BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports Report
EAST TROY — Troy saw different goal scorers as they blanked Athens 2-0 to stay undefeated in league play during girls’ soccer action Wednesday.
Stella Rockwell had a first half goal, while Kyah Renzo scored in the second half.
“We knew it was going to be a battle,” said Troy coach Wayne Pratt. “We enjoy these types of games with Athens, it’s just two premiere teams I feel that come out here and put it all on the field. Regardless of how we feel about each other Athens is a great program. We have a great program, and to battle it out here on the field is always a treat for our fans.”
After falling to Muncy on Monday though they out shot them almost 3-to-1 Troy worked on trying to get others involved in the offense, and that effort bore fruit on Wednesday.
“We had to implement more offensive legs, and we just worked on that before this game,” Pratt said. “It was nice to see it happen.”
Troy controlled much of the field, evident by their 15 corner kicks to Athens’ four, though the Wildcat defense did a good job keeping the Trojans from piling up the goals.
“Our balls are right there on the goal,” remarked Pratt. “Kylee (Roy) did a super job on those corner kicks, we just couldn’t find the back of the net.”
The Trojans had a 10-2 edge in shots on goal as Izzy Renzi made two saves for the clean sheet.
Annika Lezak stopped eight shots for the Wildcats.
Athens would get the first shot on goal, though Roy missed an open net over the cross bar with 29 minutes to go in the first.
Just over 10 minutes later Roy hit a corner kick that found the foot of Saydi Renzo. She passed it to Rockwell, who it put inside the near post for the 1-0 lead with 18:53 on the clock.
The Wildcats had the next best chance as an Abby Burgess run ended up just wide of the frame.
Things picked up for the Trojans in the second half as a McRoberts free kick was tipped off the crossbar by Lezak.
Then, in a melee in front of the goalie box, Lezak made the initial save, with her teammates then clearing the ball.
At the 22:35 mark Saydi Renzo had a long rage bullet stopped by Lezak.
The Wildcats came closest to tying it up when Billy Wennie had a break away behind the Troy defense. Her shot got pass the keeper Renzi, but just bounced off the far post and away to safety.
It wasn’t long after that that Troy made it 2-0.
A McRoberts free kick found the foot of Giana Renzi, who passed it to Kyah Renzo for the goal with 10:07 left.
The win keeps on top of the NTL standings as they get a little break before hosting NEB next Tuesday.
“We’ve got to heal over the weekend,” said Pratt. “We’ve got three games next week, and every one of them are playing really well right now.”
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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING
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