Good timing (09/12/05)

BERNE — Saturday’s games were ones for the clock-watchers.

Both games of the Jay County/South Adams girls and boys soccer double-header turned on goals in the closing seconds of the first half.

Jay County’s boys got a score with just 13.9 seconds left before the break in their game. The Patriots held on for a 1-0 victory over the Starfires.

South Adams’ girls waited even longer, getting a goal which came literally at the first-half buzzer. They went on to defeat Jay County 3-0.

“We came back with a little confidence,” said JCHS boys coach Trent Bailey of his team’s score late in the first half. “We could start thinking about putting 10 guys back on defense. Getting that goal right before half was big.”

The score in the girls game had the opposite effect on the Patriot team.

“I think that was deflating ...,” said Jay County girls coach Sue Rager, who watched her team fall to 2-2-2. “Some of the girls were feeling the heat. We’ve been struck with some injuries. It was just the culmination of a lot of different things that happened today.”

Both teams had a variety of scoring chances throughout the first half of the boys games. But neither was able to convert as goalies Derek Mills of Jay County and Kyle Alberson of South Adams stood strong.

Then, with time running out before the break, the ball went out of bounds on the left side of the field. The Patriots (4-3) took the throw-in with Mason Shreve eventually gaining control on the left side.

“He took on the defender man-on-man and made a nice spin move ...,” Bailey said of the play. “He got to about the six box and had a nice left foot to the near post ... It was a nice shot.”

Shreve’s score with just 13.9 seconds on the clock gave the Patriots the 1-0 lead and the only goal they would need.

“The way (SAHS coach John Abnet) sets up his team they play 11 guys on defense and it’s tough to score,” said Bailey. “I told these guys all season long we were going to be a 1-0 team, hopefully on the winning side, and it happened today.”

When asked if he thought the game would have been different if his team could have held on in the final 20 seconds of the opening half, Abnet said no.

“We needed to score,” he said simply.

Abnet said he felt like the Starfires were the better team, but they failed when they had chances.

“When we did set (our shooters) up, we didn’t take advantage of it,” he added after his team fell to 2-5. “It was really a lack of us capitalizing. ...

“There was really no reason we shouldn’t win the game. We just didn’t put the ball in the net.”

Their lack of scoring came partly because of missed shots and partly because of Mills as the Starfires had a variety of good opportunities, including several breakaways. Mills had some great saves.

He took the ball away from Adam McLaughlin on a breakaway 10 minutes into the game, and denied Darius Martens with a diving stop toward the right post midway through the opening half. He added an overhead save on a shot from Jim All with 2:03 remaining in the game to preserve the victory.

Mills finished with five saves. He and fellow goalie Nic Fejza, who did not play against South Adams, have allowed just one goal in the last three games.

“They were putting so many guys back on defense we were pushing our defenders up,” said Bailey. “That makes it tough ... the defenders have got to bust their butt and get back, and you’re going to get those one-on-ones when you’re pushing that hard forward. Mills did a nice job.”[[In-content Ad]]