NTL GIRLS' SOCCER: TROY GETS STRONG TEAM EFFORT IN WIN OVER WYALUSING (September 27, 2023)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
EAST TROY — Coming off an 0-2 weekend at the Baldwinsville Tournament in upstate New York, Troy coach Wayne Pratt was hoping his team could turn things around. They followed that up with one of their best performances of the season, beating Wyalusing 4-0 in a match-up of two of the top teams in the league standings.

“We played well this weekend, but they were pretty good teams up there,” Pratt said. “It was really important to get back in and get into that winning mode. And, you never know how girls are going to react. You can see, I let them run the game the way they wanted to run the game - you didn’t hear hardly a peep out of me on the sidelines. We’re led by a great group of captains, so it certainly got our momentum going again.”

The Rams came in with just one league loss - falling to Troy 1-0 earlier in the season - while the Trojans only league blemish was a 2-2 tie with Williamson - making this a big game for both teams.

Troy, though, got one of their best overall team performances of the season, evident by their four different goal scorers. Giana Renzi, Saydi Renzo, Addi Parker, and Alexis McRoberts all found the back of the net on the day, with Renzo and Parker also getting assists.

They kept most of the action in Wyalusing’s defensive end, which also neutralized one of the area’s top goal scorers, Ram Olivia Haley.

“That was our whole game, we had to control the ball,” Pratt said. “But, we also had to know where their scorers were, and to make sure that we have more than one defender because they’re outstanding when it comes to their offense.”

Despite a few deep runs from Haley Troy’s defense did their job.

At Wyalusing Troy’s offense got bogged down in the final third - their lone goal came on a deep kick from Alexis McRoberts. On Tuesday they were able to find the seams and to get into the box.

“We’ve been working really hard on our touches,” explained Pratt. “Once they relax they usually can hit those passes, and do those touches. But nothing is easy when it comes against the Rams. They’re a well coached team, and those girls play hard, and congrats to them. I wish them all the luck as they move towards districts.”

Wyalusing had first real chance on goal as Haley got in deep, then crossed it to Addison Bly, but her shot was over the crossbar.

After that, though, it was Troy on the attack, beating with a McRoberts free kick stopped by Wyalusing keeper Sophia Alvarez.

At the 31:30 mark of the first half Renzo hit the bar on a shot, while with 27:40 left a Parker try was stopped by Alvarez. 

At the 24:10 mark a long pass from McRoberts to Renzo got Alvarez off her line, but Renzo’s shot went wide.

Less than a minute later, though, Renzo did a give-and-go with Parker to get into the goalie box, where she finished to make it 1-0 at the 23:40 mark.

Parker nearly made it 2-0 10 minutes later on a point blank shot, but Alvarez was in position for the save.

Renzi then got her goal with 9:56 on the clock as she made a run, and hit the far corner on her shot for the two goal lead.

Troy’s final goal of the half came with 44 seconds to play when a long Parker shot from outside the 18 snuck into the far corner for the 3-0 lead.

The Rams came out with some fire in the second half as Haley got a deep run in the box six minutes in, though her shot was high. She had a free kick with 27:24 on the clock, and it found the head of Bly, but Troy’s keeper, Madelyn Seeley, caught it in the air.

As the second half wound down Haley got some open field off a Troy turnover, but her shot was just wide of the far post.

With 8:13 McRoberts showed off her leg, hitting one from 35-yards into the left corner to make it 4-0.

In the final three minutes Wyalusing had three good chances to put a point up on the scoreboard - Haley had a cross to Chloe Bennett that went over the bar, Bly had a free kick to Haley, though her shot was saved by Seeley, and, with 30 seconds left, Wyalusing had a free kick but couldn’t connect in the box, allowing Troy to get the shutout.

The Trojans out shot Wyalusing 20-7. Alvarez made 20 saves in goal for the Rams, while Seeley had five saves for the clean sheet.

Wyalusing will travel to NEB on Thursday while Troy heads to Athens in another key match-up. The Wildcats only have one league loss on the season, falling 2-1 to Troy earlier in the year.

A win by the Trojans would put them in a strong position going into the final three weeks of the season, a loss would send the standings into chaos.

“Athens is another good possession team,” Pratt said. “They’re well coached, and we really have to do our game and take the possession away from them.”

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PHOTO CAPTION: Troy’s Saydi Renzo battles with Wyalusing’s Annamary Slocum…PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING