Mistakes costly in loss

The last thing the Patriots needed to do was make it easy for the Giants.
Jay County’s boys soccer team had four own-goals Thursday in an 8-3 loss to the visiting Marion Giants.
“We take those away, it could have been a 3-4 game or a 4-4 game,” said JCHS coach Alan Bailey, whose team has lost four in a row to fall to 3-8-1. “We just got unlucky on a few hits.”
Alex Abbott, who had two goals in the game for Jay County, put the host Patriots on the board first in the 10th minute.
David Fernandez stole the ball at midfield and kicked it up the middle to Zaaron Lee, who then found Abbott at the top of the 18-yard box. The senior rifled a left-footer at Marion goalkeeper Luke Camery, and the ball went through his legs for the opening goal.
In the 22nd minute, though, things started to fall apart for the Patriots.
With the ball deep in their zone, a clearing attempt deflected off Fernandez and past goalkeeper Trevor Moeller for Marion’s first goal.
The Giants (9-1-2) found twine by themselves six minutes later off the leg of Zach Richardson, and three minutes after that a Marion corner kick bounced among four Patriot defenders before trickling past Moeller to give the Giants a 3-1 lead.
Marion extended its advantage four minutes into the second half, but Jay County senior Jalen Ryder got the Patriots back within two on his third goal of the season.
After fighting through three Marion defenders, Ryder worked deep inside the penalty box only to have Camery deflect his shot. But Ryder was able to put a secondary shot from 10 yards out into the left of the goal past a diving Camery.
In the 49th minute, Marion went back up by three, 5-2, when Nate Mast sent a left-footed cross into the goalie box and Isaiah Smith headed it past Moeller.
After the Giants capitalized on the third own-goal by the Patriots, Abbott notched his second goal of the game — his team-leading 12th score of the season — with nine minutes left.
“The little Abbott kid, I’m glad he’s a senior,” Marion coach Jorge Berry said. “He’s a very good player.”
Marion got its final two scores in the last five minutes of the game on Adrien Howard’s second tally and the fourth own-goal by Jay County.
Despite shooting themselves in the foot a handful of times defensively, Bailey said he was still pleased with the Patriots’ effort.
“(It was) definitely the best game we’ve played all year,” he said. “We played a complete game. There was no dropping our heads when we got a goal scored on us.”