Manchester Soccer Squads Bounce Back
August 30, 2020 at 10:15 p.m.
Manchester Soccer Squads Bounce Back
By Dale [email protected]
Hosting the annual Manchester Invite, the Lady Squires and Squires lost their opening-round games to top notch teams but came back with wins in the consolation round behind strong second-half performances.
In the girls bracket, Manchester lost a heartbreaker 2-1 to Culver Girls Academy, and later overcame a 2-0 deficit to top South Adams 4-3 in the consolation round.
Manchester’s boys team, ranked 20th in the latest 2A poll, fell 6-0 to Class 3A No. 4 Zionsville, but bounced back with three goals in the second half to beat county and conference rival Wabash 4-1.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the girls in the first game. It was a fun game to play, and a fun game to watch,” said Manchester girls coach Jen Birch. “In the second game we game out flat in the first half … not ourselves, not connecting passes, dropping our heads.
“We just needed to regroup, and halftime couldn’t have come soon enough. I called them out, told them it wasn’t acceptable. Hard work beats talent. And we just weren’t working. We talked about connecting passes and keeping our heads up, and they came out and played so well in the second half.”
After trailing South Adams 2-1 at halftime - with freshman Aymia Miller scoring Manchester’s first-half goal - the Lady Squires got a pair of goals from senior Beletu Stout in the second half and one from classmate and birthday girl Alexa Donathan.
The consolation round victory improved the Lady Squires to 4-3 on the season and gave them momentum heading into next week’s Three Rivers Conference game against North Miami.
“This is huge for us,” Birch said of rallying to finish the invite with a win. “Winning is always fun, but it’s the experience of it. I’m super proud of them, even with a loss in the first game … walking away from that game, I have no shame in it.
“We bounced back in the second half of the second game, and I’m so proud of them.”
CGA beat Logansport - a 3-2 winner over South Adams in the opening round - by a 5-1 score in the championship.
CGA’s Samantha Hazen scored five goals on the day and was named MVP in the girls bracket.
On the boys side, Zionsville - who was a last-minute addition to the tournament and replaced Jimtown - beat South Bend Riley 4-0 in the championship. Zionsville’s Roger Foster was named MVP.
Just a few days after beating Wabash 3-2 in regular season play, the Squires led 1-0 at halftime of Saturday’s consolation with a goal from junior Logan Bishop.
The second-half scoring for the Squires all came from underclassman, with sophomores Michael Ortiz and Brandon Hernandez, and freshman Nathaniel Miller each netting a goal.
Manchester led 4-0 before the Apaches scored on a broken play late in the contest.
“In the first game we played one of the top teams in the state in any class,” said Manchester boys coach Dave McKee. “We played them well. I was happy with our boys. We got beat 6-0, but we played them well. Zionsville is a great team.
“We just played Wabash on Thursday, and we didn’t play well that day. We didn’t have a good first half today, but we bounced back and scored three in the second half. It was important for us to come back and win the second game.”
Manchester’s boys team is now 3-3 on the season.
Hosting the annual Manchester Invite, the Lady Squires and Squires lost their opening-round games to top notch teams but came back with wins in the consolation round behind strong second-half performances.
In the girls bracket, Manchester lost a heartbreaker 2-1 to Culver Girls Academy, and later overcame a 2-0 deficit to top South Adams 4-3 in the consolation round.
Manchester’s boys team, ranked 20th in the latest 2A poll, fell 6-0 to Class 3A No. 4 Zionsville, but bounced back with three goals in the second half to beat county and conference rival Wabash 4-1.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the girls in the first game. It was a fun game to play, and a fun game to watch,” said Manchester girls coach Jen Birch. “In the second game we game out flat in the first half … not ourselves, not connecting passes, dropping our heads.
“We just needed to regroup, and halftime couldn’t have come soon enough. I called them out, told them it wasn’t acceptable. Hard work beats talent. And we just weren’t working. We talked about connecting passes and keeping our heads up, and they came out and played so well in the second half.”
After trailing South Adams 2-1 at halftime - with freshman Aymia Miller scoring Manchester’s first-half goal - the Lady Squires got a pair of goals from senior Beletu Stout in the second half and one from classmate and birthday girl Alexa Donathan.
The consolation round victory improved the Lady Squires to 4-3 on the season and gave them momentum heading into next week’s Three Rivers Conference game against North Miami.
“This is huge for us,” Birch said of rallying to finish the invite with a win. “Winning is always fun, but it’s the experience of it. I’m super proud of them, even with a loss in the first game … walking away from that game, I have no shame in it.
“We bounced back in the second half of the second game, and I’m so proud of them.”
CGA beat Logansport - a 3-2 winner over South Adams in the opening round - by a 5-1 score in the championship.
CGA’s Samantha Hazen scored five goals on the day and was named MVP in the girls bracket.
On the boys side, Zionsville - who was a last-minute addition to the tournament and replaced Jimtown - beat South Bend Riley 4-0 in the championship. Zionsville’s Roger Foster was named MVP.
Just a few days after beating Wabash 3-2 in regular season play, the Squires led 1-0 at halftime of Saturday’s consolation with a goal from junior Logan Bishop.
The second-half scoring for the Squires all came from underclassman, with sophomores Michael Ortiz and Brandon Hernandez, and freshman Nathaniel Miller each netting a goal.
Manchester led 4-0 before the Apaches scored on a broken play late in the contest.
“In the first game we played one of the top teams in the state in any class,” said Manchester boys coach Dave McKee. “We played them well. I was happy with our boys. We got beat 6-0, but we played them well. Zionsville is a great team.
“We just played Wabash on Thursday, and we didn’t play well that day. We didn’t have a good first half today, but we bounced back and scored three in the second half. It was important for us to come back and win the second game.”
Manchester’s boys team is now 3-3 on the season.
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