One first-half penalty kick was enough to lift the Central-Carroll girls’ soccer team to a 1-0 victory over a short-handed Troup High squad Thursday afternoon at Callaway Stadium.

Already missing a handful of key players with injuries, Troup received another blow when one of its senior midfielders went out with an injury in the first half.

The Lady Tigers hung tough after the penalty kick and didn’t allow another goal, but they were unable to find the net themselves.

“The girls are playing as well as they can for the circumstances,” Troup coach Jase Crenshaw said. “I don’t think any of us saw that we would be here at this point in the season. But they’re not giving up. They’re playing as hard as they can.”

The Lady Tigers (3-8 overall) have dropped their past four games, and they’re 1-4 in Region 5-AAAA.

“The girls are playing so well whistle to whistle and giving it their best,” Crenshaw said. “You can’t fault them for the situation they can’t control with the injuries that have taken place with the team.”

As for the younger players who have had to fill in, Crenshaw said “it’s a lot of great experience for some of our freshmen and sophomores.”

Troup will try to get things going in the right direction when it visits Callaway today at 5:30 p.m.