Sports
Trenton Varsity Barely Beats Alumni Soccer Team
The Trojan varsity soccer team squeaks out a 2-1 win Tuesday night over the Trenton alumni team in a fun and surprisingly thrilling game.
So much for blowing over the old guys.
The Trenton Trojan varsity team found themselves in a dogfight, one that saw their opponent hit the crossbar three times in the last minute of the game, before surviving with a 2-1 victory.
"It was a corner kick that came right to me and I just couldn't get it down enough," said Pete Shrake, 1993 Trenton graduate whose header came oh-so-close to sending the game to overtime with 20 seconds on the clock. "It was a lot of fun though. It was fun giving them a scare like that."
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Granted, it was an exhibition game that doesn't count for anything, and both sides admitted that the referees were giving the old guys some breaks. But according to Trojan coach Tony Ciarlo, you're supposed to beat a bunch of guys who hadn't kicked a ball in years.
"I'm really surprised at how well they played to be honest. I did not expect it to be this close," Ciarlo said. "And those last ten minutes--let's just say I'm glad that wasn't during the season."
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The Trojans got two goals in the first 15 minutes of the game. From then on, it was a competitive back-and-forth battle that saw both sides struggle to put the ball in the net. At about the 10-minute mark, the alumni turned up the heat. The former Trojans got a goal with about five minutes left in the game and all of the sudden it was ball game.
In the final minute of the game, the alumni got about five great looks inside the box, three of which hit the crossbar. In fact, the game ended with a scrum in front of the net where the Trojan goalkeeper dove on the ball on the goal line.
"I really was impressed with the guys tonight," said Bernie Turner, who coached what he guessed about three-quarters of the alumni team in his 13-year tenure as the first coach of the Trenton soccer program. "Some of them haven't changed much. Some of them have. But for me, watching these guys play so well together and the passion--it honestly gives me goosebumps."
In the end, Ciarlo said the Trojans will take the good and the bad to prepare for the start of their season this Friday at Allen Park.
"I learned a lot tonight," Ciarlo said with a smile. "We've got to work some things out."
