Knights stick Patriots in second

The Patriots have had a tough time closing out games this season.

Such was the case again Thursday.

Jay County High School’s boys soccer team allowed two second-half goals in a 2-1 loss to the Norwell Knights.

“Basically I feel like that whole first half we controlled and dominated,” said JCHS coach Brad Horn, whose team had a one-goal lead at halftime but has now lost back-to-back games following Saturday’s 3-0 shutout by the Yorktown Tigers.

“We were playing not to lose rather than to win,” he continued. “That’s not going to get you far. We had mental mistakes.”

Jay County (2-4) was called for a foul inside the 18-yard box, granting Norwell (4-3-1) a penalty kick with a chance to tie the game.

Austin DeLeon, a Knight freshman, took the freebie just inside the 59th minute and put a left-footed shot to the right side of the goal. JCHS goalkeeper Ian Ruiz guessed incorrectly and dived the opposite way.

Despite Jay County having three chances to go back on top it was unable to convert. Hunter Shumaker had a 12-yard strike sail way over the goal in the 61st minute, and two minutes later Carter Henry had a close-range shot miss the frame as well. In the 65th minute, Cristian Marentes took a free kick from about 25 yards out and it too missed the net.

In the 74th minute, DeLeon and the Knights struck for the eventual game-winner.

DeLeon had the ball deep in the right corner, and he beat a JCHS defender while dribbling along the end line. Taking a sidestep to his left, DeLeon rifled a shot that hit the far post, caromed back to the other post and went in for the first multi-goal game of his career.

“Austin is very poised as a freshman,” said Norwell coach Jamie Feldheiser, who is a former soccer official. “He’s seen a lot of great defenders. He knows what he can do in different situations. His high IQ and skills definitely benefit us.”

The Patriots had two late chances on corner kicks but didn’t convert them.

Marentes put Jay County on the board in the 18th minute by continuing a play on a free ball deep in his team’s attacking third of the pitch. Inside the 6-yard box goalie’s box, Marentes was trying to corral a bouncing ball with a Norwell defender and goalkeeper Jacob Klitz.

Neither Knight was able to get a firm control of the ball. Marentes broke free of the scrum just long enough to get off a shot, which deflected off the Norwell defender and into the net.

“We probably could have netted a few more goals,” Horn said, referring to other opportunities the Patriots didn’t continue to stay with, plays like Marentes did to score his team-leading sixth goal of the season. “We have to have the motivation to continue to fight the whole entire play. Don’t give up until the whistle blows or (the play) is dead.”

Jay County will look to rebound from consecutive losses for the second time this year as it hosts the St. Marys Memorial Roughriders at 5 p.m. Tuesday, marking the end of a seven-game homestand to begin the season.

“We’ve just got to play better,” Horn said. “We just have to come out and battle with them. That is a game a tie might even be a win for us.”

Jay County’s junior varsity team also lost, 2-0.