Troy soccer competes in end-of-week matches
Troy soccer brought home four points over the week, beating Louisiana Tech, 4-2, at home on Thursday and tying Southern Miss, 2-2, on the road Sunday.
The Trojans had an explosive match against the Bulldogs Thursday night with their highest-scoring match of the season. Aliana Uncapher opened the score sheet and Isabella Hartofelis, Sofia Sasan and Layla Juliano each added to it as well. Taylor Richards also broke school records, securing a season-high of nine saves during the match.
This is the first time the team won back-to-back conference wins since 2019.
"I thought it was a great performance from the girls,” said head coach Jake Wyman. “I thought we started really well and could've gotten off to a bigger lead than we did.
"A great result for us, since that's two in a row now."
On kickoff against Louisiana Tech, Troy came out quick with its first shot coming from Uncapher in the 3rd minute. Uncapher ran it back again, this time scoring off a cross from Melaine Oldner. This was the 10th goal of her career and the fifth goal for her this season.
That was the only goal of the half, but Taylor Richards still had a busy 45 minutes, making five saves. The biggest one came in the 20th minute, where she tipped out a shot that was curling into the top right corner.
"Getting into halftime one-nil, I was a little disappointed that we didn't have a three- or four-goal lead, but I'm not picking on that," Wyman said. "I'm just excited that we were able to see the game out and put [Louisiana Tech] away at the end."
In the second half, Troy went two up after Hartofelis buried the ball from Uncapher on another set-piece. Troy’s two-score lead did not last long, and in the 55th minute, LA Tech would make it 2-1.
Troy and the Bulldogs added a goal to the score sheet after one other when Sasan scored to make it 3-1. Right after, the Bulldogs received a penalty kick in the box after a handball from the Trojans and scored to make it 3-2
Now at a one-goal deficit, Louisana Tech tried to equalize in the last three minutes, but Troy solidified their win after a breakaway gave Juliano the last goal of the match to make the final score 4-1.
On Sunday against Southern Miss, Troy’s 2-2 draw placed Troy in a five-way tie for eighth place with four matches left in the season. Irene Torres and Brooke Ogorek scored the two goals for the Trojans, with the Golden Eagles equalizing in the 50th and 84th minutes.
Troy opened the match with a goal in the 26th minute, after a through ball from Oldner allowed her to rip the ball past the Southern Miss keeper. Southern Miss tried its best to equalize in the half, putting up eight shots before the halftime whistle but could not. The Eagles, however, tied it after a clearance attempt gone wrong allowed Southern Miss to volley it in the back of the net.
Troy once again took the lead in the 66th minute. Brooke Slater sent the ball in off a corner, and Ogorek fired it off a rebound to put Troy up for the second time. As it came down to the final 10 minutes of the match, the Eagles found their equalizer with six minutes left of play to end the match at a 2-2 draw.
"Disappointed to not get all three points," said Wyman. "A few tough decisions went against us today.
“Had our chances to put them away and let them hang around long enough to snatch a point from it. I'm proud of the girls' efforts. It was a hot and difficult game."
Troy will be back home Saturday, Oct. 17, to face ULM in one of its final four matches of the regular season.
Comments