Patriot defense slips up

A game can change in a matter of seconds.
For the Tigers, it took 23.
Yorktown scored to break a tie in the opening moments of the second half Thursday, and the Jay County Patriots were unable to respond as they fell 2-1 in the battle of girls soccer sectional rivals on Senior Night.
“Huge,” said JCHS coach Giles Laux of the goal that put his team behind for good. “It was a mental breakdown. We weren’t in position.
“At halftime we talked about staying mentally tough, because I thought our first half was our best half of soccer yet this season. We had a letdown, they took advantage of it, took the momentum away.”
The Patriots (5-3-2) tried to take control as they scored first with 8:37 left in the opening half, but visiting Yorktown needed less than four minutes to notch the equalizer.
And then immediately after halftime, the home team’s defense got lost.
Senior Katie Nixon slipped behind the Jay County back line and found herself all alone against goalie Lilly Rogers. She fired a high shot that Rogers was able to get her hands on, but the ball had enough momentum to carry into the net and put the Tigers on top.
“It was a little bit of luck in the beginning honestly, but you know what, we kept putting pressure on the whole time,” said Yorktown coach Tim Ashton, whose team evened its record at 6-6-1. “Our team’s conditioned. I think they were worn out a little bit.”
Though the Tigers never scored again, the early second-half breakaway was a harbinger of things to come.
Yorktown, which has lost all of its Hoosier Heritage Conference games this year but is 6-1-1 in the remaining contests, got repeated breakaway opportunities in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Sophomore Hannah Rapp and Nixon led the chart, with each having a shot saved by Rogers and another fly just wide of the goal.
Seven of the Tigers’ 11 shots on goal came after the intermission while JCHS managed just one in the final 40 minutes.
“We were running out of gas, and we just weren’t playing our kind of soccer,” said Laux. “We were chasing the ball too much, and we were letting the passing lanes stay open that way.”
The first half was far more evenly matched, with Jay County grabbing the lead after more than 31 minutes of back-and-forth action. Freshman Hannah Phillips took control of the ball in the middle of the field on the Patriots offensive end and slipped through a perfect pass to Lucy Laux. The sophomore took her shot in stride, zipping it into the left side of the net past diving goalie Tyrah Bell.
The assist from Phillips followed her first career goal Tuesday in a 3-3 tie with Delta. Laux’s tally was her team-leading 16th of the season.
“(Phillips) brings it in practice. And with Emma (Laux) being out I told her she’s going to have to do our center mid,” said Giles Laux. “She’s soccer smart. That’s a big part. And patient. … She’s just excited and she helps make things happen.”
JCHS had another opportunity to score on a pass from Gabbie Mann to Lucy Laux three minutes later, but when they didn’t convert the Tigers flipped the field. Rapp got the ball heading toward the left post, and then slowed up to wait for help when she couldn’t get past the defense. She dropped a pass to junior Lizzie Smith, who hit a high shot that was out of the reach of Rogers and slipped under the crossbar to tie the game.
Emma Laux started along with fellow seniors Sophie Bader, Mariah Bailey, Alli Ruiz and Mann, but played only a few minutes before being pulled from the game. She suffered an ankle injury Sept. 17 against Bellmont and the timeline for her return is questionable, with her dad and coach saying his focus is to have her healthy come tournament time.
He fully expects to see the Tigers again in the sectional, as the teams have built a postseason rivalry by beating each other in the title game in four straight seasons. Yorktown won the first two of those match-ups — 3-1 in 2011 and 3-2 a year later — and Jay County has taken the last two each by a score of 1-0.
Although this week resulted in a tie and a loss versus sectional opponents, Giles Laux said he and his players remain confident as they head toward the tournament. The IHSAA had its boys and girls sectional tournament draws earlier today.
“I feel real good. The girls do too,” he said. “We know we’re the team to beat, and we plan on winning. We’re going to work hard to win. It’s going to be a lot of fun and we’ll see what happens.”