Patriots hold off Bruins, 2-1

Copyright 2017, The Commercial Review

All Rights Reserved

Fresh legs during the first half helped the Patriots stake a lead.

Exhaustion in the final 40 minutes nearly cost them the game.

The Jay County High School boys soccer team scored twice in the opening half Thursday and held off a barrage after intermission to defeat the Blackford Bruins, 2-1.

“I’m not saying we’re a lot better than what we’ve been doing right now, but I feel we can play a lot better together,” said JCHS coach Brad Horn, whose team improved to 2-3-2 on the year. “I understand we’re getting tired, but that’s what we’re going to be working through the rest of the season.”

Jay County junior Derrian Riojas scored the eventual game-winning goal with slightly less than 16 minutes to play before halftime. Korbin Auker — he put the Patriots on the board almost 11 minutes earlier — sent a through pass from midfield toward Ian McCombs at the top of the 18-yard box.

McCombs misjudged the ball, and Riojas, who was close by, fired a left-footed shot to the left side of the goal past Blackford goalkeeper Charlie Cranston.

“Looked like a beautiful goal,” Horn said. “But I understand (now) he kicked it and it went off the defender’s knee.

“We definitely got some luck off of it but I’ll take it. Any goal I can get I’ll take.”

From there, the Patriots had a few more opportunities but they weren’t able to capitalize.

Despite the chance to rest at halftime, Jay County ran out of gas after intermission and as a result Blackford (3-4-2) had the field slant in its favor. The Bruins had 13 scoring possibilities as compared to 10 for the Patriots.

Blackford’s best chance came 10 minutes into the second half, as Colton McNeal fired a shot from 20 yards out that JCHS goalkeeper Seth Fugiett turned away. Twenty minutes later, Zachary Willmann also had a solid scoring chance but Fugiett was again there for the save.

“Seth feels comfortable back there,” Horn said. Fugiett made 10 saves, five in each half. “That’s what he came back this summer thinking he was going to do. We tried other things but we moved back to him and I feel confident with him back there.”

Jay County continued to get opportunities to add to its advantage in the first 20 minutes of the final half, but they went unfinished.

The Patriots had multiple players in the goalie box with the ball on a pair of occasions but they weren’t able to get off clean shots.

Other instances saw cross passes and through balls that were too strong, allowing Cranston to get to them before the JCHS forwards. But just as quickly as those chances disappeared, the Patriots were back on defense fighting to keep the ball away from their keeper.

“I know we’re getting tired, and numbers wise — especially at midfield — I don’t have anybody else to put in right now,” Horn said. “I do have the wings to switch out and I do put a wing in every so often at midfield.”

Auker, who was credited with an assist on Riojas’ goal, put the Patriots out front of their sectional rival nearly 14 minutes into the first half.

Hunter Shumaker had a shot deflected out of bounds by Cranston, and Riojas took the corner kick from the right side. He sent a right-footed pass to the far post. Auker broke free from his mark used his chest to put the ball in the back of the net for a 1-0 JCHS advantage.

“Derrian crossed it in, we ran in, I saw the ball and just chested it in,” Auker said.

“I already told him that’s the way we’re going to score,” Horn said. “It’s going to be a trash ball or it is going to be on set plays. I think 90 percent of our goals this season have been off set plays or trash plays.

“He was right spot, right time and took it like a man.”

But nearly three minutes later the lead was gone, as Keaton Elkins netted an equalizer on a shot from Brown. Fugiett made the initial save on Brown’s strike, but Elkins was there to follow it in for the goal.

“I think it really got us mad and pumped us up to get another goal real quick,” Auker said. “We got that goal and tried to hold them off for the rest of the game.”