Stars score sweep (09/10/07)

South Adams came up with a sweep again. But unlike last season, the Patriot girls were able to walk away with some positives.

Jay County High School's girls soccer team lost 1-0 to the visiting Starfires in the first game of Saturday's double-header, turning in a much better performance than in either of the two meetings between the squads a year ago.

"It was a good game," said JCHS coach Sue Rager despite the loss. "And it's a good measure for if we draw them for sectional.

In 2006, South Adams clobbered the Patriots 6-1 during the regular season, then eliminated them 4-2 in the sectional tournament.

"It's a good feeling," Rager added, "because the girls were with this team the entire game. It wasn't as if we had fallen apart like we did last year."

South Adams controlled the second half of the twin bill as Adam McLaughling powered the Starfires with a hat trick in a 3-1 victory over Jay County.

"They're a good team, probably one of the better teams we've seen this year," said Patriot coach Alan Bailey. "Their record definitely doesn't show what they're capable of doing and my kids didn't step up to the plate."

Saturday's girls game was well-played throughout, and remained scoreless through the opening half after Jay County goalie Abby Loy made a one-handed save on a Kinsey Lengerich free kick with just fifty seconds on the clock. However, an adjustment by the Starfires (6-1) helped break the deadlock after the break.

South Adams coach Jose Brito said his team needed to counteract the JCHS defense's tendency to keep a lot of players back. So, instead of playing short passes and dribbling through to the goal, the Starfires switched to a longer passing game.

They saw dividends just five minutes into the second half when Maddie Moore worked past Holly Gillette on the left side. Moore got a long shot off that just missed putting SAHS on top as Abby Loy tipped it away. But just 25 seconds later the Starfires were firing again, and this time Ashton Morgan's long ball soared to the top left corner of the goal and out of Loy's reach.

Brito said the close game was a good test for his team, which had been on a string of several multi-goal victories.

"They have a pretty good team. They play pretty well,"âsaid Brito of the JCHS. "We just made one adjustment at halftime because of the way (the Patriots) were playing, and we were able to score right away."

The Patriots (3-3) had their two best chances around the 30-minute mark, the first coming off a push from Tequila Guntle at midfield. She passed to Cassandra Huelskamp, who moved the ball to Dana Horn on the right side.

Horn crossed the ball back in front of the goal, but Starfire keeper Katrina Hawkins was just barely able to get to it ahead of Brianne Wellman.

Wellman started another chance at the 29:25 mark with a pass to Huelskamp, but Hawkins came up with another save en route to the shutout.

"The scoring opportunities we had we just couldn't capitalize on," said Rager.

South Adams finished with 19 shots on goal, 14 of which came in the second half, compared to nine for Jay County.

Moore had seven for the Starfires, followed by Kinsey Lengerich with five and Morgan with four. Tequila Guntle had four for JCHS, and Horn followed with two.

Adam McLaughlin carried South Adams in the boys game, which was also scoreless at the half. He wasted little time getting on the board after the break, ripping a shot inside the left post with just 3:16 off the clock.

The Starfires' second goal came when freshman Zack Sharp got a breakaway, but was taken down in the box. Jason Penrod was called for the trip to give SAHS a penalty kick, and McLaughlin's shot to the right side deflected off the hand of diving goal Kevin Dirksen for a 2-0 lead with 30 minutes to play.

McLaughlin completed his hat trick midway through the half, hooking a beautiful 20-yard shot inside the left corner.

"Adam is a mainstay, of course," said South Adams coach Tom Sprunger of his senior co-captain after the team's third straight win. "We had very good ball movement today. We had a long layoff, but Adam is our heart and soul."

Jay County (4-2-2) finally got on the board in the final 10 minutes when Trey Dunn controlled the ball and passed to Justen Moser on the right side. He sent a pass in front of the goal and Isaac Poole chased it down and slammed it to the left corner for the 3-1 final margin.

"Our defense as always, has just been (great),"âsaid Sprunger. "Jay County is ... very fast, very quick at the forwards, our defense just didn't give them a lot of good looks at the goal."

The Patriots finished with five shots on goal, including two from Poole. McLauglin was good on all three of his attempts as the Starfires finished with six shots.

"Our intensity - I don't think we had it the whole game like we needed," said Bailey. "Hopefully they learned something today. ... We've got a lot of work ahead of us now. At least we know what we have to look forward to for sectional and we can prepare ourselves for that."

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