September 19, 2019
ARGOS — A dominating first-half performance gave way to some frightening moments in the second half as #6 ranked (1A) Argos’ Lady Dragons took a hard-fought win over LaVille at Eugene Snyder Field by a 2-1 final.
The first half was all Argos as they took the offensive putting pressure on Lady Lancer goalkeeper Trynitie Cox and the rest of the LaVille defense. Argos managed seven shots on goal to just three for LaVille.
The Lady Dragons had numerous shots just miss in the first 35 minutes. The crossbar and the post seemed to be playing almost as much defense as the Lady Lancers as multiple shots were deflected by both.
Then Argos broke through at the 15:33 mark when Aryanna Allen came out of a scrum in front of the LaVille goal to touch a perfect pass to a wide-open Morgan Dunlap for the first score of the game.
The second half started much like the first and Argos was able to pepper Cox with 12 shots on goal, but LaVille would step up and get five of their own and make the most of their opportunities.
“I don’t know what’s going on with us right now but it’s like we’re in a funk,” said Argos coach Joe Stone. “We’re just playing good enough to win. We’re not dominating in situations that we should be dominating in. We did early in the season but we aren’t now.”
It’s not an unusual situation for teams to go through a little slump, and having dealt with it before, Stone says they’ll use a similar approach.
“Last year it happened to us,” he said. “Last year we really struggled to score all season. This year we haven’t had that struggle to score with our kids stepping up but to get out of this funk last year I had to switch things up in practice and it looks like we’ll have to do the same thing this year.”
LaVille had several run-out opportunities in the second half and finally made one pay off as 10 minutes into the second half Kassi Watts went on a drive and trapped Argos keeper Alyssa Poisel between choices on how to stop the shot and hit the net to tie the game at 1-1.
“Our girls worked really hard and executed for 80 minutes,” said LaVille coach Daniel Pleninger. “We were patient, patient, patient until we got our chances.”
The success was short-lived however as two minutes later Madisyn Barcus took a pass from Emma Dunlap to push home what would be the game-winner.
The Lady Lancer defense held for the rest of the night but in spite of some good opportunities the offense couldn’t come through with another score.
“Our communication not just with our back core but with our entire team defensively is outstanding and it helps us win the ball back and make the most of it when we have it,” said Pleninger. “I like where we are. We’ve played a lot of tough games, a lot of good competition and it’s going to have us ready for the end of the season. That’s where it counts.”
The Lady Dragons are now 8-3 with a 7 p.m. home game against Lakeland Christian on Saturday. LaVille is now 2-5-1 and will be at Culver on Wednesday.