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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
ARGOS — Mackena Deason scored twice, and the LaVille girls soccer team went four for four in the decisive penalty kick phase as they handed a 3-2 loss to Argos in a Class 1A, Sectional 36 semifinal at Argos’ Eugene Snyder Field on Oct. 10.
Morgyn Barcus had given Argos a 2-1 lead with 2:29 left in the first overtime on a penalty kick, but Deason took a through ball into the box and beat Argos goalkeeper Alydiah Leed with 6:09 left in the second overtime to tie the game.
In penalty kicks, both Deason and Argos’ Ava VanDerWeele both made their first-round kicks. Mikalah Kuskye made her kick for LaVille, but Elliana Brown missed for Argos.
In the third round, Ava Barrett-Heaton made her kick for LaVille, and Barcus answered with a successful kick.
Morgan Schmidt converted in Round 4 for LaVille, and when Samantha Umbaugh missed wide right to the right for Argos, the game was over, and LaVille celebrated at midfield.
LaVille improved to 10-6 and earned a spot in the sectional final opposite Manchester, a 6-0 winner over Rochester in the other semifinal.
Argos finished 5-8-1. Though Argos had beaten LaVille 3-0 on Sept. 17 in their regular season meeting, Argos first-year coach Ty Adley thought this was a better performance.
“You never want to go out in the state tournament,” Adley said. “It’s always a crazy time. It’s always a great time. Anything can happen. There’s going to be balls that are going to bounce your way. There’s going to be balls that bounce the other way. And it’s just the name of the game. And anything’s going to happen that night.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the girls. They definitely played their best game of the season all year tonight. So I’m super, super proud of them. A lot of big things came out of it. I’m really looking forward to the girls coming in next year and the girls that are coming back.”
Leed, Barcus and Ava Stackhouse all played their final prep games.
“Alydiah Leed out of the goalkeeper position, she’s been a huge anchor for us for several years,” Adley said. “Mo Barcus, moving in and definitely continuing to take more and more reins as she’s aged, and she really blossomed this year. And Ava Stackhouse, coming in for two years, she was just absolutely a lights-out player who will do anything for you. I couldn’t be happier for those girls.”
Argos played a high line defensively, as was their custom this season, according to Adley. That can lead to the opponent being called for offsides, but a bounce on a through ball led to Deason’s equalizer in the second overtime.
“You get one of the craziest bounces I’ve seen in several years that somehow goes from behind her to in front of her, and she’s able to keep in stride,” Adley said. “LaVille’s a great team. They’ve got a lot of good girls on it. So I’m excited to see how they play on Saturday against Manchester.”
Adley spent six years as an assistant coach at Argos before replacing Joe Stone as head coach after Stone stepped down after the end of the 2023 season.
His assistant coaches included former Argos players McKenna Burkholder and Alaura Felton. Felton is Stone’s daughter.
“I think it was a pretty smooth transition,” Adley said. “You always have that little learning change there and there as you go from volunteer to assistant and then ultimately end up getting the opportunity to go to the head coach position, and so it really helped out with that transitioning phase, but you’re always feeling out the differences between what your previous coaches did and what you’re trying to do and how do you begin to balance that with the girls that have spent three years in one position to setting them up in a different (position). Overall, I I think the girls worked with me wonderfully, and I couldn’t be more proud of the assistants I have on the sideline being able to help me out.”
Adley said there are 28 girls playing soccer at the junior high level.
“We’re packing about eight to 10 girls per grade,” Adley said. “And so I’m very excited to see those numbers continue to come up, and we’re hoping to bring back that JV program on the high school side. So definitely looking forward to that. I’ve got some bright talent that I’ve been working with for the last several years through the rec program and the travel program. So I’m excited to see those girls continue to take those next steps.”
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