Wounded Warriors

Copyright 2019, The Commercial Review

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In past years the Patriots relied on one, maybe two players to provide the offense.

A half dozen found the back of the net Monday.

Jay County High School’s girls soccer team spread the ball evenly as six players scored goals in a 9-3 win against the Woodlan Warriors.

“I think one of the most effective things that has been happening lately, especially today, is our communication,” said JCHS coach Renae Laux, whose team has now won three straight games this year and pushed its winning streak against Allen County Athletic Conference opponents to 15. “I feel like they are communicating better with each other.

“We’ve been talking a lot about positioning … we have to keep working on positioning, but there’s always room for growth with communication, but I think that’s our biggest thing that we have been doing better is just our communication.”

Jay County (3-1, 2-0 ACAC) opened the scoring in the 15th minute when senior Mikele Suman converted a kick from about 23 yards out, starting a stretch of five Patriots beating Woodlan’s keeper. Less than two minutes later, junior Payton McCoy notched her first goal of the season by putting home a loose ball in the goalie box.

Gabi Bilbrey, a freshman, followed with her first goal of the night on a pass from McCoy.

Senior Halle Hill, Bilbrey and McCoy had two goals each. It was Hill’s second multi-goal game of the year.

“I think they are learning better how to position (themselves) on the field,” Laux said of McCoy and Hill, the latter of whom scored twice in the season-opening loss to Richmond. “Gabi as well is very good at knowing when to keep (the ball) and when to give it up.

“She is good at getting the ball to where it needs to go to help set up her teammates (and) her teammates are better at knowing where to be to help with that.”

Mackynzie Fairchild, a senior, joined in the scoring with her first goal of the season — the second of her career — in the 26th minute.

Hill then scored back-to-back goals, one in the 36th minute and the other in the 38th, to put Jay County ahead 6-0.

The Patriots went into half ahead 6-1 as the Warriors broke the shutout with a late goal.

After Bilbrey’s second tally of the night and team-leading sixth of the year, Mara Bader collected her third goal this season by racing down the left side of the field from Jay County’s defensive side of midfield. Bader dribbled more than half the length of the pitch and put a left-footed shot into the net to make it 8-1.

McCoy completed her two-goal day in the 64th minute, curving a direct free kick inside the left post from about 25 yards out.

Despite trailing by so much at half, Woodlan continued to fight, scoring twice in the final 40 minutes. Jay County sophomore goalkeeper Tricia Ison, who had never made more than seven saves in her first three career games, turned away more Woodlan shots than that in the second half alone.

Ison fought more than just the Warriors, battling rainy, wet conditions, and finished with 16 saves, a dozen of which were after intermission.

“Lot of work today,” Laux said of his first-year keeper. “I always tell her don’t be afraid to get dirty and she is a kid that is not afraid to get down and dirty, and I like that about her.

“She works hard. She never quits. She’s doing great. She’s a coachable kid.”