Balanced offense lifts Troy Athens over Troy
With snow and ice all over the lacrosse field, the Troy Athens offense still found a way to heat up.
The Red Hawks had six different players find the net, as they spread the ball around and picked apart Troy in a 16-9 rivalry victory at home.
“I thought we really spread the ball out well (Tuesday),” Troy Athens coach Justin Suarez said. “When guys got their open shots, they took them.”
Athens (2-2) won all four quarters against Troy (2-3) in a physical contest, as the Red Hawks used their array of offensive weapons to keep the Colts guessing.
“It was a really hard-fought
rivalry game in the elements,” Troy coach Brian Johnson said. “There was some hitting and a lot of competitiveness out there. (Athens) just did a really good job of executing on their opportunities. We just have to learn from it and bounce back.”
Troy was able to establish a lead in the early going from goals by Will Enders and Michael Lim.
However, trailing 2-1, Athens scored three straight to take a 4-2 lead that it wouldn’t relinquish.
The Red Hawks would go on a 6-1 run that lasted midway through the second to establish the tone of the rest of the match.
During the run, all six scorers for the night found the net. Travis Wright started the rally and Andrew Morgan, Aidan Burchi, Zachary LaRochelle, Jake Holter and Zachary Hanoosh all scored as well.
“Travis Wright really has proven to be the facilitator and motivator in the offense,” Suarez
said. “He really did a good job of getting us in the right plays and finding the open man.”
No single Athens player scored more than three goals. Morgan, Hanoosh, Wright and Burchi each had three to lead the team.
“I hope they see that they have the potential to do good things,” Suarez said of his team, which set a season-high in goals in the victory. “They have to continue to pay attention to the small things and execute on the fundamentals, but it shows that when we do those things that we can really become a good team.”
Troy wasn’t able to put together a run of more than two consecutive goals
throughout the match. The Colts struggled to clear the ball and consistently win in the faceoff circle.
“Clearing the ball was an issue for us (Tuesday),” Johnson said. “We have to get better at that. That leads to more possession time and gives our defense a break. We definitely want to work on getting longer and more consistent possessions in our end.”
Junior Jack Scott led the Troy efforts on Tuesday, as he scored five of the team’s nine goals.
“The effort is always there from him,” Johnson said of Scott. “He’s definitely got the talent to play at the next level. He’s a great athlete and he’s got the desire to be great.”
Lim finished with three goals for the Colts.
Troy Athens looks to put together back-to-back wins
on Thursday when they host Rochester Adams at 7 p.m.
“We are growing every week. We didn’t know much about our team coming in, as was the case for most teams this year,” Suarez said. “We are building on it with each practice and hoping to continue that throughout the season.”
The Colts will look to bounce back on Thursday when they host North Farmington. An already short preseason for lacrosse teams was made even shorter for Troy, who was delayed in the beginning by COVID.
“We had a tryout and a practice and then had to get into games, so it definitely has been tough to get up to speed,” Johnson said. “The big thing right now is keeping the guys together and focused on getting better together.”