Schlosser saves season

YORKTOWN — Jason Schlosser had never faced a penalty kick before.
In fact, it was just his fourth career appearance between the pipes, and the Jay County High School boys soccer team was clinging to a 2-1 lead against the Muncie Central Bearcats Wednesday in the Class 2A Sectional semifinal at Yorktown Sports Park.
So Schlosser’s teammate Zach Chaney gave him a little pep talk before facing Devon McNabb, who was awarded the free kick following a hand ball in the penalty area.
Chaney, who has experience as a keeper himself, knew what to expect from McNabb.
He’s left footed, and he likes to go to his right — Schlosser’s left.
McNabb indeed went to his right, and Schlosser made perhaps the biggest stop he’ll ever make, putting an exclamation point on the Patriots’ 2-1, come-from-behind victory to keep their season alive.
“He played fantastic,” said first-year JCHS coach Adam Daniels, himself a former Patriot goalkeeper, whose squad will defend its sectional title against Yorktown at 7 p.m. Saturday. The host Tigers shut out the Delta Eagles 4-0 in the first semifinal Wednesday. “I think part of what helps him is he’s never played keeper before so he doesn’t have to guess anything. It is all reaction.
“Being athletic like he is and having that natural skill set helps him a ton.”
Schlosser was not fazed by the pressure-packed situation, knowing that his team was relying on him to preserve a lead that seemingly wasn’t feasible in the first half.
“Honestly, nothing,” Schlosser said of what was going through his head when McNabb stood 18 yards away awaiting the official’s whistle. “I was cool, calm and collected.”
Diving to his left, Schlosser made the stop near his waist, brought the ball up to his chest and hugged it close as he landed on his stomach. He got up, let out a yell in celebration that the Patriots (8-6) were still ahead, slapped hands with teammate Gavino Lopez and sent the ball upfield.

Muncie Central coach Shea Hill, whose team finished the season 12-5 and was held to one goal for the just the third time this season, commended Schlosser on his efforts, as the Bearcats held possession for the majority of the first half.
“Keeper picked well,” said Hill. “(He) picked a side and went, which is what you do as a goalie.”
The stop by Schlosser was just one of many strong performances by the Patriots during the second half after spending the opening 40 minutes on defense chasing the Bearcats.
With 25:28 remaining in the second half and Jay County trailing 1-0, Trevor Moeller — he played most of the season as keeper but flipped spots with Schlosser — took a shot at Muncie Central goalkeeper Tyler Wood that he deflected, and no Patriot player was to be found for the rebound.
Daniels told his team from the sideline to follow the shot, and not 17 seconds later Colton Compton netted the equalizer on a scramble play in front of the net.
“You make a mistake, and once you make that mistake you don’t make it again,” Daniels said. “That is huge for our team to recognize that. They attacked the goal, attacked the ball and found a way to get it in.”
Compton and Nathan Heitkamp — he scored the eventual game-winning goal barely two minutes later on a strike from about 25 yards out — were deep in the goalie box with Wood, who was unable to get a clean grasp on the ball. Compton fought through a host of Bearcats to gain possession, and snuck the ball through an alley in the defense to net the game-tying score.
“It was a dirty goal but it was fantastic,” Daniels said.
In a span of 2 minutes, 7 seconds, Jay County went from trailing by one to ahead by one.
It completely changed the dynamic of the game.
But it was just another indication of how the season has gone for Daniels and the Patriots.
“We’ve been a second half team all year,” Daniels said. “Every game it seems we start off slow or get behind to start, then we have to battle our way back.
“Hats off to our kids for having that heart.”
Hill blamed “silly mistakes” for the momentum shift in Jay County’s favor.
“I think we’re the better team, taking nothing away from Jay County and an excellent game that they played,” said Hill, whose team defeated its three sectional opponents — Delta, Yorktown and Jay County — by a combined score of 12-1 during the regular season. “We controlled the majority of the game and a couple little mistakes … sometimes that happens. We just didn’t put our chances away.”
Next up for Jay County is Yorktown, who the Patriots beat 2-1 in the sectional title game in 2014 but lost to 5-2 Sept. 26.
Daniels said the Patriots have to match the intensity they showed in the second half Wednesday to win back-to-back sectional titles.
“If we play that way the full game I think we’ll be just fine,” he said. “All else fails, we will definitely compete with them.”