Trojans’ offense sparks comeback win

EAST BREMERTON — Any time Olympic fell behind, its offense kicked into high gear and came along to save the day.

The Trojans erased a pair of one-goal deficits in a 3-2 victory over North Mason on Sept. 11. Hanna Troy and Gabby Luty scored goals in the span of three minutes in the second half to give Olympic its first lead and keep a perfect record intact. They are now 4-0 on the season and 2-0 in league play.

Olympic had no trouble possessing the ball — they had it for more than 70 percent of the game — but the Bulldogs cashed in on the few chances they had, and the Trojans found themselves down a goal with 20 minutes to go in the match. They blitzed North Mason keeper Morgan Mihelich from every angle.

“I thought we moved the ball well. The final pass just wasn’t there,” head coach Steve Haggerty said. “A couple of times, we took shots when we could have put it across.”

Troy tied the match at two in the 60th minute, finishing a perfect give-and-go with teammate Kiarra Richards. Troy sprinted down the middle of the field on a counter-attack and sent a perfect pass down the right side to Richards. She returned the favor and Troy buried it.

Two minutes later, Troy coralled a throw-in and sent the ball over to Luty, who unleashed a top-notch strike from 15 yards out to put Olympic ahead for good.

“I’m glad we ended up with the ‘W,’” Haggerty said.

North Mason opened the scoring in the 20th minute on a giveaway by the Trojans. Bulldogs senior Makinna Skjonsby collected the ball and fired it into the net. Skjnosby scored twice for North Mason, picking up a goal in the 51st minute after Arianna Moon sprung her free with a good pass on a counter.

“We might have lulled ourselves to sleep in the back. We got caught on a counter-attack there,” Haggerty said.

Olympic rebounded quickly. Five minutes later, Sydney Troy hit a long free kick into the box and it bounced right to the feet of her twin sister who tied the game at 1.

Olympic 3, North Mason 2

NM 1 1 — 2

Oly 1 2 — 3

First Half — NM, Makinna Skjonsby, 20th; Oly, Hanna Troy (Sydney Troy), 25th.

Second Half — NM, Skjonsby (Arianna Moon), 51st; Oly, H. Troy (Kiarra Richards), 60th; Gabby Luty (H. Troy), 63rd.

— Mark Krulish is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at mkrulish@soundpublishing.com.