Patriot girls rout Bearcats

It’s been an up-and-down season for the Patriots following their 2013 sectional championship. But they’re happy to be on the upswing as they prepare to defend that title.
Junior Gabbie Mann scored four times Thursday and two seniors also had goals in their final home games as the Jay County High School girls soccer team throttled the visiting Muncie Central Bearcats 7-0.
The Patriots won four of the final five regular-season games to climb above .500 at 7-6 heading into Tuesday’s sectional opener against the Delta Eagles.
“I think we’ll do good,” said junior Mariah Bailey of the tournament. “I like the way we’re finishing our season.”
The finish included a 5-1 win Sept. 20 over Centerville and then a 5-0 shutout of Delta in which Jay County scored all of its goals in the second half. After a 3-1 loss to sectional rival Yorktown, the Patriots bounced back to top Blackford 4-3 Tuesday before blasting Muncie Central.
“That was motivation for us,” said JCHS coach Giles Laux of the win over Blackford, which had just one loss prior to Tuesday and defeated Yorktown 2-1 early in the season. “We knew we matched up well with them. That probably was one of our best games …
“And I still think we could have probably capitalized on a couple more opportunities. But it definitely helped propel us.
“We feel pretty good going into next week.”
Gabbie Mann continued to display her goal-scoring prowess against Muncie Central (4-10), completing her seventh hat trick of the season less than six minutes into the second half and then adding a fourth goal less than two minutes later.
Sophie Bader set up the third goal when she made a run up the left side of the field and sent a pass to a wide-open Mann near the top of the 18-yard box. Mann, who scored the game’s first two goals, charged toward the left post and tapped a shot to the left corner past goalie Jayla Scaife for a 4-0 lead.
After Catherine Dunn was fouled with 33 minutes on the clock, Mann sent the ensuing free kick to the right corner for her team-leading 28th goal of the year.
Dunn handled the rest of the scoring, with her first goal of the game coming after Mann chipped a free kick over Muncie Central’s defensive line. The senior tracked down the ball behind the defense, dribbled toward Scaife and then sent a shot to the left corner to put the Patriots up 6-0.
She converted a penalty kick for the final goal after the Bearcats were called for a handball inside the 18-yard box. Her shot to the right corner completed a run of four JCHS goals in just 3 minutes, 49 seconds, after which Laux went heavily to his bench.
“In the beginning we started off a little slow, trying to see how Muncie Central would play,” said Dunn. “And then once we kind of got used to it, we came back … and we dominated in the second half.”
Jay County played most of the game on its offensive end, with Bader narrowly missing several scoring opportunities. She was also part of the Patriots’ third goal of the game, after Muncie Central attempted to clear the ball following a Mann/Dunn run.
The junior sent the ball back into the 18-yard box, where senior Carmen Lopez was on the spot to slam home a shot just below the crossbar.
“She was excited,” said Laux of Lopez, who netted her second goal of the year. “It’s her last night on the field. … I think tonight she was more focused. She told me, ‘I’m ready for next week.’ That tells me she’s mentally playing this out. She looked good.”
Tournament play in Sectional 15 at Yorktown Sports Park will begin at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday with Muncie Central taking on the host Tigers in the first semifinal.
Jay County and Delta will follow, and the championship game is slated for 7 p.m. Oct. 11.
The Patriots won their first sectional title in school history last season, defeating Delta 2-0 in the semifinal round and Yorktown 1-0 in the title tilt.
“I’m looking forward to next week,” said Laux. “We’re taking it one game at a time. We’re Delta first.”