Jay wins again (09/27/06)

For the second straight game, the Patriots left little to the imagination.

Jay County's girls soccer team erased any suspense, scoring twice in the opening four minutes Tuesday on the way to a 5-0 victory over the Blackford Bruins. It also scored a pair of goals in the first 2-minutes, 51 seconds of a 6-0 win over Muncie Southside Saturday.

The win over the Bruins was the fifth in a row for the Patriots (8-3-1) and the third shutout during the stretch. They have outscored their last five opponents - Centerville, Anderson Highland, Yorktown, Muncie Southside and Blackford - by a combined 27-6.

"It's nice," said JCHS coach Sue Rager, whose team has not lost since Sept. 13. "The girls are really up right now. I just hope we can maintain the intensity we have."

Dana Horn, a junior, opened Jay County's second straight blowout win, taking a pass from Brianne Wellman on the left side. Horn looped a shot over Bruin goalie Victoria Lee just 1:47 into the contest.

About a-minute-and-a-half later Sara Garringer plowed past Holly McIntosh, dribbling toward the left post. She went right past Nicole Parsons as well and fired a shot to the right corner.

The senior's goal came at the 36:47 mark to give the Patriots a 2-0 lead.

Blackford held the home team off the scoreboard for the next 30 minutes. A point-blank shot from Wellman was saved when it hit Lee in the face, and the goalie just got enough of a high Garringer shot to deflect it off the crossbar and over the top of the goal.

But with nine minutes left in the half a Horn corner kick from the right side led to Jay County's third score.

While Garringer, Horn and Nicole Pfeifer couldn't find an open shot directly off the corner kick, they eventually worked the ball backward and Pfeifer passed to Tequila Guntle in the middle. Guntle sent a high, arcing shot from beyond 20 yards and Lee overran the ball as it flew over her head for a 3-0 Patriot lead with 8:33 on the clock.

Horn added another score from outside the 18-yard box with 2:56 left in the opening half. She took control after a throw-in from Pfeifer and shot across the front of the goal to the left corner to push the advantage to 4-0 at halftime.

Though she wasn't credited with any assists, Pfeifer had an outstanding game passing the ball up and down the right side of the field.

"Nicole has really been coming on lately ...," said Rager. "She's anticipating a lot better.

"She's moving to the ball. I don't know, she just seems to be everywhere lately. She's filling that hole at the midfield that we were missing early in the season."

Garringer matched Horn, scoring her second goal of the game within the first 10 minutes of the second half. She took a pass from Guntle and had a clear run at the goal, shooting to the right corner for the 5-0 final margin.

Jay County out-shot the Bruins 32-3 after racking up a 28-0 shots on goal advantage against Southside Saturday. Garringer and fellow senior Caitlin Dunn each took five shots, and Wellman and Jessica Morgan each added four.

Abby Loy saved all three Blackford shots in the opening half - Sydney Willmann took two and Holly McIntosh added one - before turning over the net to Esther Stephen in the second half.

The Patriots have already secured a seventh straight season of .500 or better and the fifth winning season in the last seven years. Their nine wins are one more than last season, and just three short of the school record set in 2002.

They will close the regular season as they host Muncie Central Thursday, then have 11 days off before meeting South Adams in the Marion sectional Oct. 10. Jay County lost the regular-season meeting against the Starfires, 6-1.

"We're definitely in better shape to play them now," said Rager of South Adams. "The girls are playing better. We're in better condition than we were when we played them."[[In-content Ad]]