HS girls soccer
Plymouth-argos open season
PLYMOUTH – The season opener for the Plymouth and Argos girls soccer teams played out like two games - two completely different games.
Led by a hat-trick from Aubrey Vervynckt, the Lady Rockies ran off five second-half goals to come back from a 2-nil halftime deficit to defeat the Lady Dragons Thursday on Beat Cancer Night at the Don Kindt Soccerplex, 5-2.
Argos got on the board first - and quickly - when Hannah Trump scored in the sixth minute. Then, after a long through ball in the 32nd minute, Emma Dunlap ripped a shot that caromed to Lizzy Edmonds and the sophomore found the back of the net, giving the Lady Dragons a twogoal lead before a stunned Plymouth crowd.
After a couple adjustments at halftime though, and playing with more fire, Plymouth responded right away in the second half.
“My defense was sabotaging my flat-four plan so we nixed that,” said Plymouth head coach Stephanie Ferch of one of the changes. “We went back to the diamond (defense) and apparently we are more comfortable with that. We also added an offensive mid for some more scoring and that gave us the momentum we needed.”
Less than a minute after intermission, Mia Wojcik was able to chip the ball over Argos keeper Alyssa Poisel on a breakaway to cut the lead in half, 2-1.
“That was huge,” admitted Ferch.
Just three minutes later, the scored was tied after a Vervynckt goal, then the sophomore midfielder-turned-striker found the back of the net again five minutes after that to give the Lady Pilgrims their first lead, 3-2.
“At halftime, we talked about having pride and establishing what kind of team they are going to be,” continued Ferch. “Are they going to lay down or are they going to come back? They made a point.”
Although slowed by leg cramps and an inadvertent knee to the midsection, Vervynckt’s night still was not done, scoring her third goal of the game when she split two defenders after a nice pass from Wojcik in the 74th minute.
“We started her as an offensive mid because she can control the ball so well and makes good distributions, but having her at the top she’s calm and composed when she get those 1-on-1’s,” Ferch said. “She showed that tonight. She’s a tough cookie. (Keeper) Abigale (Lee) did a good job too. She really showed up in the second half, had some big saves and kept us in the game. Just like all of the girls, she turned it around in the second half and it was a different team out there. ”
The exclamation point of the comeback came in the last minute when freshman Lauren Manges redirected a rebound off a Lauren Rumpler offering into the net for the final margin.
“I don’t know what happened,” said Argos head coach Joe Stone. “There were just things you can’t explain. We gave up three goals in an eight-minute span. We still had our opportunities. We need to play more to the feet. We’ve got a lot of growing up to do. We started two freshmen. Plymouth is a good team and wellcoached, but we had them down. The last two goals were gimme goals because we pushed everybody up.”
Both teams are back in action Saturday at home as Plymouth hosts Logansport (12:30 p.m.) and Argos entertains Northwestern (5:30 p.m.).
• PLYMOUTH 5, ARGOS 2 At Plymouth
FIRST HALF
A - Hannah Trump 6th min.
A - Lizzy Edmonds 32nd min. SECOND HALF
P - Mia Wojcik 41st min.
P - Aubrey Vervynckt 44th min.
P - Vervynckt 49th min.
P - Vervynckt 74th min.
P - Lauren Manges 80th min. Shots: Plymouth 25, Argos 11 Saves: Plymouth 8 (Abigale Lee), Argos 6 (Alyssa Poisel) Corner kicks: Plymouth 8, Argos 5 Fouls: Plymouth 4, Argos 7 Yellow Cards: none Records: Plymouth 1-0, Argos 0-1 Officials: Kyle Barry, Jerry Chisum, Gamal Hernandez
“I don’t know what happened.”
Argos head coach Joe Stone