Patriots three-peat

HARTFORD CITY — Players came running off the field, arms raised, sharing happy hugs and chest bumps along the way.
The 0-6 start, six shutouts and 4-11 regular season are now a distant memory for the Patriots. They are sectional champions again.
Overcoming a 1-0 deficit Saturday, the Jay County High School boys soccer team picked up its third straight sectional championship with a 3-2 victory over the Wapahani Raiders in the tournament at Blackford.
“I’m really excited, considering its my senior year and we win the sectional after having a rough season,” said defenseman Garrett Krieg. “It means a lot to us. The season didn’t really go as planned, but we still worked hard and came out on top in the sectional.”
Wapahani (9-8-1) took the lead just over six minutes into Saturday’s game, but it didn’t take the Patriots long to respond.
Just two minutes after Seijin Buckles’ opening goal, Alex Dunn chipped a pass up into the 18-yard box. Colton Bartlett beat goalie Derrick Marvin to the ball, using a header to keep it alive, and Dunn followed up to knock it into the open goal.
“We weren’t even worried about it at all,” said Bartlett, who scored three goals during the Patriots’ 4-3 comeback win over Wapahani during the regular season. “We knew we could beat them. We did before, and we were going to do it again.”
The score remained tied for the next 18 minutes before Jay County took advantage of another open-net opportunity. Marvin tried to grab a crossing pass from the right side, but the ball got past him and Dylan Swingley charged in near the right post to easily top it in for a 2-1 lead.
“We stayed and watched the (sectional semifinal) game the other night, and we know their goal keeper is really aggressive,” said JCHS coach Alan Bailey.
“We told our boys, ‘When something is going toward him, attack him.’ And that’s what happened. He got a couple of unlucky bounces and we were able to put it in.”
The Patriots added their third score just two minutes later when Alex Dunn worked the ball into the box on the right side. He got near the end line and then chipped a pass back and in front of the net.
Colton McCombs nailed a shot that glanced off of Marvin’s left hand and into the back corner with 11:47 on the clock.
“That was a beautiful play,” said Bailey. “That’s something you work on all year long, and you’re glad to see when it finally happens.
“We were passing well. Our midfield passing was eating them up.”
Wapahani needed less than a minute to pull within a goal in the second half as Brandon Williams pushed right through the middle of the Patriots’ defense and scored to the right corner. But the Raiders never found the net again as Dillon Ainsworth made several saves in the final 20 minutes.
“We made a good run at it, but we just couldn’t get the finishing touch,” said Wapahani coach Randy Bertram. “Their goalie, I have to give him credit, he was good. He did a good job, and he covered his box well.
“We changed up our goalie (in the second half) and put him up at forward. He’s the fastest man on the field. That helped us some. We got some good looks. I don’t know if we had done that in the first half if we would have won or not, but he’s also our best goalie, so he’s pretty valuable both places.”
Jay County, which picked up an extra win Friday when New Castle announced a forfeit because it had used an ineligible player, is now 7-10. It will play Pendleton Heights (7-11), which upset Liberty Christian (11-5-1) in the sectional championship at Anderson Saturday 2-1. Yorktown (9-8) will play Norwell (8-9) in the first semifinal match at 5:30 p.m.
The Patriots will be seeking their second regional title in three years, having won the 2008 crown with victories over Muncie Central and Anderson. They lost 1-0 in overtime to Muncie Central in the regional semifinal round last season.
Bailey said he was proud of his team’s effort, especially in overcoming the slow start to the year.
“That was the game they needed to play,” he said. “We knew it was going to be an aggressive, hard-fought game, and they stepped up to the challenge.
“At the beginning of the year if we got down one we dropped our heads. Today we just stayed with it. We figured out we are a (good) soccer team.
“I’m just proud of the effort they gave me. It’s been fun. It started out rough, but … they stepped up.”[[In-content Ad]]