NTL GIRLS' SOCCER: TROY TOPS WILLIAMSON FOR PLAYOFF WIN (2024-10-23)
BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports ReportTOWANDA — After several seasons of playoff misfires the Troy girls’ soccer team finally broke through on Wednesday, beating Williamson 4-0 during the quarterfinals of the District IV, Class AA Championships.
“It’s just unbelievable,” said Alexis McRoberts. “We came into this year with a goal to win a district game, and just to accomplish that is so amazing, especially the season we’ve had, it’s just so amazing to keep going forward with it.”
Four different Trojans scored, finally cracking a tough Warrior defense late in the first half. They would go on to get three into the back of the net in the second half.
“We knew that we had unfinished business to just hold on to,” Saydi Renzo said. “I know we hadn’t won a district game in a while, and this team really is special, so to get that goal right before half, it was just a game changer.”
Kyah Renzo, Saydi Renzo, Alexis McRoberts, and Ella Lawton all had goals for the Trojans, as Renzo, Haley Davies-Grove, and Giana Renzi each had an assist.
“The first round has always been our Achilles’ Heel,” said Troy coach Wayne Pratt. “We tend to come up with too few goals, and tonight the girls were zeroes in right from the get go. They were relaxed before the game, and it was 15 girls out on that field, and they came to win.”
They overcame a Herculean effort from Williamson keeper Ashley Woodring, who seemingly single handily kept the Trojans out of the net for 37 minutes of the first half. She finished with eight saves in the contest.
“That goalie for Williamson, she is outstanding,” Pratt said. “It’s always a breathe of relief, it always puts the pressure back on the other team if you can get that first goal, and that’s what they did. Then, the second half, the floodgates kind of came open.”
The Williamson defense got worn down in the second half as Troy got their second goal six minutes into the half. They added another halfway through, then Lawton scored a penalty kick with just under two minutes remaining.
“It’s a tough spot to be in, coming into this game playing us,” McRoberts said about Williamson, whom they had beaten twice this season already. “I think they did an amazing job, they had an amazing season. To come out her and play as well as they did is amazing for them.”
Defensively, Madelyn Seeley and Troy got the clean sheet. Williamson did a lot of counter attacking as Troy kept their defense up high, so there was a lot of sprinting back for the Trojan backs, but they largely kept the Warriors from getting high quality shots on net as Seeley ended up with three saves on the night.
“They are amazing,” said McRoberts. “They will always try their best, and that’s what I love about them. They’re going to get back there as quick as they can, and if it happens to go through them, we have Seeley back there, so I think it’s just a great way for us to keep through this.”
It was Williamson testing out Seeley early, as a free kick by Anna Lee was scooped up by Seeley before her teammates could crash.
Just over two minutes into the contest Saydi Renzo tried Woodring with a hard, low shot that she stopped.
Eight minutes in Renzi got free on a throw in, forcing Woodring to come out and knock it away from her.
At the 23:10 mark Williamson’s Zeraya Wilson had a shot stopped by Seeley.
After that Troy turned up the pressure as in a four minute span three straight Trojan attempts were denied by Woodring.
Troy continued to onslaught into the dying minutes of the first half as a Saydi Renzo left foot attempt was just wide of the post with 4:25 on the clock.
Woodring’s biggest highlight of the night was a leaping save off a Kylee Roy shot that slipped just over the cross-bar for a corner kick with 3:30 on the clock.
However, it set up Troy’s first goal as Roy’s corner kick bounced off McRoberts to Saydi Renzo, who found Kyah Renzo all alone by the right post, where she slid it in past Woodring.
“It actually was exactly how we had it drawn,” said Pratt. “We worked on it for two nights, and that was it. They ran it to perfection, so that’s just a great group of girls that, you show them what you want to get done, and they learn it.”
It was bit ironic, scoring off a corner kick set piece, since last year, in their opening loss to Midd-West, they gave up two goals off of corner kicks.
“I was just like, I need to get a touch on that,” said Saydi Renzo. “Some sort of deflection, and I was just so glad that she was right there.”
Williamson had a last gasp attempt with two seconds on the clock as a long kick from midfield bounced over Seeley’s head, but was wide of the post.
The Warriors also had a chance to tie things up 20 seconds into the second half as a Wilcox attempt ended up just wide.
On the other end McRoberts moved up in the formation, and got enough space in the right corner of the box to fire a bullet to the left corner as Woodring didn’t even have a chance to react, making it 2-0 with 34:02 left in the match.
Troy continued to fire away as Davies-Grove had a long shot stopped by the keeper, while a Roy give-and-go to McRoberts was about a foot over the cross-bar.
Finally, with 21:04 left in the match Saydi Renzo fired about 14-yards out. Woodring got a hand on it but it wasn’t enough to keep it out of the net.
McRoberts was next to Saydi, calling for the ball, when Saydi fired that off.
“She told me that every time she calls for it I always make it,” said Renzo.
Woodring continued to get big saves in the final minutes of the match, but with 1:52 left Renzi was bowled over in the box, setting up a penalty kick.
Lawton took it, and punched in her first varsity goal for the 4-0 final.
Troy will now turn their attention to Hughesville, 1-0 winners over Montoursville, in the semifinals on Monday at time to be determined.
“We’ll definitely work on the same things we’ve been working on,” McRoberts said. “Our touches, keep getting better as a team, and going into that game with our intention to try and win a game.”
Pratt has a lot of faith he’ll get the best from his team come Monday.
“Our team has no quit,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who’s out there, they have no quite whatsoever. They don’t want to let their team down, and that’s what it comes down to. They could be dragging their leg, and they still want to stay on the field, but we have so many girls that can come off the side, and go in there, and fill in.”
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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING
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