9/9 Most Valuable Thoughts - Troy/CCHS Girls Soccer

CCHS 6, Troy 2

The first battle of Troy this season, this one on 7^th Ave, turned into more of a beatdown than a battle straight from the opening minutes. Floyd vs. Manny turned into Floyd vs. reading, and the home team was the Harry Potter book, thanks to Alexis Riffelbach (sounds like a Hogwarts house), Madison Purcell, and a concerted effort from everyone on the field.

Let’s pretend music played during games, like it was King of Kings. It would’ve been 2-0 before the first song was over. Riffelbach started the onslaught with a goal off a Purcell assist about 2 minutes in (no scoreboard, so times are approximate). Before I had the chance to finish recording that goal, Lauren Drake added another off a fine strike (I think my fellow soccer heads would call it that) on a direct kick from 20 yards out. Purcell broke into the scoring column herself using her speed not long after, and CCHS grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes. Not backing down, it was Theresa Stinson’s turn to tally, booting one through from deep out on the right side 2 minutes later to bring Troy within a pair of goals at 3-1. It would get no better for them, though. Riffelbach beat the defense in the 19^th minute to make it 4-1, and then the game turned into a Milli Vanilli record. Riffelbach beat the defense in the 19^th minute to make it 5-1. Yeah. Goals 2 & 3 of her hat trick came just 30 seconds apart – the 2^nd off a nice feed from Purcell. Troy GK Lauren Paravella nearly made a phenomenal diving stop on one of those goals, but was just an inch too short as the ball went into the corner of the net off her fingertips. Troy evened play for the back half of the first half and may have even had the better of possession, but they weren’t able to draw any closer. Purcell completed CCHS’ scoring with around 25 minutes left to play – this one on a feed from Riffelbach to make it 6-1. Carlee Lockrow, surely the sparkplug in Troy’s win over Stillwater that I was around for last week, did the same for a long stretch of the 2^nd half in this one, but it was surely too little, too late. She had a nice left-footed finish to make it 6-2 in the late stages, but there would be no more.

Damn. The Crusaders showed they have the firepower to score with almost anyone. They did it early and often, and it was 3-0 before Troy could even think about settling in. The Purcell/Riffelbach attack was dominant. 5 goals & 3 assists between them, assisting on each other’s goals. The Catholic Central keeper wasn’t tested often because of the defense’s ability to thwart any opportunities before they made it that far. CCHS also started the game playing physical, and it took the better part of the first half for Troy to match that physicality. They were much better off once they did. Lauren Paravella did well in goal for Troy – not looking at the goals scored, she had to make a lot of plays. She made 11 legitimate saves on SOG and controlled possession on non-saves 11 more times. A lot of the goals scored were nearly impossible to prevent on her part. It was a matter of Troy getting jumped on and not being able to recover. You could get a little sense of the bad blood in this one from the play on the field and the chatter in the bleachers… regardless of the score, when Troy and CCHS meet up, it’s always going to be a must see.