Troy Strikes First But Falls To Montoursville In District Opener

By: Chris Manning / October 29, 2026

HEPBURNVILLE - Troy struck first but Montoursville rallied with three unanswered goals to beat the Trojans, 3-1, during District IV, Class AA girls soccer action Wednesday.

Haylie Grove scored out of a scrum in front of the goal to put the Trojans up, but the Warriors had back to back girls late in the first half to take a 2-1 lead.

In the second half they added another goal, then held serve the rest of the way.

"We had an intensity drop, and then we couldn't get it back," Troy coach Wayne Pratt said. "That's exactly what we talked about at halftime. In high school sports, once you lose that momentum it's really tough to get it back. They tried hard, I can't complain at all. They gave everything they had tonight, but Montoursville got the shots and the goals that they needed."

Montoursville had a 16-3 edge in shots, and 8-0 advantage in corner kicks.

Izzy Renzi had six saves in net for Troy, with Emma Mickley coming in to get three saves of her own.

Montoursville had the first real chance at a goal at the 36:30 mark as a free kick into the box found the foot of a Warrior, but her attempt was wide.

Troy's first threat was at 30:15 when a Giana Renzi cross found a streaking Raelynn Woodward, but her shot was wide.

Then came the Troy goal, which started with a long Renzi shot that hit the crossbar.

The ball went straight up into the air, and when it came down Grove and Montoursville keeper, Abby Strassner, fought over it. Strassner over ran the ball while her defense collapsed.

Grove, though, was able to get her knee on it, and push it into the goal for the first score of the game.

"I was hoping they would show up," Pratt said about taking the early lead. "I know they were fired up on the bus ride here, and then when they warmed up and took the field. I knew they were going to be aggressive, and when the ball went in, I thought, 'OK, we're here.'"

It was a wake-up call for Montoursville, who began to press harder once they went down.

At 15:20 a redirect off a corner kick went wide, then at 14:45 Izzy Renzi made a diving save.

The Warriors would break through at the 11:15 mark as Kinsley Schon hit Regan Aguirre on a give-and-go, with Augirre's shot over the outstretched arms of Renzi to knot things up.

Two minutes later it was Kenzie Lundy finding Schon on another give-and-go to make it 2-1 with 9:17 on the clock.

Before the end of the half Renzi came up with two more big saves to keep it a 1-goal deficit.

In the second half Warrior Marleigh Bainbridge hit a corner kick into the 10 where Khaya Bennett headed it into the net for the 3-1 final.

With the loss Troy will say good-bye to their seven out going seniors.

"They've done great things," Pratt said about his seniors. "They have four NTL titles, they've gone to states - that's something we haven't done before. I think tonight, just the whole picture of, 'wow, it's over for them.' I think that's what hurts more than anything. They know they played a whale of a game tonight, and I know the coaching staff couldn't be more proud of them."