Muhlenkamp’s second hat trick lifts Jay

The Patriots’ returning striker has come into the 2024 season hot.

The third goal of his hat trick on Thursday lifted the Patriots to victory with less than a minute left.

His second consecutive hat trick is what the Patriots needed to stave off a late-game comeback by the Warriors.

Levi Muhlenkamp of the Jay County High School boys soccer team netted his second hat trick of the young 2024 season to help the Patriots take down the Woodlan Warriors 4-3, despite late game struggles in the Allen County Athletic Conference opener.

“It took him a minute, but you can see when (Muhlenkamp) gets going he gets going,” said JCHS coach Rodney Reynolds. “Man, we rely on him. He knows what he’s doing and that’s why we feel confident.

“So things don’t always go the way we want, but he figures it out. He figures out his game and how to make changes.”

Muhlenkamp had the only goal of the first half.

Sophomore Emmitt Reynolds got control of the ball on the left half of the field and passed it up to Muhlenkamp. After one touch, the senior shot from two yards inside the box and got the ball passed Woodlan goalkeeper Keaton Delagrange with 26 minutes, 49 seconds, remaining in the half. Delagrange got shaken up earlier in the half on a collision with Brenden Runyon before getting subbed out with 6:32 left in the half.

Reynolds and Muhlenkamp connected later in the game as they executed a give-and-go in a similar spot to the first goal. This goal pushed Jay County’s lead to 4-1 with 20:12 left in the game.

“I’m just focused on getting points on the board for our team, because that’s my job and I want to do my best for my team,” Muhlenkamp said. “(Reynolds and the midfielders) were big. They always know to look for me because I’ll always be there for them. I’ll be ready.”

Muhlenkamp’s other goal came about four minutes into the second half, crashing the goal after a free kick by Dylan Marentes.

The only other goal for the Patriots (4-0, 1-0 ACAC) came from Emmitt Reynolds.

Woodlan (0-4, 0-1 ACAC) just scored its first goal of the game when Jeremiah Troyer took a shot that arched over Peyton Yowell in the goal after Yowell gave the ball back to the Warriors following a save.

JCHS responded by immediately marching down the field when the ball went out of bounds on the right half. Alan Ortiz threw the ball in to Dylan Marentes, who made a touch pass to Reynolds for the score, giving him two assists and a goal.

After Jay County’s final goal from Muhlenkamp, tides started to slowly turn in Woodlan’s favor.

“I think that comes from the summer games, where we were down 0-2 and fought back to tie it 2-2,” said Woodlan coach Micheal Mast. “So, we still bring that mentality down here. … Still a little disappointed that we lost, but it was a well fought game for us being down 4-1. We put some fight into it and made the Warriors proud today.”

The Warriors found the next for the second time with under 10 minutes remaining. Osmar Gonzales got called for a foul on a hip check of Emmanuel Perez, resulting in a penalty kick. Lucas Gramajo put the ball in the bottom left past the outstretched hand of Yowell to cut the deficit to two goals.

With life breathed back into Woodlan, the Warriors quickly made it’s way back down the field with Troyer giving Dylan Fiedler a through ball on the right side. Yowell made an aggressive attempt at the ball, but Fiedler kept possession to put the ball in the net.

“They got the momentum after that PK,” Rodney Reynolds said. “I thought we went backwards. Like the defense slacked off and no communication back there and the midfielders weren’t there to back them up. At the end of the day, everybody’s got to play a position. …

“Peyton was all I heard back there and that can’t happen. The last three games we’ve been very (vocal) and you have to have that. We have to back each other up. You can’t have the negativity and you have to stay straight headed. You can’t let people get into your head and at the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to.”

Despite the late push, the Patriots hung on to win its first of four ACAC games. The next will come against Heritage on Sept. 9.