NTL GIRLS' SOCCER: MCROBERTS' FREE KICK SENDS TROY PAST HUGHESVILLE AND INTO DISTRICT FINAL (2025-10-27)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
WILLIAMSPORT — Troy’s Alexis McRoberts missed two close shots early against Hughesville, but apparently she just needed to be further away. The senior hit a free kick from 45-yards out that bounced over the keeper and into back of the net, sending the Trojans to their first District IV, Class AA girls’ soccer final with the 1-0 win in the semifinals Monday.

The win also clinches Troy a spot in the PIAA Championship bracket.

“I just went in knowing I could do it,” McRoberts said about the kick, which scored with 5:52 left in the contest. “I just wanted to put it on frame, and ended up doing it, and it went in. It was such a great feeling to be able to do that.”

This was a bit of a revenge game for Troy as the Spartans beat them 4-0 in this position last season.

“This victory was sweet,” said Troy coach Wayne Pratt. “I know last year we felt a little disrespected with the social media posts and everything after we got pretty much throttled, but we remembered it. We came back, we worked hard, and we executed tonight.”

Hughesville led in possession, but Troy’s defense held, led by an outstanding effort from freshman keeper Izzy Renzi. She had nine saves to get the clean sheet, but none were easy while two were of the phenomenal variety.

“I knew what I had to get done,” remarked Izzy. “I knew that coming into it was definitely going to be difficult, but we just wanted it so bad.”

The whole defense played much better this time around as they kept the Spartan passing attack largely outside the box while keeping Hughesville’s quick attacks to a minimum, as the shots were 8-8 though Hughesville had a 10-2 edge in corner kicks.

“I think last year we didn’t come in prepared enough,” Troy’s Jaylee Ward said. “We came in happy that were we here. We’re moving on this year; we were ready to kick butt, and prove ourselves.”

Saydi Renzo and Giana Renzi did yeoman’s work in the mid-field to get Troy their quick hitting attempts.

“I knew that we had to go in and not chase all their passes,” explained Renzo. “Just contain them in front of us, and match-up. I think we matched up really well.”

The Spartans got on the scoreboard early last year and Troy never recovered, so they were confident after taking them to 0-0 at the half.

“In the first half both us and Hughesville came out with the same amount of energy,” Giana Renzi remarked. “Once it was 0-0 at halftime we knew that we were still in the game, and could compete with them.”

The first real scoring chance came 10 minutes in as McRoberts got a breakaway 1-on-1 with the keeper, but her attempt went wide right.

Three minutes later Giana found McRoberts again but the Hughesville defense was quick to clear it.

After that it was Hughesville’s turn to put pressure on Troy. The first was a pin-point shot towards the for high corner, and the second was a low, hard shot, but both were snuffed out by Izzy Renzi.

“It just got me so hyped up,” Izzy said about the first save.

With 16 seconds left Troy was able to get off a corner kick that led to a scrum in front of the box. This time it was Hughesville coming up with the big play as Carly Converse booted away a Giana Renzi shot for a non-goalie save with one second on the clock.

The two teams continued to trade chances as Troy’s Stella Rockwell had a long shot blocked by Hughesville keeper Kalia Hack, while at the other end Izzy came up big with another save in net.

At the 19:30 mark Hack bobbled a ball in front of McRoberts, but she reclaimed it before McRoberts to get there.

The best Spartan chance likely came with 14:48 on the clock as they had a rocket hit off the cross-bar.

At 12:28 Hughesville got a breakaway but Ward was able to run her shot wide.

“I just kind of hustled back,” said Ward. “I knew they would make good runs because they’re quick.”

Renzi came up with another big save with 7:40 on the clock on a Spartan shot for the far corner.

A little over a minute later Hughesville was called for a foul just on their side of the 50-yard line. McRoberts took it and kicked the team into history.

“I had a couple feelings, and we did almost have a chance,” Renzo said about their offensive runs. “I knew that if we just kept pushing and pushing ourselves, and each of our runs that we we’re going to make something happen.”

Hughesville wasn’t quite done, Renzi made another big save with 5:10 on the clock, but the Trojan defense held. 

“They definitely had some good shots and some good looks,” McRoberts said. “But I think at the end of the day our defense, especially Izzy - our keeper - just shut them down, and I felt confident that they would do their job.”

Then came the celebration, tears and all.

“It feels amazing, beyond amazing,” Giana Renzi remarked. “We’re all just so proud of ourselves, and we worked really hard for this.”

For Pratt, whose been with the program for the better part of two decades, this achievement was a long time coming.

“This program has been built on a lot of our alumni,” he said. “They’ve been working with us and practicing with us now for the last three weeks, getting us prepared for this. They’ve been here, and without our alumni bringing this program to the level that it’s at, we wouldn’t be here tonight. So a lot of credit goes to our alumni as well as these current players that have just worked tails off.”

Now they’ll go from a very good Hughesville squad to a juggernaut in the defending district champions Central Columbia, who rolled past Warrior Run 6-1 in the other semifinal.

The game is supposed to be Thursday, but due to inclement weather may get pushed to Saturday at a place and time to be determined.

“It’s the finals,” Pratt said. “Everyone has earned a spot to be here. We’re going to do the same thing we’ve done now for the last two and a half weeks, and that is ball touches, communicate on the field, and just work together as one cohesive unit.”

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