Early goals lift Jay Co. (09/06/05)

The Patriots ran their two-minute drill. They just did it at the beginning of the game instead of the end.

Jay County’s girls soccer team scored twice in the first two minutes, added another goal just over 10 minutes into the game and went on a 4-2 victory over the Anderson Highland Scots Saturday.

“It killed us,” said Highland coach Jason Nelson of the opening two minutes of the game. “We’ve had a tough season.

“We were 0-5 coming into this game. We play very strong teams at the beginning and we’re a very young team. We’ve got freshmen and sophomore for the most part. ...

“But, they showed a lot of heart in the second half. I was very happy with them in the second half.”

But that second half wasn’t enough for the Scots to overcome Jay County’s early surge.

The clock barely got moving before it had to be stopped as the Patriots took the ball down the left side of the field following the opening kickoff. Saffron Redwine dribbled to the end line and then sent a pass across the front of the goal.

Highland goalie Whitney Wash looked ready to scoop up the ball, but it rolled right past her leaving a wide open shot for JCHS senior Abby Schmiesing. The score came with just 23 seconds elapsed in the game.

Less than a minute later Schmiesing struck again. This time she did it without an assist, driving toward the right post and then firing a shot past a diving Wash to the left corner of the net for the 2-0 Patriot advantage.

“Abby just seemed like she was open every time she got the ball,” said Jay County coach Sue Rager, whose team improved to 2-1-2 and 1-1 in the Olympic Athletic Conference. “... It was just one of those things where I think she saw the opening and took it.”

Cassandra Huelskamp was on the spot later in the first half when Wash failed to corral a bouncing ball in the goal box. Huelskamp took control of the rebound and ripped a shot past defender Brittney Hailton to the left corner.

Her goal with 29:19 remaining in the first half gave Jay County a 3-0 lead which it would never relinquish.

Highland (0-6), which had been shut out in each of its previous five games, did manage to make things interesting. It pulled to within 3-1 when Courtney Barker beat Tequila Guntle on the left side and snuck a slow roller past goalie Abby Loy.

Alexandra Hammel’s score from 25 yards out with 12:40 remaining in the second half pulled the Scots to within one, but that was as close as they would get.

Tequila Guntle notched Jay County’s final score with 6:21 to go in the game to put Highland away.

“Overcoming that hump of the first five games (is hard),” said Nelson. “Once (Jay County) got that third goal we started playing. I don’t know what it was, but we had our spark ...

“I thought this was a very even match-up. If we had been able to overcome that first couple minutes it would have been an excellent game.”

Despite the attempted comeback by Highland, the Patriots dominated the offensive statistics. They took 32 shots compared to just 10 for the Scots, including eight — four in each half — from Redwine.

Guntle took seven shots, scoring once, and Schmiesing had five with a pair of goals.

“They all work really well together and they’re passing that ball forward,” said Rager, who had 10 different players take shots in the game. “... We’re actually passing and receiving passes. They were finesse passing (today).”

Loy had five saves for the Patriots in the first half, and Huelskamp added three as she took over goalie duties at halftime.

Four of Highland’s shots on goal came from Barker. Ashlan Allison added three.[[In-content Ad]]