JC falls 1-0 to Bruins

The Patriots couldn’t find the net Tuesday. But they showed significant improvement in playing another close game against a talented team.
Jay County’s girls soccer team lost 1-0 to the visiting Blackford Bruins, a team it lost to 5-0 a year ago.
“I was really happy with how we played,” said JCHS coach Abby Champ, whose team was the first to limit the Bruins (9-2) to just a single goal since they lost 2-1 to Centerville on Aug. 19. “Compared to how we played this team last year, compared to what their stats say, I thought that was a great game. I thought we hustled more than we have all season.
“That was the most aggressive we’ve played.”
The Patriots (2-8-3), who lost senior Lindsay Moser to a leg injury less than nine minutes into the game, and Blackford went scoreless for the first 18 minutes. But the Bruins broke the deadlock when they got the ball to their best offensive player in the middle of the Jay County defense.
Ali Norton worked around JCHS defenders Kassi Hemmelgarn and Tiffany Huelskamp, dribbling to her right to open up space for a shot. She fired the ball from about 25 yards out and got the ball to the left corner of the net past diving goalie Mollie May.
“They rely on her,” said Blackford coach Michelle Gross of Norton, who has 20 goals and five assists for the Bruins this season. “She’s a senior this year, and that’s who they look too.”
Norton, who racked up 11 shots, nearly scored again with 20 seconds left in the first half, but her attempt went just over the crossbar. She got another great chance at the mid-point of the second half, but May was able to punch the ball away near the right post.
Blackford took 26 shots in all, 11 of which were on goal, but the Patriots held them scoreless for the final 61 minutes.
The game marked the seventh time this season that the Patriots have limited their opponent to one goal or fewer.
Jay County played a lot of the game on its defensive end, finishing with three shots on goal. Sammi Compton had two of them, and the other came from LeAnn Horn.
On of the Patriots’ best scoring opportunities of the second half came with just under eight minutes to play when Maddie Bailey took control of the ball near midfield and sent a pass forward to Sammi Compton. The sophomore worked the ball up the middle and then passed left to Horn, but Blackford goalie Emily Willmann scooped up Horn’s shot near the left post.
The shutout was Willmann’s seventh of the season.
“We really wanted a goal, win or lose, but (Willmann) is every bit as good, if not better, than Mollie (May).
“And that’s really hard for me to say because I think Mollie is probably one of the best in the state,” said Champ, whose team went scoreless for the seventh time this season. “We knew she was tough. … We knew it was going to be tough to get a goal.”
The sectional draw was also held Tuesday evening, and the Patriots came away with a rematch against the Norwell Knights.
The teams will meet in the quarterfinal round of the tournament hosted by Marion at Ballard Field on Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. South Adams will take on Huntington North in the other quarterfinal on Oct. 11, and quarterfinal games on Oct. 12 will pit Eastern against Blackford and Oak Hill versus the host Giants.
Monday’s winners will play in the semifinal round Oct. 14 at 5 p.m., and Tuesday’s winners will follow at 7 p.m. The championship game will be Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. with the winner advancing to regional play at Bellmont to take on the winner of the Bellmont sectional.
In their Sept. 2 regular-season meeting, the Patriots tied Norwell 1-1. Against other sectional foes this year, Jay County played South Adams and Oak Hill to scoreless ties and lost 1-0 to Blackford, 4-0 to Huntington North and 5-1 to undefeated Marion.[[In-content Ad]]