JCHS girls slam Eagles (09/13/06)

The Patriots got a respite from the storm Tuesday, and handed out some punishment of their own.

Jay County's girls soccer team scored twice in the opening 11 minutes and got goals from six different players in a 6-0 victory over the visiting Delta Eagles.

The big win came after back-to-back losses to Norwell and South Adams in which the Patriots were outscored 10-1.

"We worked on a lot of skill work last night," said JCHS coach Sue Rager. "I knew that Delta was not going to be as strong as what we played against Saturday. It always helps the girls' confidence considerably."

The Jay County squad, now 3-2-1 on the year, also faces the prospect of dealing with the Bellmont Squaws tonight. They beat Norwell 4-2 earlier this season.

"We've got a hard game again (tonight) against Bellmont," Rager said. "They're always a tough team. Technically they're very strong."

The Patriots were strong all around against Delta (2-9), serving notice of how the game would play out within the first six minutes. Sophomore Brianne Wellman picked up a long pass behind the Eagle defense leaving only the goalie to beat, and lofted a shot over Margaret Dely for the opening score.

Jay County continued to dominate the ball, and five minutes later Kayla Phillips and Tequila Guntle worked it up the left side to Sara Garringer. The senior was left with an easy run toward the left post and knocked the ball past Dely to the right corner.

Delta managed to keep the Patriots off the scoreboard for the next 22 minutes, but they struck again before halftime. Kaelee Keller sent a long pass from near midfield, Pazia Speed outran three defenders to retrieve it and fired a shot inside the right post and just out of the reach of Dely's left hand for a 3-0 halftime advantage.

"They played well," said Eagle coach Lance Engle. "They're quick. We were just a step behind."

And they stayed a step behind in the second half as Jay County matched its first-half shots on goal total - seven - and three more Patriots tallied goals.

Dana Horn came up with the first when she got to a loose ball on the right side with 24:10 remaining. She blasted a shot off the left post, and the ball ricocheted into the net.

Delta finally got a decent scoring opportunity with 16:40 to play when Lindsay Moore sent in a crossing pass from the right side. But goalie Esther Stephen got to the ball before the Eagle's Alyssa Calhoun could get a shot off, and 30 seconds later the Patriots scored again.

Stephen sent the ball right back down the field, and Tequila Guntle ran all the way to the opposite end for a score on her team-high fourth shot on goal of the game. Keller finished off the scoring with 7:31 remaining, launching a shot past Dely from about 30 yards out.

"Kaelee Keller is always relentless out there," said Rager, also crediting the defense and goalies Abby Loy (seven saves) and Stephen (seven saves) for the shutout effort. "Brianne Wellman did an excellent job back their stopping the balls. Everybody stepped it up a notch.

"It's nice to see that not just one girl is doing all the shooting and all the scoring.

"I think today the girls were able to implement some of the things we've been doing in practice. They did a better job of talking with each other."

Delta managed just five shots on goal in the game, including two from Maeci Evans.

Most of the pushes to the Eagles' end of the field came from freshman Alyssa Summers, but she didn't have enough help to get her team on the scoreboard.

"She's a hustler," said Engel of Summers. "That's all she does.

"It was the first time actually having a full team. We've had five injuries already this year. We're just trying to get our feet back under us."[[In-content Ad]]