Patriots continue ACAC redemption tour with win over Woodlan

Last year, all four of the Patriots’ losses in the Allen county Athletic Conference came by one goal.

So far this year, they’re 2-0 with their wins coming by larger margins.

The Jay County High School girls soccer team put itself in strong position to reclaim the ACAC crown for the first time since 2019 as it took down the Woodlan Warriors 4-1.

“Losing to them by one goal (last year), as well as Heritage by one goal, and then beating (Woodlan) 4-1, exactly how we beat Heritage, we couldn’t ask for a better start to conference play,” said JCHS coach Kendra Muhlenkamp. “Yesterday, one of the things I mentioned to the girls was, ‘Yes, we beat Heritage 4-1, but we have to prove to the ACAC that that wasn’t a fluke win. It wasn’t a win we got lightly. That it was a message that we’re here to play this year and we are going to start strong and end strong.’”

After some early struggles with corner kicks to begin the year, the Patriots (3-1, 2-0 ACAC) mixed things up to have freshman Raylin Hummer take the kicks from the right side. Hummer’s first attempt didn’t result in an assist, but it did get Jay County on the board. Her kick went to Jenna Dues, but the shot got saved by goalkeeper Lilly Gerig. On the rebound, Jayla Huelskamp put the ball in to give the Patriots a 1-0 advantage with 32:54 left in the first half.

In the second half, the change made a difference.

The lone goal of the final 40 minutes came at 14:45, when Hummer sent the ball from the corner to senior Morgan DeHoff, who managed to convert a header right in front of the goal post for the fourth goal of the game.

“I usually take the corners and I feel like we don’t know how to crash those yet,” DeHoff said. “So having me and Raylin switch, knowing she has a good foot and can get the ball in the air, was good and really helped us crash correctly.”

“I was kind of surprised when she (headed it),” Hummer added. “My goal for corner kicks is, I like to look forward a little bit more because normally the goalie is pushed right in the middle, so if the person in front can get it, they can get it right in there, which is what we did.”

    Raylin Hummer (right) of the Jay County girls soccer team celebrates her first career goal with Jayla Huelskamp in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Woodlan. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

The pair also connected earlier in the game. With 1:30 left in the half, Hummer got a pass ahead from DeHoff, resulting in a 1-on-1 with Gerig for the freshman. Hummer finished the play by squeezing the ball between Gerig and the left post for the first goal of her career.

“It (felt) really good,” Hummer said. “I was really hoping I’d end up getting it this game, because I just felt good and really wanted to get a goal.”

The score put the Patriots up by two.

Woodlan’s only goal came 1 minute, 7 seconds, after Huelskamp’s score. Savannah Scheumann’s physicality helped her keep control of the ball to work down field before the freshman passed to Grace Graber for the score.

With Woodlan taking the wind out of the Patriot’s sails, DeHoff knew something needed to happen for Jay County to recover.

“Our team, I feel, can play a little mentally,” DeHoff said. “I knew as soon as they scored that goal that our spirits would be down a little bit. So, our main job was to just get another goal in so we can play how we usually play.”

That happened after Huelskamp got fouled at the 30-yard line, giving JCHS a free kick. DeHoff executed the kick over Gerig’s head to reclaim the lead and give Huelskamp an assist.

Muhlenkamp was impressed by the play of her young and less-experienced players, as Jay County had to navigate Saturday without defender Emma Hatzell (injury) and midfielder Aixa Lopez (illness). Muhlenkamp specifically complimented the freshman on the front line (Hummer, London Lloyd and Brilyn Willmore), defenders Tessa Frazee and Ariel Beiswanger and defensive midfielder Raylah Newton.

“We’ve got a lot of new faces that are getting a lot of minutes, after losing our seniors last year,” Muhlenkamp said. “They are really allowing us to fit some pieces that are missing and some pieces we didn’t have last year.”