Patriots pull away

Three goals in a matter of less than four minutes put the game out of reach.
Alex Abbott, Brandon Poore and Alex Dunn scored consecutive goals in the second half to extend the Jay County High School boys soccer team’s lead to five on the way to a 7-3 victory over the visiting Muncie Southside Rebels.
The teams will play each other again on Oct. 5 in the semifinal round of the Class 2A Sectional 15 tournament at Muncie Central.
“We were just trying to keep them playing hard and working on the things they need to keep doing,” said JCHS coach Alan Bailey, whose team improved to 8-3-3 with its seventh win in its last eight games. “I told them a team like this could surprise them. We gave them three goals that we shouldn’t have gave them …”
Still, Jay County never trailed in the game thanks in part to Alex Abbott getting the Patriots on the board in a hurry. The freshman wasted no time, scoring just 1:08 into the game when he sent the ball into the net after a deflection by goalie Salvador Rocha-Borrero.
Abbott also scored the first JCHS goal of the second half after Southside’s Isaiah Bradley had closed his team’s gap to 4-2. That tally came off a through ball from Alex Dunn as Abbott got to the ball, continued past defender Selby Norman and scored with 20:54 left in the game.
A few minutes later Dunn sent a corner kick in from the left side and Poore jumped high over Norman to head it into the net. And then the juniors switched roles with Poore assisting on a goal by Dunn at the 16:38 mark that extended the lead to 7-2.
“He’s playing well,” said Bailey of Alex Abbott, whose eight goals this season are second on the team only to Dunn’s 12. “Most of the kids are playing well right now. … They’re playing good front to back. Abbott’s always got the pressure on the ball, always sees the field well.”
While Bradley scored all three goals for the Rebels, six different players sent the ball to the back of the net for Jay County. Aaron Loy was there to follow a Dillon Ainsworth shot that ricocheted off the crossbar at the 29:33 mark of the first half, and Ainsworth added a goal of his own from about 18 yards out with 19:43 on the clock.
Evan Ryder converted a header off an Adam Abbott corner kick for the final goal of the opening half.
Bailey said he’s looking forward to his team’s final two games of the regular season, which will be at home against Liberty Christian (8-2-2) and Oak Hill (10-2-2). One of Oak Hill’s two losses came by a 3-0 score to Marion, which defeated Jay County 6-0 Thursday.
“The next two games will be our test for sectional,” said Bailey. “I would like to see two really highly competitive games out of us. … I’d just like to see us go out and play like we did against Bellmont. That game, (a 2-1 victory), we were on. … That’s where we need to be at.”[[In-content Ad]]