Bearcats blank JC (10/03/2008)

While the wins aren't coming as often as they would like, there is no doubt the Patriots are getting better.

That trend continued to show Thursday in the Jay County High School girls soccer team's 2-0 loss to the visiting Muncie Central Bearcats.

During Jay County's seven-game losing streak earlier this season it lost by at least three goals six times, including three six-goal defeats. But since picking up their first win of the season Sept. 22 over Anderson Highland, the Patriots have shown how much they've improved.

They are 2-3 in the past five games, and their losses have come by slim margins - 2-0 to Yorktown, 1-0 to Blackford and 2-0 to Central.

"You can see this last third of the season, everything we worked on at the beginning of the year is really starting to come through for us," said JCHS coach Ed Wellman, whose team is 2-10-1. "We're making good decisions out there most of the time. ...

"We didn't match up well with Muncie Central's physical style of play, but we competed."

The Bearcats (9-4-1), who had nine seniors on the roster compared to just three for JCHS, missed on a penalty kick opportunity just four minutes into the game when Emily Green's shot flew high over the crossbar. But they got on the board 10 minutes later.

Casey Byrnes took a corner kick from the right side, and Arlene Rodriguez was able to get a foot on it as she fell to the ground. Goalie Mollie May dived toward the left post and got a hand on the ball, but it squirted past her and into the left corner for a 1-0 Central lead.

The same pattern played out with just under 19 minutes left before halftime as a Byrnes corner kick led to another score from Rodriguez.

"We ended up having 12 (corner kicks) on the game, so to score two is a decent ratio," said Central coach David Trimbur. "They've done well on corner kicks this year."

Although the Bearcats kept the ball on their offensive half of the field for most of the game, Jay County held them scoreless for the final 58 minutes. Freshman Mollie May made several impressive stops, including an overhead save four minutes into the second half and a diving one-handed deflection with 13 minutes left in the game.

Wellman again was complimentary of his defenders and May, who finished with 17 saves.

"Mollie May at keeper is just doing an excellent job," he said. "She's becoming the keeper that we told her she could become. She's got that confidence now.

"You see LeAnn Horn out there challenging every ball, not only on her side of the field, but she does an excellent job of helping out on the other side. And Erica Butcher ... doesn't back down from anybody.

"Kayla Phillips ... that's one of the reasons I made her a captain at the beginning of the year, to help those young players back there. She's done an excellent job."

Trimbur said one of the big keys for his team was simply keeping the ball under control, especially on a day that had wind gusting across the field.

"We're attempting to play more of a possession game, and I think today they did a good job of keeping the ball on the ground," he said. "That was our focus going into the game."

That possession game limited the scoring opportunities for the Patriots, who finished with six shots on goal. Seniors Kaelee Keller and Brianne Wellman led that effort with three and two shots respectively, and junior Loryn Horn took one shot.

Tiffany Huelskamp also seemed to be all over the field for Jay County and was one of the players Trimbur continually told his team to watch out for.

"Tiffany is one of our unsung heroes ... in fact, I made her a captain tonight because of her work ethic," said Wellman. "Any position I put her in, and I've put her in many of them this year ... she has always rose to the occasion. She's a coach's player. Tiffany will give you 100 percent no matter where you put her."[[In-content Ad]]