July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Stars edge JCHS (10/08/07)
JCHS/SAHS boys soccer
Stars edge JCHS (10/08/07)
By By RAY COONEY-
HARTFORD CITY - The comeback was stunning. But the Starfires weathered the storm.
Jay County High School's boys soccer team rallied from a 3-1 deficit, scoring twice in the final eight minutes to force overtime in Saturday's sectional championship game against South Adams. Still, the Starfires regrouped in the extra session, got a goal from their best player, and picked up their first sectional title in school history with a 4-3, overtime victory.
"... In U-14 we went up to The Plex (Fort Wayne) at the end of that winter, we looked down the road to when these boys would be seniors," said SAHS coach Tom Sprunger, whose program has only been in existance since 2002. "That was the first time we realized we could be something bigger than just South Adams. People are starting to respect us more. It's not an easy win when South Adams pulls in the lot."
Saturday's game was anything but easy for either team and was up for grabs after Jay County rallied in the overtime. But that's when one of the Starfire seniors, Adam McLaughlin, put the team on his shoulders.
McLaughlin got control of the ball inside the 18-yard box and that was all he needed. He used a little footwork to free himself up and fired a shot to the right side past diving goalie Kevin Dirksen.
The goal came with 3:07 remaining in the first overtime, leaving Jay County 10 minutes to even the score. But the Patriots could not come up with another miracle.
JCHS coach Alan Bailey, whose team finished at 7-6-5, said the Patriots figured out in the final 10 minutes of regulation what they could do to score. That meant bringing Trey Dunn up from the defense.
"We went with just four back. ... We knew we could beat their weak side," Bailey said. "We tried to push the issue.
"(McLaughlin is) a good player. If he gets the ball to his foot and you don't get him stopped, he's going to put it in the net. And that's what happened."
South Adams (11-5-2) seemed to have the sectional title all wrapped up after Shane Swygart followed a McLaughlin shot and scored to make it 3-1 with just over 13 minutes left on the clock. But the defending champion Patriots refused to go away.
The first of the JCHS scores in the comeback came off a corner kick as Justen Moser booted the ball in from the left side to a header from Brad Horn at the far post. The ball was deflected, but South Adams was unable to clear it before Chase Ainsworth got there and put it in the back of the net with 7:23 remaining.
And then with less than two minutes to go, Isaac Poole played the hero role again.
Dunn started the game-tying play, pushing the ball up the left side and then sending a high ball across to the right from about 25 yards out. Derek Bartlett sent a header toward the right post, and Poole, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime Thursday against Blackford, was on the spot as his sliding shot found the left corner of the net. Poole's goal tied the game with 1:41 remaining and forced the overtime, in which McLaughlin lifted South Adams to the title.
"I knew it was far from over with this group of kids," said Bailey of the two-goal deficit with time winding down. "They're not going to roll over and play dead. They might drop their heads, but they get them right back up. ... That's the way our whole season's been. They just don't die.
"We found out what we could do and we took advantage of it in that last 10 minutes. We knew it was there and we forced the issue, and then the kids got the finishes in there.
"That's just their demeanor. They're just a hard-working team. It was a team effort all the way through."
Jay County had the lead at halftime after the Starfires were called for a handball with just five seconds remaining on the first-half clock. Dunn converted the penalty kick for a 1-0 lead.
South Adams tied the game less than seven minutes into the second half when a McLaughlin shot was deflected to Swygart, who pounded it home for his first goal. McLaughlin then put the Starfires up 2-1 at the 14:56 mark of the second half, and Swygart made it 3-1 less than two minutes later.
"A lot of things happen because of Adam, and it's not always goals that he scores," said Sprunger of his captain, who has 20-plus goals and assists this year. "He makes a lot of other things happen. ... We function as a unit best when we're on the attack."
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Jay County High School's boys soccer team rallied from a 3-1 deficit, scoring twice in the final eight minutes to force overtime in Saturday's sectional championship game against South Adams. Still, the Starfires regrouped in the extra session, got a goal from their best player, and picked up their first sectional title in school history with a 4-3, overtime victory.
"... In U-14 we went up to The Plex (Fort Wayne) at the end of that winter, we looked down the road to when these boys would be seniors," said SAHS coach Tom Sprunger, whose program has only been in existance since 2002. "That was the first time we realized we could be something bigger than just South Adams. People are starting to respect us more. It's not an easy win when South Adams pulls in the lot."
Saturday's game was anything but easy for either team and was up for grabs after Jay County rallied in the overtime. But that's when one of the Starfire seniors, Adam McLaughlin, put the team on his shoulders.
McLaughlin got control of the ball inside the 18-yard box and that was all he needed. He used a little footwork to free himself up and fired a shot to the right side past diving goalie Kevin Dirksen.
The goal came with 3:07 remaining in the first overtime, leaving Jay County 10 minutes to even the score. But the Patriots could not come up with another miracle.
JCHS coach Alan Bailey, whose team finished at 7-6-5, said the Patriots figured out in the final 10 minutes of regulation what they could do to score. That meant bringing Trey Dunn up from the defense.
"We went with just four back. ... We knew we could beat their weak side," Bailey said. "We tried to push the issue.
"(McLaughlin is) a good player. If he gets the ball to his foot and you don't get him stopped, he's going to put it in the net. And that's what happened."
South Adams (11-5-2) seemed to have the sectional title all wrapped up after Shane Swygart followed a McLaughlin shot and scored to make it 3-1 with just over 13 minutes left on the clock. But the defending champion Patriots refused to go away.
The first of the JCHS scores in the comeback came off a corner kick as Justen Moser booted the ball in from the left side to a header from Brad Horn at the far post. The ball was deflected, but South Adams was unable to clear it before Chase Ainsworth got there and put it in the back of the net with 7:23 remaining.
And then with less than two minutes to go, Isaac Poole played the hero role again.
Dunn started the game-tying play, pushing the ball up the left side and then sending a high ball across to the right from about 25 yards out. Derek Bartlett sent a header toward the right post, and Poole, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime Thursday against Blackford, was on the spot as his sliding shot found the left corner of the net. Poole's goal tied the game with 1:41 remaining and forced the overtime, in which McLaughlin lifted South Adams to the title.
"I knew it was far from over with this group of kids," said Bailey of the two-goal deficit with time winding down. "They're not going to roll over and play dead. They might drop their heads, but they get them right back up. ... That's the way our whole season's been. They just don't die.
"We found out what we could do and we took advantage of it in that last 10 minutes. We knew it was there and we forced the issue, and then the kids got the finishes in there.
"That's just their demeanor. They're just a hard-working team. It was a team effort all the way through."
Jay County had the lead at halftime after the Starfires were called for a handball with just five seconds remaining on the first-half clock. Dunn converted the penalty kick for a 1-0 lead.
South Adams tied the game less than seven minutes into the second half when a McLaughlin shot was deflected to Swygart, who pounded it home for his first goal. McLaughlin then put the Starfires up 2-1 at the 14:56 mark of the second half, and Swygart made it 3-1 less than two minutes later.
"A lot of things happen because of Adam, and it's not always goals that he scores," said Sprunger of his captain, who has 20-plus goals and assists this year. "He makes a lot of other things happen. ... We function as a unit best when we're on the attack."
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