Jay finishes with shutout

The Patriots entered Thursday’s final game of the regular season with eight wins.
Some of those have been close games, some blowouts. All but one was a shutout.
Jay County High School’s girls soccer team kept that theme going as it blanked the Muncie Central Bearcats 7-0 in celebrating its Senior Night.
The eighth shutout of the season — the others were against Heritage, Woodlan, Norwell, Oak Hill, South Adams, Centerville and Delta — came despite being without the services of four-year starting goalkeeper Lilly Rogers because of a concussion.
"That was a mental toughness on the girls to overcome," said JCHS coach Giles Laux, whose team improved to 9-3.
Rogers hopes to be able to play in Tuesday’s sectional semifinal game against Yorktown, a team the Patriots lost to 5-2 Sept. 22.
The defensive back line of Megan Smith, Alexus Liette and sisters Briana Muhlenkamp and Emily Muhlenkamp along with a litany of substitutes mostly kept the ball away from back-up Shelby Caldwell. They didn’t allow any serious scoring opportunities as Caldwell faced just two shots on goal, saving them both.
"When you’ve got a great defense like that in front of you, it takes off a lot of the pressure," said Laux. "That’s what I told her. … 'You’ve got one of the best defenses around.' … If I had a defense to pick, I would pick them. And I said, 'You’re going to be fine.' And she smiled and said, 'OK coach.'"
It took the offense a little while to get on the board, but once the first goal found the back of the net they kept on coming.
Junior Lucy Laux got that first tally after senior Stormi Canterbury drove the ball deep into the right corner. She then sent a pass into the center, where Laux was waiting to chip it high to the right corner for a 1-0 lead 21 minutes, 48 seconds, into the game.
The next two goals came less than two minutes apart, with Breea Liette first finding the net off of an assist from Laux and then Muncie Central’s Sarah Smith deflecting an Alex Bader corner kick into the net for an own goal.
Liette made it 4-0 off of another Laux assist at the 3:42 mark of the first half and narrowly missed a hat trick 1:30 later.
Laux, Canterbury Kendra Muhlenkamp added tallies in the second half for the final margin.
Late in the game Giles Laux sent in a mob of substitutes, finishing it off with his seniors, minus Rogers because of the injury, and their sisters on the field.
"If there’s one word, it’d be 'phenomenal,'" said Laux of Kayla Ferguson, Muhlenkamp, Smith, Canterbury, Liette and Rogers. "They’re just a great bunch. … What they bring to the game, to practice, to the team — the mental toughness, the stamina, the grit, the never-quit (attitude) — on and off the field they’re a wonderful bunch of girls. I’m going to miss them dearly."