BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Aiden Harrington Carlos Plascencia
Boys soccer
Rochester 6, Wabash 0 (Tuesday): Carlos Plascencia scored twice, and Wyatt Davis, Rabuor Tindi and Spencer Backus also had goals as the Rochester boys soccer team improved to 5-1-1 overall and 1-0 in the Three Rivers Conference Tuesday.
Davis had an assist.
Aiden Harrington stopped the only shot he faced for a shutout.
Wabash, a conference and sectional rival of the Zebras, dropped to 0-5, 0-4. They have been outscored 27-0 this season.
Trinity Greenlawn 2, Rochester 0 (Saturday): Nathan Palmer scored two goals on penalty kicks – one in each half – for the Class 1A, No. 18 Titans in a home win over Rochester Saturday.
Aiden Harrington stopped 18 of 20 shots he faced on net. Carlos Plascencia had Rochester’s only shot on goal.
The loss snapped Rochester’s season-opening five-game unbeaten streak.
Rochester lost 9-0 at Trinity Greenlawn last year.
Rochester 1, Lakeland Christian 0 (Thursday): Carlos Plascencia scored the goal on a direct kick 7:34 into the second half.
Wyatt Davis had four shots on goal, and Spencer Backus had two. Aiden Harrington stopped all eight shots on goal for his second shutout in as many days.
Rochester 3, LaVille 0 (Wednesday): Spencer Backus scored twice in the second half, and Rabuor Tindi also scored and dished out an assist as the Zebras earned their first shutout of the season against LaVille at the Brent Blacketor Memorial Sports Complex.
Junior Criollo and Grant Bailey also had assists.
“Junior came in, and he got a ball from one of our wingers, I called ‘through,’ he played a beautiful pass through, and I just took it down and played it right into the goal,” Tindi said.
Senior goalkeeper Aiden Harrington had seven saves for his first career goal.
The game was originally scheduled for Aug. 27 but postponed to the following day due to the heat.
Coach Eric Backus said the team stayed inside on Tuesday and watched game film.
“We just re-emphasized some of the stuff we’ve been struggling with – defensive positioning, midfield positioning, stuff like that,” Backus said. “Went back over what we were doing on corners, how to defend corners and stuff like that.”
Backus said the team made progress in those areas.
“I think so,” Backus said. “We still kind of fade from time to time. When the ball’s clear over on the other side, we tend to wander a little too far. But that’s an easy, fixable thing. … Our defense is starting to work real well together.”
Said Tindi: “Today I think our defense played amazing. They helped (with a) shut out. There were some slip-ups with the line, but overall, they played amazing. Some of our defenders are new this year, it’s their first year, but they’ve been playing like they’ve been here for quite some time.”
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