ATHENS AVENGES SATURDAY'S LOSS — BLANKS TROY, 1-
By: Tim Birney / October 20, 2020 / Photo: Tim Birney
EAST TROY — Senior Emma Roe scored in the 16th minute, and the Athens
defense made it stand up in a 1-0 win over Troy here in NTL girls soccer
action on a rainy Tuesday afternoon.
The win is a bit of redemption for the Lady Wildcats, who dropped a 2-1 decision to Troy at home Saturday.
“I
thought we played a really tough scrappy game tonight in a tough place
to play,” said Athens coach Rich Pitts. “The girls really sacrificed
their bodies tonight to pull out a huge win.
“And, we needed to
win to, hopefully, pull off a home game in districts,” Pitts added,
noting his team is currently the second seed in Class AAA standings.
With
24:06 remaining in the first half, sophomore Ally Thoman played a
through ball from the corner, and Roe drove a shot into the net for the
game’s only goal.
“Roe and Ally (Thoman) really put a lot of
pressure on Troy's back line with speed and passing, including a great
link up for the goal,” said Pitts.
The Athens coach said it was a complete team effort against a good Troy team.
“Hannah
Blackman really did a great job putting girls in the best spots to be
successful,” he said. “Her voice is so amazing and the information she
gives is always spot on.
“Mya Thompson did everything asked of
her in multiple positions,” said Pitts. “She has been a great addition
for us this year. She works so hard and did a great job marking
(Nicole) McClellan the last 15 (minutes) of the game.
And,
Taylar Fisher and Norah Reid helped our back line shut down their speedy
forwards by doubling them,” noted Pitts. “Mia Robinson, (Hannah)
Walker, Teagan (Williams) and Kaylee (Grazul) were awesome all night
dealing with the pressure they put on us.”
“I’m super-happy getting the win tonight, and now on to districts,” added Pitts.
Athens had a 9-8 edge in shots-on-goal, while Troy had a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Olivia Tate had six save in net for Troy, while sophomore Abby Champion had three for Athens.
Athens wraps up the regular season at 9-2-1.
About the Author
Tim Birney
Tim Birney is the founder / owner of River Road Media Group. He was born and raised in the Valley, graduating from Waverly High School in 1984.
Birney earned an Associate's Degree in Journalism from SUNY Morrisville in 1986 and a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism / Public Relations from Utica College of Syracuse University in 1988. He began his newspaper career at The Daily Review in Towanda in 1989, before moving on to The Evening Times in 1995. He spent more than 10 years at the Times, the last four as Managing Editor.
River Road Media Group includes five sites in "The Sports Reports" family that cover 24 school districts in five counties: Valley Sports Report (launched Aug. 10, 2009), Tioga County (NY) Sports Report (Aug. 13, 2018), and Northern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 31, 2020); Northern Tier West Sports Report (March 15, 2021) Southern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 16, 2021).
