BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports Report
HEPBURNVILLE — Troy got a measure of revenge on Thursday as they rolled past Midd-West, 5-0, during the District IV, Class AA Girls’ Soccer quarter-finals. Midd-West beat Troy two years ago at East Troy, but this time it was all Trojans.
“It feels really great,” said Troy’s Giana Renzi. “I feel like a lot of us had the revenge building up on us, so we were really exciting to come back and hopefully get this one.”
Saydi Renzo had two goals and two assists, with Alexis McRoberts also scoring twice, and Kylee Roy adding a goal.
Renzi and Raelyn Woodward each had an assist.
“It was a complete team win tonight,” said Troy coach Wayne Pratt. “Everybody had the same goal in mind, and we didn’t care how they got it done. These girls just kept passing to each other, and the person that was open took the shot.”
Troy held a 19-4 edge in shots as Midd-West struggled with Troy’s offsides trap in the first half.
“I’ve said it all year long, Jaylee Ward’s back there and she operates that defense,” Pratt remarked. “She knew what was going to work tonight, and she had her team executing perfectly.”
The Trojans had a 6-3 edge in corner kicks while Izzy Renzi made four saves for the clean sheet.
It wasn’t clean for Troy right off the bat as about the first 10 minutes they looked a little rusty after having nearly two weeks without a game.
About 11 minutes into the first half, though, the Trojans had their first real connection as Renzi found McRoberts near the edge of the box.
McRoberts’ shot was right at the keeper but it was a harbinger of things to come.
“It was only a matter of time,” Pratt said. “We’re all pumped up on energy the first 10-15 minutes of a half, but then once you get that half a step on them, and I thought conditioning played a role. We ran hard all night long, and once we found a way to break their defense we took advantage of it.”
Two minutes later Renzo found McRoberts, who snuck it inside the left post this time for a 1-0 lead with 27:12 on the clock.
Then with 19:05 to play Woodward hit Renzo in the middle of the field, and Renzo rocketed it into the corner from over 20-yards out for the 2-0 lead.
Less than seven minutes into the second half Renzo hit McRoberts for the 3-0 lead.
Renzo then scored on a corner kick at the 17:18 mark, followed by Renzi finding Roy on a breakaway to make it 5-0 with 16:30 on the clock.
“It is really good for us know that we have a bunch of different people that score, and make something happen,” Renzi said about their offense on Thursday.
For Pratt this game was more than just revenge, it was part of their goal this year of making a district final.
“The revenge factor had a little bit to do with a couple of the girls, so that’s a great motivator, but these girls have a goal in mind, and they were not going to be denied tonight,” Pratt said. “They played hard, they played well, their touches were awesome, and it was a complete team win tonight.”
Troy will face another nemesis in Hughesville in the semifinals on Monday at a place and time to be determined.
Hughesville beat Wellsboro 5-0, and knocked Troy out of the playoffs last year.
“Once you get to this level you’ve got to bring it every night,” said Pratt. “Not just physically, you’ve got to bring it mentally.”
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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING
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