After dropping the last three conference games to Gaylord, Cadillac, and Traverse City West, the Trojans defeated the Wildcats by a final score of 1-0.

TCC’s constant ability to possess the ball left AHS little to no chances of netting a goal.

“We didn’t have a ton of attack in the first half, we weren’t as dangerous as we’d like to be, we struggled to find a feel for the game early on,” Alpena coach Gregg Supiran said. “In the second half, we started to figure some things out, and we really got better as a team. We were more dangerous and started to make some plays, and I was super pleased with how we played even though we didn’t finish out on top.”

The Wildcats started the game with the ball’s possession, but as soon as it entered Trojans’ territory, the ball was instantly stolen.

Reese Wisniewski chats with Alpena coach Gregg Supiran during the girls’ soccer game on Thursday in Alpena. The Wildcats lost to the Traverse City Central Trojans, 1-0.

Rarely ever did the ball make it over the midfield line, which meant Alpena had to play lockdown defense.

With the Wildcats holding the Trojans scoreless for the first 22 minutes, Central couldn’t seem to capitalize on any open net.

Just eight minutes in, Taylor Parker began as Alpena’s goalie.

Diving to her right side, completely sprawled out, Parker snatched the ball to keep the score at 0-0.

Two minutes later, she did it again.

News Photo by Owen Kinzey Faith Dragiewicz fights to maintain the ball during Alpena's girls soccer game on Thursday.

Continuously, the Trojans fired at the net, and even on a wide-open look, Central missed wide left of the goal.

Finally, the inevitable occurred.

Alpena surrendered a goal to Kylie Ball after a corner kick set her up for the shot.

Going into halftime, the Wildcats were only one goal short, but the offense would need to find possession in the second half.

Recently, Alpena’s second half proved troublesome with some early conditioning issues, but the Wildcats came out with an intensity to try to pull off the comeback.

News Photo by Owen Kinzey Reese Wisniewski tried to get the ball away from Traverse City Central players during Alpena's soccer game on Thursday.

The offense began to figure some things out and finally secured some possession with a few chances to score.

The defense also improved, but time continued to tick off the clock, yet neither team could score.

Central, once again, tried many opportunities to score, but came up short just as Alpena did.

Ultimately, the time to score ran out for both teams, ending the game in a score decided by just one goal.

“One goal cost us this game,” Coach Supiran said. “(Traverse City Central) plays really fast as a team, and we found a couple of things to improve on from tonight. It’s unfortunate to give up that corner kick, but we have to be able to respond with a goal of our own”

News Photo by Owen Kinzey Sophie Kindt kicks the ball during Alpena's home soccer game on Thursday.

Alpena hosts a soccer invite tournament tomorrow.

News Photo by Owen Kinzey Faith Dragiewicz fights to maintain the ball during Alpena's girls soccer game on Thursday.