Troy draws in exhibition match

The Troy Trojans women’s soccer team prepared for the 2024 season last Saturday with an exhibition against West Georgia at the Troy Soccer Complex. Although the match ended in a 0-0 draw, Troy has a lot to look forward to before its season opener.

“We started really brightly,” said head coach Stuart Gore. “We created problems, and we kept them in their own half a lot.

“We were able to get some freshmen to start in the second half. Overall, I felt good. We didn’t concede a goal. Even though we didn’t score, a draw is better than a loss.”

Throughout the first 30 minutes, the Trojans controlled the flow of the match. UWG struggled to break Troy’s high press and when the team did, the Trojans’ midfield swarmed the Wolves to regain possession.

Although Troy dominated the opening half, they struggled to find any real scoring chances. However, the Trojans were robbed of their best chance of the match when Wolves goalkeeper Siani Jones made a great save on Delaney Wells’ header off of a corner.

After play resumed in the second half, tempers began flaring in the heat, and UWG sophomore Tatum Tishler earned the first booking of the match after a physical tackle led to a yellow card. There were not many opportunities for either team until extra time.

In the first four minutes of extra time, UWG had multiple shots on target but senior goalkeeper Une Hebnes Georgsen denied the Wolves of three consecutive shots before the ball was cleared by the Trojans’ defense.

Senior defender Olivia Simpson’s presence was felt throughout the entire game. Simpson started the match at right back for the Trojans, and she single-handedly stopped several of UWG’s attacking chances that would lead to many counter-attacking opportunities for Troy.

“She’s so experienced,” Gore said. “She played in the SEC and she’s one of the fastest players in the country and she takes no prisoners.

“She’s the worst person to track because you just see her number disappearing because you are never getting near her.”

The Trojans’ attack was held scoreless, but freshmen Hailey Phillips and Mia Jackson showed flashes of the impact that they will have in the squad this season. The pair of attackers made multiple runs behind the Wolves’ defense, won several corners, drew fouls and created a handful of scoring opportunities for their teammates.

“We have got to create more scoring opportunities,” Gore said. “Of course, there are some things that we have to tidy up on defense, but now it’s all about creating goal-scoring opportunities.”

Although the match did not exactly pan out how Troy wanted it to, the team can’t worry about it for too long. This Thursday, August 15, the Trojans will be starting their regular season at 6:00 p.m. by welcoming Eastern Washington to the Troy Soccer Complex. All Troy students can get into the match for free with their Troy University Student I.D., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.