LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock soccer is back and better than ever. The Trojans opened both their home and conference slate with a 2-0 victory over Texas State on Friday night, defeating the Bobcats for the first time in program history thanks to goals from senior duo
Morgan Smocovich and
Doro Greulich.
"Really proud of the girls," said head coach
Mark Foster. "We spoke at the start of the season about how this was going to be one of those years where it might be up and down, but we're one of the lucky teams that get a chance to play. Tonight, they put together such a consistent performance over 90 minutes and especially with our lack of match practice it was pretty amazing. It has to be in my opinion one of the best victories since Coach
Audra Larson and I have been here."
Coming into the second half even at nil each, the Trojans grabbed their first opportunity of the evening off of a free ball nearly 25 yards out. Smocovich took the kick, sending it soaring over the heads of the Texas State defenders with a beautiful curve into the right corner of the net.
"Morgan is always one of our most consistent players, we can always rely on her," said Foster. "When we are at our best as a team, she's on top of set plays and she's making things happen. We challenged her tonight to be confident and she's seeing the results."
A little over 10 minutes later, Greulich found herself taking a penalty kick inside the box, shooting a dagger straight ahead of her and just over the fingertips of the Bobcat goalie. The redshirt senior stepped onto the field 20 minutes into the game, donning the Trojan kit for the first time in over a year. Greulich was only just cleared to compete this week after battling injury over the past two years, which led to her sitting out the entire 2019 campaign.
"It's incredibly tough and such a mental challenge that Doro's been through," remarked Foster. "She's a special young lady, putting two or three hours a day in the weight room or training room. Sometimes you don't get what you deserve in life, and the last couple years she hasn't, but she stayed positive, had a great attitude, and tonight finally got what she deserved."
Little Rock never looked back after taking a 2-0 lead, fighting off six Bobcat corner kicks in the second half and putting up a balanced performance on both ends of the field to thwart Texas State's efforts. The Trojans and Bobcats came away with tied results in both the 2018 and 2019 season, and this evening marks the first official victory for Little Rock against their opponent.
The Trojans have been known as a traditionally rock-solid defensive team, with tonight being no exception. The back line put up a valiant effort throughout the match, teaming up to block two shot attempts and adding one team save to go along with keeper
Saskia Wagner's three stops.
It was the Little Rock attack that seemed to finally click this evening, as the group fought to continue to create chances offensively. Seven members of the team were able to make attempts, with
Julia Edholm and
Mari Young placing theirs on target, but overall the unit as a whole looked cohesive and fluid.
The Trojans will have a little less than a week to prep for their next game, an away contest at Arkansas State next Thursday, October 1 at 3:00 p.m. Fans of #LittleRocksTeam can catch the next home match the following Sunday, October 4 at 1:00 p.m. out at the Coleman Sports Complex.
For the latest information on Little Rock Soccer, make sure to check out LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockSOC on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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