Better late than never: Kutscher ties game before Rochester beats Glenwood in PKs
ROCHESTER — Landon Kutscher and Major Gibson hooked up on an equalizing goal and the pair had the first and last tallies in the penalty-kick shootout as Rochester stayed perfect in the Central State Eight Conference with a 2-1 win over Chatham Glenwood on Wednesday.
In the 70th minute, Rochester's Brenden McArdle moved a ball from midfield up the right side to Gibson who used his chest to corral the play before playing it to his left twice, the last sending the ball to the feet of Kutscher on the left side of the net. Kutscher buried it past Glenwood goalkeeper Brody Green for his 12th goal.
“Major's the type of guy, he likes to dribble and he's really good at it and he's really good at taking people on,” Kutscher said. “Right there, there was a little bit of luck played into it — it was a heavy touch to try and get away from the defenders and I was right there to finish it off.
“If I wasn't there, there was a good chance (Gibson) was still going to get to the ball. Either way, it probably would've gone in but I was lucky enough to be right there.”
Two 10-minute overtime periods had scoring opportunities for both teams but nothing to show for it. Kutscher and Brayden Trello converted on the first two penalty kicks in the shootout as the Rockets (12-3 overall, 7-0 CS8) took a 2-0 lead after two rounds.
Glenwood's Carter Formea converted his third-round chance as Glenwood pulled within 3-2. Rochester's Lach Sullivan and Glenwood's Christian Ray — who had the Titans’ goal at the end of the first half off a corner kick from Miles Calderon — each had successful PKs to set up Gibson's game-clincher on the Rockets’ fifth shot.
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"I think the boys were confident coming in but this just adds to that confidence,” Rochester coach Chad Kutscher said. "Coming in and seeing a program like this, that we have battled with for how many years now?
"Getting to the playoffs, this is a game that we need. This is a playoff environment but everybody gets to play tomorrow."
Familiarity breeds competitiveness
There were five yellow cards issued in the game. Two players for each team picked up a card from officials while Chad Kutscher also got one for protesting Carson Berberet’s yellow in the 69th minute with Rochester trailing 1-0.
Gibson, who was given a yellow in the first half at midfield, insisted there’s no animosity between the players, despite the intense rivalry and the conference title on the line.
“Most of the players know each other so there's that friendly competition and there's also that school competition and neither team wants to lose,” Gibson said. “I love a lot of the boys on there and we get each other. We've always been rivals with Chatham and it's always a physical game with a game like that. Both teams want to win so it's always intense. That yellow card in the beginning sums it up.”
Glenwood coach Kyle Franke, who guided the Titans to a Class 2A runner-up finish in 2022, agreed.
“It was a tough game when Rochester and Chatham play,” Franke said. “I told Chad during the PKs, why are we always in games like this? It's like this all the time just over and over. They all know each other, they're all friends so you're going to step your game up against each other.”
Not enough scoring
Despite holding a 1-0 lead at halftime, Franke said he told his players that wouldn’t be enough.
“We had the lead, gave it up — kudos to (Rochester) — and we just couldn't score that finishing goal,” Franke said. “This season, it's felt like one hasn't been enough. We've tied a lot, if you see our record (6-3-5 overall, 5-1 CS8). We needed that second goal right away.”
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It was more or less a defensive battle, coach Kutscher said.
“The first half, there wasn't a whole lot going on — both ways,” Landon Kutscher’s father said. “I thought their goal just came. Nobody was getting real good looks, there was nothing anybody was missing real close: it was a very good battle. It was exactly what I thought it was going to be the entire night.”
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Major Gibson and Landon Kutscher pairing leads to Rochester CS8 win
