On a warm day at The Hawk in Farmington Hills, Troy United was looking to get their first points of the MWPL season, but it was going to be a mighty task against 1927 SC, a team that came up from Fort Wayne, IN, and has had a stellar start to the season.
Coming into this game, 1927 SC was 4-0-0, the only team in the MWPL that had yet to drop points. Conversely, Troy United was 0-0-3, the only team in the MWPL that had yet to gain points.
Troy United conceded in the first 15 minutes of their past three games and hoped to end that streak.
Good news for Troy, the streak was broken. But it did come with one addition.
In the 7th minute, Matteo Philips passed the ball beautifully to Waleed Cherif, who shot the ball right past the goalkeeper, and Troy United was on the board early.
Yes, you read that right. Troy United was up 1-0 within the first 10 minutes.
Troy kept the pressure on after that goal, as 1927 SC gave them opportunity after opportunity after poor turnovers. Philips had a great chance on goal in the 17th minute, but the shot went just wide of the bar.
Four minutes later, 1927 SC equalized on a shot from outside the box that goalkeeper Yianni Kanellopoulos couldn’t do anything about.
1927 SC was now the team putting pressure on as Troy United looked shocked after conceding. Not even 2 minutes after the first goal, 1927 SC put the ball in the back of the net again, but the goal was called off because of an offside in the lead-up.
Both teams slowed the tempo down a bit as the game approached halftime, but turnovers were still a significant problem for both teams, and they seemed to turn it over to each other every other kick of the ball.
As the game entered first-half stoppage time, 1927 SC committed another turnover in the Troy United half. After a few passes, it ended up at the feet of Jacob Lee, who broke through a few defender's tackles and put the ball past the keeper, and Troy United was up 2-1 headed into the locker room.
Coming out of the locker room, 1927 SC put on early pressure to try and get an equalizing goal, and when it seemed to finally be slowing, Troy United committed a foul in the box, and the referee gave the penalty. 1927 SC put the ball in the back of the net to equalize the game again in the 55th minute.
Troy put on the pressure once again, as it was clear they were here for all three points, not just one. As the time continued to tick down, Troy had two outstanding opportunities that led to an open net in front of them, but bad bounces off the foot led to nothing as the score remained 2-2 as we entered the second half hydration break with 20 minutes left in the game.
In the 83rd minute, Troy had an excellent attacking opportunity. After slowing it down to try and build up an attack, Clayton Lafayette passed the ball beautifully to Phillips, who fired it from just outside the box, and the ball went straight into the back of the net.
The scoreboard read Troy United 3 - 1927 SC 2.
Still, with what ended up being 11 minutes still to play, Troy had to make sure they didn’t concede a late goal. Although 1927 SC had a few opportunities, Troy shut them down, and the referee finally blew his whistle after 95 minutes of action.
Troy United celebrated their first points of the season and their first win ever in the MWPL.
Troy United looks to capitalize on the momentum of their first win next week as they will face off against AIM SC at 2 pm on June 17 back at The Hawk.
Don’t forget to sign up for Troy United's first golf outing that will be held on July 14 at 1:30 P.M. The fundraiser will be held at the Sycamore Hills Golf Club in Macomb, MI.
To register for the outing, click here.
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