Late goal lifts Jay

BERNE — South Adams’ boys soccer team controlled the second half Saturday, as senior Marco Vaszquez completed his hat trick to tie the game with Jay County at three.
But it was a cross attempt by Jalen Ryder in the final minutes that went over the arms of an outstretched SAHS goalkeeper McGerran Clouser to give the visiting Patriots a 4-3 victory over the Starfires in Allen County Athletic Conference action.
Ryder, a Jay County senior, stole the ball just inside midfield, dribbled up the right sideline and sent a right-footed cross into the center of the field.
“I was trying to cross into Zaaron (Lee), but the wind was on my side and it just dropped right in the back of the net,” Ryder said of the game-winning goal, his second goal of the season.
Ryder and the Patriots (3-4-1, 1-2 ACAC) were able to net the game-winner despite giving up a two-goal lead and spending most of the second half on their defensive end.
Trailing 3-1 at halftime, South Adams coach Luke McClung, a Jay County High School graduate, told his Starfire team if it could score in the first 10 minutes after the break, it would change the dynamic of the game.
South Adams (1-3, 0-2) started the second half on the mission of scoring early, and it took nearly 11 minutes for Vasquez and the Starfires to cut into the deficit.
Brian O’Donnell sent a pass from midfield to Vasquez, who cut behind the Jay County defense and sent a left-footed shot past Jay County goalkeeper Nathan Hamilton for his second goal.
Less than four minutes later, Vasquez finished his hat trick when his shot from 25 yards out deflected off JCHS defender Zach Chaney and into the net for the equalizer.
“Since I moved him to center-mid, he’s been playing really well,” McClung said of Vasquez. “He’s distributing the ball and he’s a finisher.”
But South Adams wasn’t able to finish the opportunities it had as the game progressed. After already converting one corner kick — Vasquez netted his first goal in the 27th minute when he headed Manuel Moreno’s corner past Hamilton — the Stars had three more opportunities that came up empty in the final 20 minutes of the game. And, O’Donnell had a wide-open shot at the top of the 18-yard box in the 61st minute that sailed over the net.
“It was frustrating because I felt like we outplayed them quite thoroughly in the second half,” McClung said. “The last 15 minutes we just stopped shooting. We had chances and the guys were just passing up shots.”
As for Ryder’s game-winning goal with 5:24 left to play in the contest, McClung said it came down to the inexperience of Clouser in the net.
“That’s the case where (Clouser) had never played goalie before and he didn’t know how to play that ball,” McClung said, adding that Tyler Sprunger, South Adams’ No. 1 goalkeeper, went down with a knee injury earlier in the season.
Much of Jay County’s offense this season has gone through senior Alex Abbott, who had a team-high eight goals entering Saturday’s matchup with South Adams. Abbott, who JCHS coach Alan Bailey moved back to midfield allowing him to help create offense for the Patriots, did just that on Saturday.
Nathan Heitkamp scored his first goal of the season in the 11th minute on a pass from Abbott. Heitkamp, a junior, won a 50/50 ball at the top of the penalty box, got control of the bouncing ball and sent a shot into the back of the net to the left of Clouser.
Two minutes later, Abbott sent a free kick into the 18-yard box, in which Angel Perez, a JCHS freshman, buried a header for his first career goal.
And, in the final 10 minutes of the opening half, Abbott notched his ninth goal of the season on a rocket from the top of the 18.
“We need to spread (the ball) around,” Bailey said. “We need to take the pressure off Abbott and give him a chance to use his play-making skills.”