Navara, Andrzejewski score twice each as Rochester, Culver tie

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

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Hailey Howell Eliana Andrzejewski

CULVER — The result might have been the same, but how the Rochester and host Culver girls soccer teams handled their 2-2 tie Thursday was much different.

Rochester found it to be a big step forward. Culver was not so happy.

Taylor Navara scored both Rochester goals. Freshman Hailey Howell assisted on both with through balls that sprung the speedy Navara into one-versus-one situations where she beat Culver goalkeeper Alyviah Williams both times.

Senior Eliana Andrzejewski scored both Culver goals, including the equalizer with 3:57 left on a nifty long set-up from Maleah Johnson.

That allowed Andrzejewski to show off her speed and she beat Rochester goalkeeper Alexandria Cortes-Gustafson to tie it.

“She’s done it for me for four years,” Culver coach A.J. Neace said. “When it seems like we get down to the nitty gritty, that’s somebody where you can put the ball at their feet, and she’s hopefully going to make it count for you,”

Rochester had lost the last five meetings against the Lady Cavs by a combined score of 29-4, including a 5-0 loss at home last year. Culver junior Ava McCune, who has scored 80 career goals, including four in two years against the Lady Zs, did not have a goal or an assist.

Rochester first-year coach Eric Backus was asked if the outcome was encouraging or discouraging.

“I think very encouraging," Backus said. “I think Culver’s a pretty good team, and we had them beat until four minutes left to go in the game. So I think it was very encouraging. Just a little bit of a lack of communication on our defense and let them run free for a shot, but I thought we moved the ball well against them. I thought we contained their best player, and for the most part, her shots were either right at my keeper or nowhere on frame, so I like to see that.”

Neace was also asked if this game was encouraging or discouraging.

“From my standpoint, very discouraging,” Neace said. “They played their butts off. Credit to them, but we did not play up to our par. I don’t know if it was the time change of the game or the heat, but we didn’t play well tonight.”

Navara scored first with 30:08 left in the half when Howell threaded a through ball between two Culver defenders and right to Navara.

Andrzejewski’s first goal was a long-range shot which she floated perfectly over Cortes-Gustafson from 30 yards away with 19:06 left in the half.

The game was tied at 1 at halftime, but Rochester reassumed the lead on another Navara run down the middle of the pitch with 30:39 left off another Howell feed. Navara dribbled in and beat Williams inside the far post to Williams’ right.

The lead stayed at 2-1 with 25:10 left when Cortes-Gustafson stopped a McCune shot with a dive to her right from inside the 18 from straight in front of the net.

The game was originally scheduled for 5:30 p.m. but pushed back to 7 p.m. due to the area being under a heat advisory. Still, game time temperatures were in the mid-to-upper 80s.

“I felt like they were just getting tired,” Backus said of Culver, noting that his team was making more substitutions in the scorching conditions. “And I felt like we had an advantage … because we had plenty of subs. And the girls that went in were pouring their heart and soul out. I loved it. I loved the effort we had tonight.”

Backus wanted his players to be mindful of McCune wherever she was at. Izzy Hook, Bria Rensberger, Chloe Winn, A.J. Graber, J.J. Graber, Makhia Harding, Gabby Medina and Shelby Pearson all saw time in the middle of the defense.

Backus also called sophomore Ali Field a “beast” for her defense on Alexis Gasanovas on the right flank of Culver’s offense.

“At times yes,” Neace said when asked if Rochester’s speed in the back end gave his team issues. “But a lot of was just we weren’t trapping the ball well. We weren’t getting it to the next person. We weren’t looking to our flats like we normally do. We were trying to, it seemed like, go one-on-10 there at times.”

The teams could meet again in Class 1A, Sectional 36, which Argos will host beginning Oct. 5.