t moving. It was so unpredictable.”
Hines, the RTC Player of the Year from 2020-22, played her final prep game. She said she would like to play in college but is undecided about a college decision.
Defenders Carlie Rex, Micah Heckaman and Lanie Masters and midfielder Alanna Horvath also finished their careers.
“Only two of us had played varsity in the years before,” Hines said of the seniors, referring to herself and Heckaman. “They had to catch up. We had a whole bunch of freshmen trying to catch up. It was a rebuild year. It was tough, but it was fun.”
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