Boys fall in semifinal

YORKTOWN — The Patriots were overmatched in their third game of the season.

A 5-1 loss, the first of the year, was the result.

Fast forward six weeks later, and what a difference 14 games can make.

A night after being favored and scoring a half dozen times, the Jay County High School boys soccer team played the underdog role and put up a fight but lost 1-0 to the New Castle Trojans on Wednesday in the Class 2A Sectional 24 tournament semifinal at Yorktown Sports Complex.

“It’s just a good opponent,” said JCHS coach Brad Horn, whose team ends the season 10-7, which was the most victories for the team since the 2009 squad won a dozen games. “I knew coming in we were going to have to play our best game and they were going to have to be off for us to have a chance.

“I would say, I truly think we outplayed them. They had a great (goal in the) first half. I believe we outplayed them but it comes down to where they are a more skilled team.”

New Castle (11-6-1) advances to the sectional final at 2 p.m. Saturday against the host Yorktown Tigers, who defeated Muncie Burris 1-0 earlier Wednesday night.

It took less than six minutes for the Trojans to end the scoreless tie. Eddy Yousake fired a corner kick from the right side, and Jarel Coatie headed the ball past JCHS goalkeeper Ian Ruiz.

“The service was great,” New Castle coach Tyron Rainer said. “We attacked the ball really great there so definitely really pleased with it.”

Horn commended Coatie’s skill on the play.

“That goal — athleticism — that’s what scored that goal,” he said. “We don’t have a kid that could have reached (Coatie’s) full height. He is great with the ball on his head 

Despite the goal, however, Jay County fought tooth-and-nail throughout the remainder of the half. Gavin Muhlenkamp had a header sail over the crossbar. Cristian Marentes, who was the hero in the opener Tuesday night with four goals, bodied a Brayden Sprunger cross that was saved. 

Sprunger then had a free kick from about 36 yards out get tipped over the crossbar, and Marentes also had a freebie turned away.

Late in the half, two more Marentes attempts at the net missed the frame.

“The whole time you could just see, from the bench to the players on the field, we had a feeling we were going to put one in,” Horn said. “Unluckily, it just didn’t happen. We had the opportunities — we never really had any full-on opportunities where we should have made it, but we had opportunities.”

Rainer, who said he was fortunate to enter halftime with the lead given the way Jay County was playing the first 40 minutes, attributed the difference in the Patriots as compared to earlier in the season was they were rising to the occasion in a win-or-go-home situation.

“I think sometimes the moment, right?” he said. “You get to this point and no one wants their season to end. It makes some guys get this next level of playing hard and so it makes some guys maybe cower just a little bit. I think it’s always in the back of the guys’ mind.”

Momentum in the second half flipped in favor of New Castle, but Jay County’s defense, led by seniors Johnny Gierhart and Brinnin Wasson, kept most of the pressure off of Ruiz. 

The Trojans had four corner kicks — back-to-back on two occasions — and weren’t able to convert. Yousake had a booming kick miss right, and Coatie sent a header wide as well.

Horn thought his team played well even though it was in its defensive zone for most of the final 40 minutes.

“Even when we were on defense in the second half I didn’t ever really feel threatened,” he said. “We still played the game well, we did what we were supposed to we just could not put the ball in the net.”