BOYS SOCCER: Short-handed Rochester scores late to hand Troy first loss
BY JAKE LOURIM
STUDENT CORRESPONDENT
ROCHESTER HILLS — Troy’s boys soccer team got stung in the offseason when four players decided to play for their club team this fall instead of the Colts. Fortunately for Rochester, its star hung around.
Rochester went a man down in the 60th minute of a scoreless game, but scored a breakthrough with 10:56 to go to beat Troy, 1-0, Tuesday in an OAA Red Division boys soccer match.
Sophomore Nash Popovic, who passed up Academy club soccer to play for his high school, broke loose down the right side, moved past the Troy defender and eluded goalie Ben Holland for an easy finish down the middle for the game’s only score.
The goal made it a frantic final 10 minutes as Troy tried to equalize. The Colts pushed a defender into the midfielder and both outside midfielders forward for a 3-4-3. They eventually tried to get the outside backs forward as well.
Troy senior Danny Berger twice got loose on the right flank and cut inside for a point-blank shot, but Rochester senior goalie Matt Hawes turned him away both times.
“(Hawes) came up huge,” Rochester coach Chris Purgatori said. “He’s a converted player who wanted to step up and wanted to play.”
When Hawes caught Troy senior Ian Fox’s desperate long free kick, Rochester ran off the final 87 seconds and handed the Colts (8-1-2, 3-1-0) their first loss. Troy also lost a penalty shootout in a tournament championship Saturday, but because the game was 1-1 after regulation, it counted as a tie.
This loss seemed like a letdown because Troy controlled play for most of the night, outshooting Rochester (5-2-1, 2-1-0) by an 8-2 margin.
“I thought we played really well tonight,” Troy coach Brian Zawislak said. “We’ve got to finish a chance here and there. Their goalie played outstanding.”
In the early moments and for most of the game, the Colts sent the ball to the flanks and controlled it there. But Rochester’s defense, both outside backs denying crosses and center backs marking attackers, didn’t allow Troy many scoring opportunities.
The Colts also didn’t allow Rochester into their half, keeping play on the attacking end. But they weren’t able to capitalize.
Troy senior Brandon Riddle launched a throw into the box, and Zac Doepke headed it right at the goalie. Doepke caught the deflection and fired it back at him, and freshman Mitch Guitar grabbed that rebound and shot it back, but the goalie saved all three.
“I thought we executed our game plan tremendously,” Purgatori said. “We possessed the ball, we switched the field. I liked how we pressured when we had to. We preach that we don’t have to win the ball in the middle third. We did a good job of delaying when we had to.”
The Colts’ next-best chance came in the 60th minute when Rochester mishandled a ball on the back line and Troy senior Nieem Alatassi stole it and took it downfield. He had a one-on-zero before a Rochester defender tripped him just outside the box.
“You don’t get many opportunities like that,” Zawislak said. “We need to take advantage of those.”
The official issued a red card on the play, but Fox missed the ensuing free kick and Rochester struck back 10 minutes later.
Now, Troy will have to focus on recovering from its first loss. It has the veterans to do so.
“We’re going to hit some bumps in the road along the way,” Zawislak said. “Several guys have been through this process — Zac Doepke, Brandon Riddle, Ian Fox — and it’s time for them to step up.”
(Jake Lourim is a junior at Troy High School and a member of the S.H.P. Media Group / www.northoaklandsports.com Student Correspondence Program. He is publisher of website www.troycoltsportsupdate.com and a member of the Troy school newspaper editorial staff. He can be reached by e-mail at j.lourim@comcast.net)
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