By Garrett Pog
They did it!
After many tough losses in the start to their MPSL and UWS seasons, the Women’s Football Club of Troy City (1-1) took those lessons to heart and pummeled Lake St. Clair (0-1) 8-1 to earn their first win in the club’s history.
“It’s good to see the ball go into the net finally, and play like they know how to play. Getting this first win out of the way is important,” said Head Coach John Arndt.
From the opening whistle, the Troy City strikers went to work, as both Jada Rivera (Milwaukee) and Amanda Palmer (Grand Valley) recorded some shots on goal, but it was the excellent service from Alanna Earl (Adrian) to Reese Carmody (Ferris State), who hit a no-look back heel kick to Rivera, who smacked the ball in for the easy score in the 17th minute.
After the game, many players and the Head Coach said this was their favorite of the game. “That first goal of the game really set the tone for this match,” Rivera commented.
“It’s a Soccer IQ goal, she had the ball and knew where her teammates were, it was a beautiful goal,” Arndt added.
The highlight plays would continue for Troy City, as Madi Bajis (Saginaw Valley) would score next, handling the ball and toying with her defender just inside the box, before using her left leg to swiftly knock it in in the 21st minute.
Arndt would sub in the lot of players sitting on the bench, but the pace of play just kept going. Sammi Springer (Oakland) would create her own counterattack, zooming past the defender and stealing the ball in the final third to give her an easy 1-on-1 goal on her first touch of the season.
Lake St. Clair wouldn’t simply give the game away though, as some nice touches gave them opportunities towards the goal, but none going past the hands of Eva Hill (Detroit Mercy). She wouldn’t allow a single goal in her time between the pipes.
Looking to make an exclamation mark over the first half, Sydney McMillan (Ashland) and Rebekah Delia (Ohio Northern) would drive down the pitch, before the former would set the latter up to give her an easy goal going into halftime.
With many firsts for the club, this also marked the first time Troy City WFC would score multiple goals in a game and in a half. The message from HC John Arndt was simple: “We want to stay consistent...you scored 4 goals this half, let’s score 4 more.”
They did indeed.
The only hiccup from Troy City came early in the 2nd half when a misplayed defensive challenge allowed Lily Tiplady (Siena Heights) to have a 1-on-1 with Emmy Rodger (Lourdes), and she scooted it past the keeper to give Lake St. Clair their only goal of the game.
Lake St. Clair also switched Goalkeepers at the half, and their new keeper did not have a lot of time to get settled, as 2 goals were scored in back-to-back possessions. The first came from Jada Rivera off of the assist from Reese Carmody for the second time this game, with the next goal being prophesied by John Arndt just after the Rivera goal.
“It would be nice to see Amanda [Palmer] score one.”She did indeed, this time connecting with Jada to give her an easy tap-in from close range.
Alanna Earl also wanted to prophesy a goal for her, mentioning at halftime how it had been a couple years since her last goal. On the next possession for Troy City, she rocketed a shot from outside the box that hit the top of the woodwork, before bouncing out of play. The quest for her continues.
As for Troy City, the quest for another goal would end about 10 minutes after they scored the last one, as another drive down the field from Jada Rivera would set up Madi Bajis perfectly, as Rivera recorded a hard shot on goal to deflect off the keeper’s chest, which created an excellent rebound goal for Bajis.
The rotations continued, and from the opening whistle to the end of the match, the possessions were super quick for Troy City. They were able to move the ball into space with ease, and had no trouble creating opportunities for themselves. When Lake St. Clair had the ball, Troy City gave them no room to breathe, forcing mistimed passes, or just stealing the ball away before LSC had time to think.
This kind of play continued, as another hard shot on goal would allow Sydney McMillan to score off a rebound goal, making that 4 goals scored in a 16 minute timespan during the 2nd half.
The confidence continued to exude from the bench, but not unlike any of the other games I’ve seen from this team up to this point. Even though they had some tough losses, they knew that there was a performance like this in them.
The final whistle sounded, and after shaking hands with the other team, Troy City WFC promptly celebrated their first win in club history.
“I feel like after the first couple of minutes we got accustomed to the way the other team was playing. Once we started to build momentum, we could keep beating their back line over and over again. We started going on runs, and it just clicked,” Bajis said postgame. She added, “Our first couple of games were rough because we never played together and we were figuring things out, but I would say not to underestimate us.”
There’s something to say about a team that faces tough competition early in the season to prepare themselves for easier opponents down the road. When 4 of your first 5 matches are against the Legends, Jaguars, and Hawks, you can really get a good look at where you need to improve as a team. I asked Arndt about this.
“It’s kind of like Michigan State Basketball, they play a really hard non-conference schedule to get themselves prepared down the line, it’s the same for us. Whether I meant to set the schedule like that or not, I don’t know. We’re battle-tested, it’s been a trial-by-fire for our first team, but we didn’t fall apart, and hopefully it’s going to get better throughout the season.”
Troy City will have a tight turnaround, as they will play the Michigan Burn at Evolution Sportsplex this Thursday, June 13th at 6pm. There could be some added tension to that game, as there are many players on Troy City’s roster who played for the Burn last season. HC John Arndt credited some tired legs being the cause for the loss last Thursday against the Michigan Hawks, so they will look to avoid the same case this week.
You can follow Garrett Pog on X and Instagram @itsGarrettPog. You can email him at garrettpog@gmail.com for any inquiries.