Norwell eliminates Jay (10/17/05)

HARTFORD CITY — The Patriots hacked their margin of defeat in half. But the Norwell Knights still proved to be the better team.

Norwell knocked the Jay County boys soccer team out of the Blackford sectional tournament in the semifinal round for the second straight season Saturday, topping the Patriots 5-2.

“Norwell is a very good team,” said JCHS coach Alan Bailey. “They’re quick front-to-back, well-skilled. They’re a tough team, you definitely have to come to play. I thought we came to play ... the kids played hard.”

The Knights (12-5-2) went on to hand Marion Lakeview Christian its first defeat of the season 3-1 to win the sectional championship.

Three first-half goals in a span of 12 minutes gave Norwell, which defeated the Patriots 7-1 during the regular season, the advantage in the sectional rematch.

Andy Ault got the Knights on the board with 26:11 on the clock in the opening half. Aaron Klansek followed with a score one minute later, and Ault scored again at the 14:24 mark for a 3-0 lead.

Mason Shreve gave Jay County (10-6-1) its lone goal of the first half on an assist from Vlady Bjelica with 6:30 left before the break.

But the Patriots would never get closer than that two-goal margin as Klansek tallied his second score of the game just 6:30 into the second half. Jared DeArmond pushed the Norwell advantage to 5-1 midway through the second half, and Bjelica notched Jay County’s second goal for the final margin.

Despite his team outscoring the Patriots 12-3 in two games this year, Norwell coach Jeremy Steele said he felt they were evenly matched. He said his squad was able to advance because it got on the board first.

“Our passing skills were much better this game,” said Bailey of the differences between the two match-ups. “Defensively we were better, but we still came up short. They’re so quick that you have to break (them) down, you can’t run to the ball against a team like this because they will go right around you like you’re standing still. And that happened.”

That resulted in 16 shots — nine on goal — for the victorious Knights. Jay County had 10 shots — five on goal — with Bjelica accounting for two.

Patriot goalie Derek Mills finished with four saves.

The loss was the first for Jay County since Sept. 22 at Marion and just their third in their last 13 games. After losing its first two games and sitting at 4-4 at the midway point of the season the Patriots went 6-1-1 before dropping out of the tournament to Norwell.

“I’m happy with (the season),” said Bailey. “... I knew we had the potential.

“I’m really pleased with this season. It’s the second-best season we’ve ever had. I’m just proud of the kids.”[[In-content Ad]]