TROY – Costa Ameli scored twice and Marko Dzebo assisted on all three goals as the Troy Athens Red Hawks won their season opener 3-0 over the Northville Mustangs on Thursday night.
Ameli put the Red Hawks on the board with 20:09 to play in the first half when he got on the end of a through ball and slotted a shot home from the right wing. It was Troy Athens’s first shot of any kind in the game.
That seemed to wake up an Athens team that had been rather lackluster early on. The Mustangs were by far the more dangerous team prior to Ameli’s goal with the better of possession — and especially of territory — early on. The first 20 minutes were played almost entirely in the Red Hawks’ half of the field, though the Mustangs managed just three total shots for the trouble. Still, Northville looked the more likely team to score early on, particularly through sophomore Blake Badiru, whose speed caused some problems early for the hosts’ back line.
Photo gallery of Northville vs. Troy Athens in a boys soccer contest
But once Ameli put Athens on the board, the Red Hawks seemed to settle down and take control of the game. Troy Athens would dominate the stat sheet the rest of the way, and while Northville goalie Connor Rayburn played well, the Red Hawks simply generated too many chances to be denied and finished two more of them.
“We were struggling to find the rhythm of the game, and they were pressing us,” Athens head coach Kirk Hodges said. “I don’t think our energy was bad, but I didn’t think that our decision-making was good enough, especially in the middle third and final third. We were just kind of scrambling as a team.
“It’s like we woke up. The switch went on, and we realized that we were better than we were playing. I just think overall as a team we played much, much better once we settled down, and I think the goal is what did it.”
Northville’s Blake Badiru (19) battles Troy Athens’ Moreno Rehkatsch during the Red Hawks’ 3-0 victory Thursday evening in Troy. (A.M. ARRICK – For MediaNews Group)
Ameli scored a right-side chip just after halftime, and then Athens put the game out of reach with 15:31 to play when Dzebo played a long ball out of the back that got over everyone’s head. Aiden Wolfe, who had just come off the bench, won the race and blasted in the breakaway attempt to make it 3-0.
Northville generated some opportunities late as both teams emptied their benches, but goalie Gavin Gelement was able to preserve the shutout.
The game was also the debut for new head coach Hodges, who is coming back to his alma mater to take over a program that made it to the state semifinals last year.
“It’s awesome. I was super excited last night. It was hard to sleep,” said Hodges, who also played collegiate soccer at Eastern Michigan and has gained coaching experience with stops including Detroit Catholic Central and the Michigan Nationals. “I thought the game was a little bit closer than the score. I thought we took our chances. We were good transition wise, and ultimately we finished our chances when we needed to.”
Next year, this game will be a league matchup, but for this year, it was a highly competitive non-league opener.
“I thought we played an outstanding first half, especially the first 20 minutes I thought that the boys played well,” Northville head coach Henry Klimes said. “Overall, I was happy. Everybody got their feet wet. You don’t want to start with a loss, but we’ll see how it goes game in and game out.”
As for this season, Troy Athens will have a quick turnaround facing Grand Blanc – another soon-to-be league member – on Saturday before opening up Oakland Activities Association Red Division play on Tuesday with a trip to Oxford.
“We play Grand Blanc for the Motor City Classic (at Atwood Stadium),” Hodges said. “We’re looking forward to it. It will be another challenge, and hopefully, we can continue to improve.” He added that, “I’m just happy to be back. I thought for a season opener, the kids aren’t even back, (that) the crowd was really good.”
Northville also opens its league play next Tuesday when the Mustangs travel to Canton to take on the Cobras.