Jay perfect in conference again (09/24/04)

PORTLAND — The conference is dwindling, but Jay County is still happy to be the best team in it.

The Patriots girls soccer team won its third consecutive Olympic Athletic Conference championship Thursday with a 1-0 victory over the Muncie Southside Rebels. They have gone 11-0 in OAC play in the last three seasons, with half of their victories this year coming within the conference.

“It feels good ...” said Jay County coach Sue Rager of another OAC crown. “The girls did well tonight. Heat was a factor tonight, but it didn’t seem to bother them tonight like it did last night [in a 2-1 win over Muncie Burris]. They played much better tonight.”

The game was dominated by the Patriots most of the way, but again they had to wait until near the end of the first half to get on the board. After getting a variety of shots through the first 30 minutes — mostly from senior Jamie Bruggeman — Jay County finally broke through near the nine-minute mark.

The Patriots (6-4-1, 3-0 OAC) pushed the ball down the field, and Muncie Southside tried to clear it but failed. Amber Champ chipped the ball right back into the 18-yard box and Sara Garringer took control.

The sophomore worked to the right around the final Rebel defender and shot back toward the left side. The ball got past diving Southside goalie Rhiannon Bonshire to the back left corner of the net.

Garringer’s score came with 8:39 left in the first half, and would be the only goal of the contest.

“I was very pleased tonight,” said Rager. “The girls did a good job of passing the ball together. They were working on it and we had a lot of shots on goal. We just couldn’t put it in.

“We dominated. We kept the ball on their half of the field most of the time. Our midfielders really did a nice job tonight.”

Jay County dominated the shooting statistics, finishing with 24 shots on goal compared to just six for Southside.

Bruggeman took 10 shots, including six of the Patriots’ 10 in the first half. Garringer finished with four shots, including her score, and Jessica Heitkamp and Abby Loy each took three shots.

Bruggeman and Lexie Hosier each had opportunities to give the Patriots a bigger lead thanks to hand balls by Southside.

Bruggeman took a penalty kick at the 24:01 mark of the first half, but Bonshire punched it up and off the crossbar and was able to come up with the save.

Hosier got her penalty kick eight minutes into the second half. Her shot went off the crossbar and bounded back toward the field. Hosier slammed it back into the net, but the goal was waived off because Hosier was not allowed to touch the ball a second time unless it had been touched by another player.

Jay County also had a variety of other opportunities to score as Bruggeman had several solid shots saved. She also had a bunch of good corner kicks go for naught, and Angie Hilgeford had a first-half breakaway opportunity on which her shot went wide left.

Bonshire made 21 saves for Southside, surviving the pair of penalty kicks to keep her team in the game.

“Rhiannon — I can’t ask for any better of that girl,” said Southside coach Don LeBlanc, whose team is now 0-4-3 on the season. “She’s been our stopper for the last three years and she’s going to be seriously missed next year.”

Southside had far fewer chances to score, and couldn’t get the ball past the Patriot goalies when it did get shots off.

Abby Loy made three saves for Jay County in the first half, and Chelsea DeBoy matched her with three more in the second half.

Molly Habich took four of the Rebels’ six shots, two in each half. Kelly Cable had the other two shots, one in each half.

“We just couldn’t finish,” said LeBlanc. “That’s been part of our problem this year.

“Overall, I felt the effort was good.”

Jay County continues its run of six consecutive home games and will try to extend its three-game winning streak when it hosts Blackford Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.[[In-content Ad]]