October 12, 2015 at 5:53 p.m.

Lead slips away, Jay falls in PKs

Patriots unable to repeat as sectional champions

YORKTOWN — The Patriots saw their lead slip away in the second half.
And as the Jay County High School boys soccer team held on for dear life in overtime to send the game into penalty kicks, the fate of the season fell yet again on the shoulders of junior goalkeeper Jason Schlosser.
Almost quite literally.
On Yorktown’s final PK attempt, Tiger senior Ben Conte plunked the bottom of the crossbar and the ball deflected off Schlosser’s back and into the net, giving the Tigers a come-from-behind, 4-3 (4-3 PK) victory against Jay County in the championship of the Class 2A Sectional 15 tournament at Yorktown Sports Park.
Conte ran to the top of the 18-yard box, slid to his knees and was mobbed by his teammates.
Schlosser, on the other hand, got up from the ground after attempting to make a save on Conte, walked to the right side of the goal and bent over with his face in his hands.
“You can’t ask anything else of him,” first-year JCHS coach Adam Daniels said of Schlosser, who three days prior was the savior in a 2-1 semifinal victory against Muncie Central. “He did exactly what he was told. He executed exactly how he was supposed to. It’s just one of those nights where it doesn’t go your way.
“PKs is just a hard way to go out. Nothing against Yorktown, but it’s not a true indicator of who should win the game. It is such a hard way to lose. A lot of it is based off luck.”
Yorktown coach Kameron McBride, also in his first year, was happy the luck went in the Tiger’s favor.
“At least (Conte) got it on frame,” said McBride, whose team improved to 9-6-2 and will meet the host Kokomo Wildkats (19-1-1) in the regional semifinal at 5 p.m. Thursday. “We put him there because mentally he is not going to hit it off frame. He put it there and got a lucky bounce.
“Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.”
Much like Schlosser providing the Patriots’ victory on Wednesday, it was Yorktown keeper Peter McFarland’s turn Saturday.
The senior stopped the Patriots’ first shot attempt from Trevor Moeller after Yorktown’s Karter Bibbs beat Schlosser.
Angel Perez and Zach Chaney — the latter scored on a PK in the opening half for the first goal of the game — both beat McFarland.
Schlosser made a save on Sam Green, and a Luke Bryan goal had the score tied a two after three rounds.

Brevin Smith went to the top right of the corner to beat Schlosser, and McFarland made a stop on JCHS senior Nathan Heitkamp — he had a pair of goals during the first half — to set up Conte’s game-winning strike.
When asked what he was looking at on his attempt, Heitkamp had a difficult time finding the words.
“I don’t know,” he said, then paused. “I zoned out. I wasn’t focused.
“I think I came in overconfident. I should have just picked a side and went.”
But classmate Colton Compton and Heitkamp were pleased with their newfound keeper, who was consoled by assistant coach Brad Horn at the goal line, and later sat by himself on the bench with his head again buried in his hands.
“I think he did great,” Heitkamp said. “We had a bunch of games land on him and he pulled through for us.”
Chaney’s penalty kick during regulation gave Jay County (8-7) a one-goal lead 4:55 into the game, and 15 minutes later Heitkamp netted his first goal. Heitkamp chased down a through ball from Gavino Lopez, outran the Yorktown defense down the left side of the field and went far post past McFarland.
Smith put the Tigers on the board with 12:53 remaining in the opening half when he beat Schlosser to a ball at the top of the 18-yard box and kicked it into an empty net.
But four minutes later, Heitkamp scored his second goal by beating the defense yet again, this time on a pass from Chaney.
“Heitkamp’s speed has been our biggest weapon all year long,” Daniels said. “It is something you can’t teach.”
With a comfortable 3-1 at halftime, the Patriots weren’t able to sustain possession much in the final 40 minutes. Yorktown, which had adjusted to the Patriots’ speed, tied the game with two goals by Bryan. He netted his first on a penalty kick 11 minutes into the half, and then buried a rebound after Schlosser saved his first attempt with 9:41 remaining.
“I don’t know if we lost energy or what happened,” Daniels said. “We just went into a little lull.”
For the rest of regulation and into the first seven-minute overtime period, Yorktown continued to control the game. Schlosser made one save, and had two more in the second extra period, but that is also when the Patriots managed to get a couple scoring chances as well.
“It’s kind of indescribable,” Daniels said of the defeat. “It is like getting punched in the gut. … It’s hard on everybody. It is the worst way to end a season.
“You want them to go out on a high note. Even when you lose you can play a tough game and go out on a high note.”
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