Troy City Falls Short on Historic Night

By Garrett Pog

At Lawrence Tech University, a humid Saturday night with many in attendance, Troy City WFC took the field with a chance to head to Chicago for the UWS National Championship. The only problem is that the Michigan Jaguars brought their A+ squad, and were firmly intent on returning the payback from Troy’s win a couple weeks ago.

Sure enough, Troy City played their hardest and still lost, a 5-1 final ended the UWS season. With many impressive results, and some really tough losses, it’s not hard to see the growth this team has made.

“We’re blessed to be in a state where there’s a lot of [soccer] talent in the area,” said Head Coach John Arndt. “When you beat teams by 5 or 6 all the time, you’re not learning anything. We’ve been able to play great competition and we’ve learned a lot as a result.”

The game got started with a bang for the home side, as the Jags were able to beat the backline twice in 11 minutes to go up 2-0. It felt like that was the wake-up call that TC needed to get themselves back into shape. They didn’t allow a goal throughout the rest of the half, and created a lot of pressure for the rest of the half. While Eva Hill (Detroit Mercy) was busy making plenty of amazing saves throughout the game, players like Kylie Cesarek (Saginaw Valley) were putting shots on goal and keeping the game competitive.

Unfortunately, nothing came alive and Troy City would still be down by 2 heading into halftime. While some players seemed frustrated, Arndt pleaded with his team to keep their head up and focus on getting the first goal. Recognizing they were on the precipice of flipping the game on its head, the team discussed tactical changes to make that happen.

Those changes worked pretty well for the first ten minutes, as they sat back and allowed the Jaguars centerbacks to make a decision rather than forcing the ball to the other players on the field. Izzy Baron (Ferris State) and Avery Sikorski (Ferris State) did wonders to force corners and service the ball into the box, but the dam still didn’t break on the goalline.

Then, while all seemed right in the world, the Michigan Jaguars found a way to outsmart the back line and score another one to add on the lead. Pouring salt in the wound, the Jags scored less than 2 minutes later.

After the home team scored another one to put the game away, McKenna Clouston (Utah Valley commit) took the game into her hands and chipped the keeper on a counter attack to score the only goal of the evening for Troy City. Though the intensity was still there for Troy City, the defense was just too much for the away team to overcome.

“It felt like we hit a wall there in the 2nd half, but there were plenty of chances to make good plays and keep it close.” Arndt came into this matchup weary of the result, but also very proud of his team for getting to this stage, calling it “icing on the cake” if they were able to win the Great Lakes Conference Championship.

Though the UWS season is over, this team has many games left in the MPSL, including a postponed League Cup Final where both Troy City squads will play each other for a trophy they all get to celebrate. That match was rescheduled to this Wednesday night, July 16th, 7pm at Evolution Sportsplex. Come out to Auburn Hills for a barnburner, and if you can’t make it, we’ll have full coverage for you on troycitywfc.com.