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Hisey also scores as Lady Zs improve to 4-2 in TRC
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Macie Nelson, Kendyll Bradley and Aubrey Miller scored twice each, and Melody Hisey also scored to lift the Rochester girls soccer team to a 7-0 win over visiting Peru in their Three Rivers Conference finale at Brent Blacketor Memorial Sports Complex Sept. 22.
Brooke Nelson, Amy Williams and Sydney Haughs had one assist each.
Rochester won their second game in as many days and improved to 5-5-1 overall and 4-2 in the Three Rivers Conference.
Bradley, Macie Nelson and Miller had goals in the first half as Rochester built a 3-0 lead.
Hisey made it 4-0 in the second half, and Macie Nelson, Miller and Bradley also scored in the second half.
Rochester has won four of their last five games after a 1-4-1 start. They beat North Miami 7-1 on Sept. 21 in Denver after a 3-0 home loss to Manchester on Sept. 19.
“Just getting the girls confident and getting them to shoot to the corners,” Rochester coach Chantal Rensberger said of the improved offense since the loss to Manchester. “And I think that was the big thing we didn’t do with Manchester. It wasn’t like we didn’t have the opportunities. We were just constantly shooting to their goalie whereas tonight and the night before, we were shooting to the corners and having girls run through the defenders and actually get the ball in the back of the net, and I think the big thing is once you have that first goal, the momentum picks up for more goals to follow, and when you’re constantly trailing in a game, it’s hard to get caught back up.”
Rensberger called Bradley’s midfield play “phenomenal.” After scoring only one goal in her freshman and sophomore seasons combined, she scored five goals last year and equaled that total this year.
This was her second career multi-goal game. She also had two goals against Tippecanoe Valley in a 15-1 win in August 2021.
“So we can win,” Bradley said of her increased goal scoring. “I have to fill a role, you know.”
Bradley said she worked over the summer to be able to fill that role.
“Oh heck yes,” Bradley said, when asked if her job as a midfielder required more running. “Yeah, a lot more running, and that’s why I had to get in better shape. And then that’s why I’m also not running cross-country anymore, because I have a lot more running here.”
Bradley said.
Bradley was part of Lady Z teams that shared the conference title in 2020 and won it outright in 2021. She was also part of back-to-back TRC championship cross-country teams in those years.
In her high school career, she lost four conference games, and three of them were to Manchester.
“It was really frustrating,” Bradley said. “We were really strong at the beginning and kind of fell off, and then once they scored, we didn’t fully give up on ourselves, but we definitely weren’t as strong as we were playing before, which is really tough. And I’m used to always winning with my travel team.”
Bradley started playing soccer in fourth grade. She said she loves “how intense it is” and how it “just clears my mind really.”
“It’s my therapy, really,” Bradley said with a smile.
Now as a senior, she has had to help several new players to this year’s roster who don’t have the experience she does.
“It’s really hard getting used to not having experienced players,” Bradley said. “They’re all new. We have, I think, five girls who have never even stepped on a soccer field before. So it’s hard for those girls like it’s hard for us too, to not get frustrated with the new girls. … We try our best to encourage them and keep going.”
Maddy Brouyette missed the game with an ankle injury. She was in a walking boot.
Rochester girls soccer team
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