Speedy sophomore

There were no questions about speed on the offensive end.
The concern for the Patriots was whether they would consistently be able to get the ball to their scoring threats.
Seven goals in the season opener provided the answer.
Alex Abbott outran the Muncie Central Bearcat defense over and over Tuesday, scoring four times to lead the Jay County High School boys soccer team to a 7-2, season-opening victory.
“That was a good win,” said JCHS coach Alan Bailey, whose team tied Central 3-3 to open the 2011 season. “The kids really stepped on the field and played well. We pretty much handled the ball like we needed to, like we’ve been preaching for two solid weeks. And they just played better than my expectations for that first game. …
“We had a lot more opportunities to score too. We hit some posts and some bars.”
Jay County (1-0) played most of the game on its offensive end and broke through in the 15th minute after earning four straight corner kicks. Zane Shreve, who finished with three assists, took the last of those corners from the left side with the ball squirting through the defense to sophomore Ian Miller, who converted a shot to the left corner to snap the scoreless tie.
From there, Abbott took over.
The sophomore, who finished among the top 10 freshman in the state in goals last season, tallied the Patriots’ second goal on a breakaway just over three minutes later.
He added another goal off a pass from Alex Dunn, who took the ball away from the Bearcats’ Mica Hill, to make it 3-0 at the half.
Abbott added two more goals after the intermission, giving him nearly half as many as he had in his entire freshman season (nine).
“That’s impressive,” said Bailey of Abbott, who also had an assist. “He’s more than capable of that. He’s such a game-smart kid. He’s sees everything well and can set himself up.”
Abbott’s speed, and that of the Jay County offense overall wreaked havoc against the Bearcats throughout the game. The Patriots repeatedly got breakaways and one-on-one opportunities against freshman goalie Skylar Lovett.
“We had some good one-on-one plays when they had somebody right in front of them,” said Central coach Shea Hill. “We just didn’t have the speed to go with them on a lot of those balls over the top and through balls …
“(Lovett) made a ton of fantastic saves. … Skylar had a great game for us. You look at that stat sheet and you’re going to see seven goals and you’re just going to think, ‘Wow, that wasn’t a good game for the goalie,’ but for the number of one-on-ones that he had, that’s going to be tough for any keeper …
“It’s just a very young team, kids who haven’t played together a lot. And we’re doing some experimenting here in the beginning of the season as far as what we’re going to do in the middle of the field and especially the center back area. We had a couple of guys back there that would normally play different positions for us … because we don’t have quite everybody with us today.”
The Bearcats were playing without senior Travis Persinger and sophomore Hunter Fitzgerald, who had not participated in enough practices to be eligible to play.
After needing nearly 15 minutes to get on the board in the opening half, Jay County wasted no time in the second. Colton McCombs, a senior, notched his first goal of the season just two minutes after halftime, and then Abbott scored to push the advantage to 5-0.
A crossing pass from the right side by Kaelin Jewell led to freshman Colton Compton’s first career goal before Abbott scored for the fourth time.
Muncie Central (0-1) finally got on the board on a long direct kick by senior Andrew Dowdle that deflected off the crossbar and in. Freshman Chase Clasby scored with 14 seconds remaining for the final margin.
“That’s important for this bunch of kids,” said Bailey of the win. “They need that builder, that confidence … It was good for them. We can build on that.”[[In-content Ad]]