Patriots strike goal (08/26/05)

MUNCIE — All they needed was a little push. Or a little pull, as it turned out.

The Jay County Patriots scored for the first time in three games thanks to an early penalty kick Thursday and rolled on to a 5-2 victory over the Delta Eagles in boys soccer action.

Jay County (1-2), scoreless in opening losses at No. 8 Noblesville and New Castle, got the break they needed less than three minutes into the contest.

Junior Luke McClung made a run down the left side and was battling with Delta’s Brady Ridge near the end line. Ridge stumbled as they headed toward the goal, and reached out to pull McClung to the ground.

The result was a penalty kick.

Fellow junior Scott “Scooter” Bruggeman took the free chance, nailing a grounder to the left corner past diving Delta goalie Brad Kennedy. The score, which came about three minutes into the game, broke a 163-minute scoreless streak for the Patriots.

“To finally get a goal, just get a goal ... I was glad to see that happened quick,” said Jay County coach Alan Bailey. “That first PK, that first goal breaks the ice. Then we played a good game.

“The first two games we’ve played kids that were physically way stronger than us. To finally get kids at our level size-wise ... it was just nice to get to this game. This was a much-needed win here.”

The Patriots never trailed following Bruggeman’s goal, with he and McClung providing the offensive punch.

After Delta got within 2-1 at the half, McClung found Bruggeman with a pass for Scooter’s second goal just three minutes into the second half. The Eagles quickly pulled back within one thanks to a score by Lance Summers, his second of the game, just minutes later.

That was as close as they would get, however, as Bruggeman and McClung switched roles.

With 24:45 to go in the game, Bruggeman took control on the left side and passed to McClung near the left post. McClung ripped off a point-blank shot, which deflected off Delta defender Michael Kircher and passed Kennedy for the 4-2 Jay County lead.

McClung scored again six minutes later, launching in a shot from the center of the field about 25 yards out which zoomed over Kennedy’s head.

“They’re my leaders in the middle of the field,” said Bailey of McClung and Bruggeman, who accounted for four of the team’s five goals and nine of its 15 shots on goal. “That shot Luke took was sweet from 25 yards out. That was a nice shot.”

Jay County’s other goal, scored with about nine minutes to go in the first half, came on a nifty give-and-go. Aaron Poole charged up from his defensive position and slipped the ball to Ryan Wellman near the right sideline. Wellman quickly passed back to Poole, who rifled a shot past Kennedy despite being harassed by a pair of defenders.

Bailey said he was happy with the team’s offensive effort, which also included two shots on goal apiece from Wellman and Mason Shreve, and he expects it to keep getting better.

“We’re going to score more goals,” said Bailey. “We had break-aways that we didn’t finish.”

Goalie Derek Mills finished with four saves in the victory.

The Patriots won despite being short-handed in a game which was played in temperatures well over 80 degrees. They had just one substitute on hand because of a junior varsity game at home against New Castle, and 10 of the 11 starters played all 80 minutes.

“We’ve been playing in the heat since camp, which was two weeks before August even started,” Bailey said. “These guys have been playing in heat every day twice a day, four hours, six hours a day — 90 degrees. Conditioning-wise, they’re in great shape. I knew they could all go 80 minutes. I knew that wasn’t going to be a problem.”[[In-content Ad]]