High School Fridays: Scotia-Glenville @ Troy (women's soccer), 8/24/18

Last year, Troy High's women's soccer team limped into the off-season after a 2-15 campaign, eliminated in the first round of the sectionals. With just two seniors on this year's roster, coach Justin Haviland knows his team is a work in progress.

The school's website didn't bother updating their schedule to reflect a schedule change that had been announced at least a couple of weeks ago on Schedule Galaxy, the new go-to website for Section 2 sports. Troy opened the 2018 season facing one of the elite teams in the Foothills Council, Scotia-Glenville. The JV game was originally scheduled for a 4 pm start, but was moved up two hours to 2 pm, meaning the varsity game was moved to 4 pm from its original 6 pm kickoff.

It was not a good day for Troy all around. The student volunteers manning the press box either didn't know how to operate the scoreboard, specifically the game clock, or just weren't fully invested or interested in the job at hand. Worse, there was no adult supervision, thirteen days before class is in session for the new season. Twice in the first half, and once in the second half, the officials and some fans had to prod the volunteers to start the clock. Not good.

Unlike Troy, Scotia's roster is not available online, so I can't tell you who scored the goals for the Lady Tartans. What I can tell you is that the Lady Tartans played outstanding defense, cutting off offensive running lanes, and contesting virtually every pass and shot. Troy left some holes on defense, and it proved costly. Scotia led, 1-0, at halftime, then added a pair in the second half to ice the game, opening the season with a 3-0 verdict.

Troy will spend the weekend working on their defense, hoping it tightens up in time for the Suburban Council opener Tuesday afternoon vs. Ballston Spa. In a case of karmic balance, the start time for this game has also been changed. Originally, the JV's would hit the pitch at 9 am, with the varsity to follow at 11. Now, each game moves up two hours, with the JV's at 11, and the varsity at 1 pm. After that, coach Haviland's club will have a week off before their road opener at Guilderland.