JCHS takes finale

It had been nearly 250 minutes since the Patriots last found the back of the net. So, when they scored less than four minutes in Wednesday’s game a weight was lifted off their shoulders.
And they scored again just 11 minutes later.
After three straight shutouts and nine this year, the Jay County High School girls soccer team got three goals from Sammi Compton as it closed the regular-season with a 3-1 victory over the visiting Delta Eagles.
“This was the most exciting game we’ve played,” said JCHS coach Abby Champ, whose team’s only other multi-goal game came in a 7-0 win over short-handed Muncie Southside. “All three goals were awesome goals. They weren’t easy shots. They were hard shots and smart shots.
“That’s so exciting because we’ve really been working that the last week and a half in practice.
“Everybody stepped up. The seniors got a lot of playing time tonight. It was a big win for them, and I’m glad we could do it for them.”
The Patriots (3-10-3) got their quickest goal of the year when senior Mallory Poole sent a pass to Tiffany Huelskamp up the right side. Huelskamp then passed to Compton in the middle, and she converted to the left corner of the goal for a 1-0 lead just 3:27 into the game.
Eleven minutes later Jay County was on the move again, this time with the attack starting on the left side. Freshman Alex Loy took control of the ball just past midfield and sent a perfect through ball into the 18-yard box. Compton beat goalie Kasin Spay and another Delta defender to the ball and sent it straight in to the left side of the net for a two-goal advantage.
“That’s what we’ve been working on, bringing it up the side and crossing through the center,” said Champ. “We’ve been working on it and we’ve been doing it all season, but the ball has never been placed where we want it.
Tonight we were getting the placement that we needed. It was right one their foot so they could one-touch it or two-touch it right in.”
The Eagles (7-8-1), who won six of their first eight games but have picked up just one victory since Sept. 11, closed the gap to 2-1 with 17:26 on the clock in the first half. They sent the ball directly up the middle and Kaitlin Clawson was able to get to it just ahead of JCHS goalie Mollie May (five saves) to send a bouncer into the net.
But the Patriots, who held Delta scoreless for the remainder of the game, reclaimed a two-goal advantage just over nine minutes into the second half.
On a play that originally started on another cross through the middle by Loy, Compton took control of the ball outside the 18-yard box on the right side. She took a couple of dribbles and launched a long, high shot toward the middle of the net. Spay was able to get a hand on the ball, but she couldn’t stop it as Compton completed a hat trick and gave Jay County a 3-1 edge.
“Sammi’s last shot, what can you say about that goal, that was just amazing,” said Champ, who added that she tried some lineups that worked well. “We moved LeAnn back to midfield … keeping her in midfield still gives her the opportunity to score, but it also gives us five midfielders to work with.
“Katie (Butcher) really stepped up today. That’s the best game she’s played this season. So that allowed us to move Kassi up.
“When girls step up at different positions, it opens things up, and we saw that tonight.”
The victory sends the Patriots into the sectional with some positive momentum.
They will play Norwell in the second of two quarterfinal games Monday at 7 p.m. at Marion’s Ballard Field. Jay County and the Knights played to a 1-1 tie in their regular-season meeting.
“We were a little disappointed with how we played,” said Champ of that Sept. 2 deadlock. “That was the game Lindsay (Moser) got hurt. That was LeAnn’s first game back. … We were a little flat.
“Norwell is a good team and that’s going to be a tough game Monday.”

Junior varsity
The Patriots slipped to 1-6-1 with a 2-1 loss to Delta.
The Eagles got on the board first less than five minutes into the game, but Jay County pulled even on a goal by Cydney Huey with 32:12 on the clock. Delta got the game-winning goal with 26:47 on the clock.
Huey finished with three shots on goal, and Ericka Reynolds and Friday Hernandez each added one. Brooke Reynard recorded a pair of saves.[[In-content Ad]]