Spartans knock off champions (08/25/05)

All of a sudden, the ball just started going the other way.

Jay County was in control for most of the first 30 minutes of Tuesday’s girls soccer game, but the Connersville Spartans squeezed through for a goal with 11 minutes to go in the first half and the game was never the same. Connersville came to life from that point, parlaying its 1-0 halftime lead into the 3-1 victory over the host Patriots.

The loss marked the first in Olympic Athletic Conference action for Jay County since the 2001 season. It had won 11 consecutive OAC games prior to Tuesday’s defeat.

“Always that’s one of our goals every year,” said Connersville coach Jeff Cooley of the OAC title. “This is a big step for us. We still have two more tough matches to go, but it’s always good to get a victory up here.”

The Patriots (1-1-1) had the ball on their offensive end of the field almost exclusively in the first 30 minutes of the first half, but could not put it in the net. Then Connersville turned the tide.

The Spartans (1-1) got the break they needed when Laura Richards busted through the middle of the field, got past Sara Garringer and then tapped a pass to Rachel Malone on the right side. Malone knocked home the goal, but it was waived off because of an offside call.

The goal wasn’t off the scoreboard for long.

Less than 30 seconds later Malone got another chance and launched a shot past goalie Abby Loy from about 20 yards out on the left side. The score came with 11:02 remaining in the half and although the Patriots pulled even after the break, the momentum never left Connersville’s control.

“The turning point was scoring that first goal,” said Cooley, whose team had just four shots on goal but converted three of them. “We’ve been a team that’s struggled the last couple years scoring goals. We got so excited scoring that first goal, I think it really helped us.”

“That changed the whole game,” agreed Rager. “I don’t know if the defenders were just getting blown away or what. I honestly don’t know what happened. We just kind of fell apart.”

Jay County evened the score in the second half when Dana Horn, who scored her first career goal Saturday against Huntington North, got her first career assist. She dribbled in past Kayla McGuire from the right side and passed to Garringer, who put home the tying goal at the 28:42 mark.

Connersville reclaimed the advantage for good five minutes later when Loy couldn’t get a handle on the ball in front of the net. Malone charged and took a shot, which Loy saved, but Malone was there again to drill the rebound in mid-air over Loy’s head for the score.

Malone was key again on the third goal as she took the ball away from Garringer at midfield. From there a group of Connersville players cruised right down the middle, and Richards scored the Spartans’ third goal to ice the game with six minutes to go.

“I thought we did a really good job in the midfield,” said Cooley. “They gave us a little space and we were able to beat some of their defenders ...

“The second one was a beautiful goal. The keeper made a pretty good save, it bounced up and she was able to volley it. That was very nice. It was a very big goal for us.”

Rager and assistant coach Bev Arnold said they had wanted their team to get more shots than they had in their previous two games — six in the one-half season opener and eight in Saturday’s tie with Huntington North. The Patriots did, garnering 28 in all, but it didn’t help.

“They capitalized on their chances at goals, and we were not capitalizing on our shots,” said Rager. “I think we had quantity, but we did not have quality on the shots.

“We’re going to have to work on our passing. Our communication had been doing really well. I feel like our communication is breaking down as far as our girls are not talking to each other on the field like they need to ...”

Seniors Saffron Redwine and Amber Champ shared the team high with six shots on goal apiece. Garringer had four, including the lone goal, and senior Abby Schmiesing also had four.[[In-content Ad]]