Tourney rivals top Jay

A two-goal defeat was not what the Patriots were hoping for.
But they did prove to themselves that they can play with the sectional favorite.
The two-time defending sectional champion Yorktown Tigers handed host Jay County High School a 2-0 defeat Thursday on Senior Night.
Still, the Patriots walked away with some positives with the tournament just a couple of weeks away.
“It’s not the outcome we wanted, but I’m super happy with our play,” said JCHS coach Abby Champ, whose team lost 3-0 to Yorktown last season. “That’s the strongest, cleanest, most mature soccer we’ve played. We passed well. …
“We made some mistakes, but I think we played with a team that at the beginning of the season we weren’t sure was going to be in our same league.
“We do feel that that’s a team we can compete with. Now we’ve got to find a way to put it in the back of the net, because that’s the only way we can win.”
Four of the Patriots six defeats — to Marion, New Castle, Centerville and 2-0 to Yorktown — have come by way of the shutout.
Yorktown (7-7) got the only goal it would need about 13 minutes into the game when it earned a corner kick.Abby Mansker, a junior, sent the ball high in front of the goal from the left side, and sophomore Katie Wolfert connected on a header to the right corner for the lead.
“It was a beautiful ball,” said Tigers coach Joe Griener. “Abby Mansker had the corner in, and one of the things we worked on yesterday is headers and it paid off for us. Katie Wolfert had a finish on it. She has made two or three connections on corners with her head.”
The score stayed at 1-0 for the remainder of the opening half, but Yorktown quickly extended its lead after the intermission.
After Jay County (7-6) pushed the ball down the field to start the half, the Tigers turned away the home team and then came on the counter attack. Beverly Brittingham broke through the defense and got a one-on-one against goalie Mollie May, sending her shot to the left corner for a 2-0 advantage.
Griener said he was happy with the way Mansker and Brittingham controlled the game for the Tigers.
“(Mansker) is kind of like a quarterback of the team for us,” he said. “She’s growing into the role. We had a big group of seniors graduate last year who were four-year starters, so a lot of the sophomores and juniors have really stepped up to fill those gaps.”
Yorktown had a chance to go up 3-0 when the Patriots were called for a hand ball in the box, but Kaley Burke’s penalty kick soared high over the goal.
Jay County had a handful of scoring opportunities, with Sammi Compton leading the way with a pair of shots on goal.
The Patriots’ best chance in the first half came off a Maddie Bailey corner kick, but Yorktown goal keeper Chappell Railey was able to come up with the save on a shot by Andrea Bruggeman.
Compton had one of her best looks with about nine minutes left in the game when she got free on the left side, but Railey denied her shot from about 18 yards out.
“We were giving them space and they were trapping the ball to their foot,” said Champ. “We were a couple feet off, allowing them to make their first move before we were able to react. So we’ve got to take away that space so we’re on top of the ball, forcing them to react how we want them to.”
May finished with seven saves in the final home game for she and fellow seniors LeAnn Horn, Tiffany Huelskamp, Nikka Chaney and Kassi Hemmelgarn. Horn had one shot on goal.
“We love our seniors,” said Champ, whose team is having its best season since 2006. “This is by far the strongest senior group I’ve coached — leadership-wise, attitude-wise, work ethic-wise. They all want to be here every single day working as hard as they can to better themselves, better the team.
“We’re so thankful for everything they’ve done.”

Junior varsity
The Patriots remained winless with a 1-0 loss to Yorktown.
Brooke Reynard finished with one save in the defeat for Jay County (0-6-3). Chelsea Russell and Madiy Mace each had one shot on goal.[[In-content Ad]]