Valley Soccer: Vikings No Match For Manchester Firepower
AKRON — Make no mistake, Tippecanoe Valley soccer plays to win.
It’s just that, in only the program’s second-ever year of existence and playing against the cream of the Three Rivers Conference in Manchester, the Vikings needed to adjust their definition of victory a little, says head coach Mark Gordon.
After falling behind by eight goals to the high-powered Squires in the first half, Gordon challenged his team to win the second half. Well, Valley wasn’t able to do that either, but the home team did show improvement on the way to a 13-0 TRC defeat at home in Akron Tuesday.
“Everybody strives to win. We don’t just strive to be out here to compete; we strive to win, too,” insisted Gordon. “But sometimes winning has to be looked at as did we win the second half? No. I wanted to win the second half, and by winning the second half that would’ve been maybe two to one, three to one, something like that, us scoring. And that’s my perspective on things: Hey, we’re outmatched. What can we do to make it better?”
The Vikings (1-4, 0-2 TRC) certainly seemed outmatched Tuesday, tallying a single shot on goal — and only three shots total — compared to a prolific 29 shots on frame by an explosive Manchester (6-1, 3-0 TRC) side that simply executed at an entirely different speed of play.
Knowing what his team was up against, Gordon entered the game with managed expectations and set an initial goal to hold the Squires scoreless for 15 to 20 minutes. To that end, the Vikings opened in an odd-looking formation and had success for the first nine minutes before Manchester junior Brandon Wagoner dribbled one into the far corner of the net on an Isaiah Davis assist early in the 10th minute. That more or less sparked a flurry of goals by the Squires, who needed just eight minutes to net two more and already led 5-0 by the 30th minute.
“I thought it was going to be quicker than that. Last year I think it was off the kickoff they went down and scored on us,” recalled Gordon. “We held them nine or 10 (minutes) and then there was grumblings, captains were grumbling: ‘Coach, we want to do something else.’ So I said ‘OK, drop your fourth back there.’ So he went back and then in eight or nine minutes they had four more goals. I try to use that as, hey, you need to listen to what your coach says. Coach knows what he’s talking about. If it had been the 20-minute mark, and we were down two to nothing, I would’ve felt pretty good.”
Standing out among a quartet of Squire goal-scorers Tuesday were sophomores Caleb Stout and Harley Kruschwitz. Stout finished with a hat trick and an assist, but it was Kruschwitz who stole the spotlight with a program record-tying six goals in Akron.
Kruschwitz’s first goal came on a counter when Justin Self found him on a run deep up the left wing, and he dribbled past Valley keeper Fabian Mar, jumping over the diving Viking goalie and calmly putting the empty netter away in the 13th minute. He scored again in the 23rd minute on a Stout cross before returning the favor to Stout on his first goal in the 26th minute. Kruschwitz netted two more goals in the 29th and 33rd minutes — both via Mathias McLaughlin assists — and that first McLaughlin-Kruschwitz combination chased Mar from goal as Gordon subbed junior Harrison Vining in to replace him. Kruschwitz struck again on a Nathan Self helper in the 59th minute, and he delivered his final score with a chip shot from in close to bring the score to its final margin with a little over five minutes left to play.
“That’s a tough record, but we’re not going to let anyone break it. Six is more than enough goals in one game,” said Manchester head coach Dave McKee of Kruschwitz’s performance. “He’s just a really, really unselfish player. In the first half you saw him pass it off when he could’ve scored. It’s pretty much an unselfish team. Same with Caleb. Caleb is also a sophomore, and I’m sure maybe before the season is over, he’ll get a six-goal game. He had a five-goal game.”
Alongside Kruschwitz, Stout and Wagoner, Davis also scored for the Squires, and he, McLaughlin, Self, Konrad Borgmann and Eric Morales all made the scoresheet with assists in the win. Manchester had two goals nullified on offsides calls, and two of the Squires’ shots caromed off the uprights in a dominant offensive display.
Arturo Dominguez recorded Valley’s only shot on goal, which Borgmann easily saved with a little under 10 minutes remaining in the game.
Jimenez made six saves in goal, while Vining finished with 10 in an admirable performance for Valley.
“We had another player that actually is our backup goalie, but he came out saying his quad was hurting. And Fabian, our primary goalie, said ‘Coach, take me out.’ Whatever. So we pulled him out, and my backup goes in who was a field player, and I thought he did quite well,” said Gordon. “I thought he did an admirable job. He got scored on right away, but you’re thrust in the role. I think Harrison could continue. Next year we’re going to have to find a new goalie, so he and my sophomore now may compete with each other. I don’t know yet.”