Ousted by Indians (10/12/06)

HARTFORD CITY - Matthew Drinkut kept his post-season party going Wednesday. Marcus Robinson joined the celebration.

Each scored a pair of goals for the Anderson Indians, who eliminated Jay County in the semifinal round of the Blackford boys soccer regional by a 4-1 score.

Drinkut has scored nine times this season, with four of those goals coming in tournament play. He scored one goal apiece in each of Anderson's sectional wins before putting two on the Patriots in the first half Wednesday.

"He has been huge in the tournament," said AHS coach David Ray. "He's been telling us all year he's going to come big. He talks a big game, and apparently he plays in big games. He's been carrying us through this tournament. He's been playing real well."

The tallies by Robinson were his first of the season.

Anderson (13-3) advances to play New Haven (14-5) in Saturday's regional championship game at Blackford at 11 a.m. New Haven defeated Delta 5-1 in Thursday's first semifinal game.

The loss for Jay County ended the best tournament run in the school's history. The Patriots avenged a regular-season loss with a 4-1 win over South Adams in the sectional semifinal round, then won their first ever sectional championship with a 4-2 victory over Blackford Saturday.

"I'm totally proud of my kids," said JCHS coach Alan Bailey. "There's nothing to be ashamed of. They left it on the field. It was a total effort.

"They're a good team. They're definitely the best team we've seen this year.

"I have total respect for these kids. This senior class is great ... the leadership they left behind hopefully will start a legacy ..."

Just 12:02 into the game, Drinkut got the favored Indians on the board. Jay County's Derek Mills, one of 10 seniors on the squad, made a couple of solid saves in the opening minutes, but Drinkut fired past the goalie from about 25 yards out for a 1-0 lead.

Within a minute the Patriots (9-7-1) had a chance to tie the game.

Luke McClung took a quick free kick from the left corner and several teammates had shots from within the 18-yard box, but they were all deflected.

"Two times down the field we had it down there we were pounding it and pounding it and pounding it and couldn't get it in," said Bailey. "It was no fault to the kids, they played their butts off."

After Jay County missed its chance to tie the game, the Indians grabbed a two-goal lead just before the midpoint of the opening half.

Hayden Hitchcock took a free kick from near midfield on the right side, sending the ball all the way through to Drinkut on the left side. The junior redirected the ball inside the left post and past Mills for the 2-0 lead with 21:57 on the first-half clock.

The Patriots found new life early in the second half when Luke McClung scored off a Trey Dunn assist. McClung's fourth goal of the season and second of the tournament put Jay County back within one with more than 35 minutes to play, but Robinson responded less than four minutes later.

With Anderson clinging to the one-goal lead, Fernando Urneta pushed up the left side. He sent a perfect pass, splitting two Patriot defenders to find Robinson streaking toward the right post. Mills tried to beat the sophomore to the ball, but came up a few steps short as Robinson slammed it home to the left corner.

Robinson scored again with 24:08 to play, punching in a loose ball after Jay County missed several chances to clear it.

"He came up big today," said Ray, whose team opened the season with 10 straight wins. "There have been a lot of people who have been playing out of their minds in the tournament.

"We played well at the beginning, but they're clicking at the right time. This is the peak of the season right now. They're playing their best soccer. Every game they're playing even better."[[In-content Ad]]