Trinity Greenlawn snaps Rochester boys soccer’s 2-game winning streak

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

The sprawling, all-out effort from senior goalkeeper Parker Wallace to stop Trinity Greenlawn striker Jacob Palmer’s penalty kick was a moment a Rochester boys soccer fan might want frozen in time.

But on a sunny summer Saturday afternoon at Brent Blacketor Memorial Sports Complex, nothing was staying frozen for very long.

Trinity Greenlawn won 9-0 in a game that was stopped with 16:05 left due to the IHSAA Mercy Rule. Palmer and Caleb DeLorenzo each had a hat trick for the Titans, who improved to 2-1-1.

Rochester, who was coming off back-to-back wins over Caston and LaVille, fell to 2-2.

Palmer and Caleb DeLorenzo each had hat tricks for Trinity Greenlawn.

DeLorenzo scored first with 37:15 left when he dribbled in from the right flank and beat Wallace with a low shot from almost a 45-degree angle to the net.

A Palmer goal off his own rebound and a DeLorenzo left-footed finish gave the Titans a three-goal lead within a 10-minute span.

The running clock began with 5:12 left in the first half, and the lead was 5-0 at halftime.

Palmer had two goals, and DeLorenzo also scored before Elijah Badertscher scored the game-ender.

Trinity Greenlawn listed 30 players on their roster while Rochester listed 17.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say scared,” Rochester coach Eric Backus said. “We just played in a hurry-up. … The ball came to our feet, and we hurried and kicked instead of just possessing the ball and trying to find an open player. … They controlled their first touch, and they found the open players, and they controlled the whole game.

“So we’ve been trying to teach them this type of stuff. Just play simple soccer. Move the ball and find open spots. It wasn’t pretty. … We’ve got to try and get that out of their system. Because we’re going to have some more games where we might get down 3-0, and we’ve got to learn how to battle back. It’s a little frustrating, but we’ll get them there.”

Backus acknowledged that Wallace is playing through a left knee injury. Tyler Reese played the second half in goal. Wallace is also the kicker on the Rochester football team.

“We’ll deal with it because Parker Wallace at 80 percent is still better than most goalkeepers around at 100 percent,” Backus said.