Troy Edges Athens, 1-0, On Second Half Penalty Kick
By: Tim Birney | NTL Sports | September 6, 2026 | Photo courtesy Matt Patton
EAST TROY - Gianni Renzi scored on a penalty kick midway through the second half to lift Troy to a 1-0 win over Athens in a key early-season NTL girls soccer battle here Saturday afternoon.
"I thought the girls played a great game," said Athens coach Rich Pitts. "We haven’t been that close with them in a while.
"I'm a little disappointed in the outcome and how it came about," noted Pitts. "But that is the game and the girls fought all the way until the end."
Read more on Valley Sports Report.
Tim Birney is the founder / owner of River Road Media Group. He was born and raised in the Valley, graduating from Waverly High School in 1984.
Birney earned an Associate's Degree in Journalism from SUNY Morrisville in 1986 and a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism / Public Relations from Utica College of Syracuse University in 1988. He began his newspaper career at The Daily Review in Towanda in 1989, before moving on to The Evening Times in 1995. He spent more than 10 years at the Times, the last four as Managing Editor.
River Road Media Group includes five sites in "The Sports Reports" family that cover 24 school districts in five counties: Valley Sports Report (launched Aug. 10, 2009), Tioga County (NY) Sports Report (Aug. 13, 2018), and Northern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 31, 2020); Northern Tier West Sports Report (March 15, 2021) Southern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 16, 2021).
