After playing four games against the best youth players in the state, Troy’s 9 and under soccer team walked away runners up in the 2015 Alabama State Soccer Tournament.

“We definitely got our money’s worth,” said head coach Rick Braisted. “We were the only team in the tournament that played four games and three of those games went into overtime.”

Troy entered the tournament as the winner of District 6 and faced Athens, Dothan Red, and Prattville in pool play on Saturday and Sunday. Athens, who had won the 9U state tournament the last two years, battled Troy to a 2-2 tie at the end of regulation. Troy won the shootout after goals by Tyresse Jean, Kevin Wang, Siwoo Kim and Wes Braisted. In the second game of the day, Troy faced Dothan Red and the game again went to a shootout after regulation ended with a 3-3 tie. Nick Peerson, Wang, Kim, and Braisted all scored again to win the shootout.

Troy returned Sunday with the final game of pool play against Prattville, which turned into a defensive match that ended in a scoreless tie. Once again Troy prevailed in the shootout after Braisted denied two opposing shooters while Troy only missed one of its shots.

Troy’s defense, highlighted by Noah Dunn, Layne Galimore, Ryder Brown, Brodee Asher, and Jean, averaged less than two goals per game over the post season.

“Defense rarely gets credit for wins, but the defense and our midfielders like Madison Allen, Sean Foster, Will Reaves, Johao de la Rosa, and Alex Park were a huge part of our success,” Braisted said.

Offensively, Troy was led by Peerson, Wang, Christian Sutherland, and Nate McCrary.

After finishing pool play undefeated, Troy squared off Sunday against Dothan Blue in the championship game. Dothan had received a bye on Sunday morning due to a team dropping out of the tournament.

“It was just luck of the draw,” Braisted said. “I don’t know if it really had an effect or not.”

Early in the game Dothan scored on a free kick three yards away from the goal. An illegal touch was called after it was deemed that a Troy player intentionally kicked the ball to his goalie.

“It was a judgment call by the referee,” Braisted said. “Our goalie called the ball and our defender stepped away from the ball. There were so many players around, I couldn’t see exactly what happened.”

Troy kept fighting and would answer with a goal of their own from Peerson to tie the score at one. Dothan would later score the go ahead goal with four minutes left and held on for the win.