Patriots' year ends in semifinal

YORKTOWN — The Patriots came out a much more energetic team than it had in the past few games.

The Huskies weren’t quite ready for it.

But the more skilled squad prevailed in the end.

Jay County High School’s girls soccer team frustrated the Hamilton Heights Huskies early, but the defending sectional champions continued their winning ways by handing the Patriots a 5-0 defeat in the Class 2A Sectional 24 semifinal Thursday night at Yorktown Sports Park.

“You could tell they had nothing to lose,” Hamilton Heights coach Travis Kauffman said of the Patriots. “They were just out here playing hard; played harder than us, cared more about the game at first and it showed on their bench and out here so I give them all the credit in the world because they got in our heads and got us frustrated and playing a game we don’t normally play.

“In the second half then, I think we settled down. We started connecting passes a lot more, trying to control that ball, making runs into lanes — the kinds of things we work on all year. They just did a good job of taking us out of that in the first half.”

No. 5 Hamilton Heights (16-1-2), which recorded its eighth shutout of the year, advances to the sectional final at 2 p.m. Saturday against the Yorktown Tigers in a rematch of last season’s title game. Yorktown (13-0-2) defeated New Castle 16-0 in the first semifinal earlier Thursday night. The Tigers and Huskies played to a 1-1 draw on Aug. 29.

Jay County coach Renae Laux, whose team ends the season 8-8-1 and has lost its first sectional game in five consecutive years, said it was the goal to come out with high energy after allowing teams to score quickly in recent games.

“They came out with great energy right at the beginning and ultimately did the best they could,” she said.

Although the Patriots spent most of the first 30 minutes in their defensive third of field, they still kept a team that was averaging more than four goals per game from putting the ball in the net.

In the 33rd minute, however, the high-powered Huskies ended the scoreless game when Jayla Logan tallied her seventh goal of the season from just inside the 18-yard box.

Then, just 42 seconds later, Kyndall Ferguson finished a stellar through pass from Cassidy Felger to stake Hamilton Heights to a 2-0 lead.

“In any sport, in any game — especially in sectionals — anything can happen,” Kauffman said of his thoughts on finally breaking the scoreless tie. “I’ve been there and I’ve been on the good and bad of anything can happen.

“The longer it stays tied the longer anything can happen. Then the second (goal) came a few minutes later. Huge sense of relief.”

Ferguson notched her second goal of the night in the 55th minute when she tucked a booming kick from 25-yards out just under the crossbar. She then assisted on a Paige Doucette goal in the 67th minute.

“We are at our best when she is an active forward,” Kauffman said. “When she is working hard she can create a lot of stuff.”

Jay County had a handful of opportunities to score but they were few and far between. Perhaps its best chance came early in the second half on an indirect kick deep in the penalty area. Lined up roughly 10 yards away from the right post at about a 45-degree angle, Eliza Bader chipped a pass to the far post but it sailed past the end line without another Patriot getting a head on it.

“Hamilton Heights is a good team, we knew that,” Laux said. “Ultimately I wanted the girls to know this is an opportunity to go out and do the best you can. In no way, shape or form do we stop fighting, whatever the score is.”