Jay boys shut out in opener

A few bounces their way and the Patriots walk away with a victory.
More gas in the tank and they might have been able to tie the score.
Muncie Central tallied a second-chance goal late in the opening half and added another after halftime to beat the Jay County High School boys soccer team 2-0 on Tuesday.
“They gave me effort and the game went pretty much exactly as I was expecting,” said JCHS coach Brad Horn, whose team only dressed 13 players. “I knew it was going to be a tough game. I knew we were going to be able to battle with them, and I knew at the end we were going to wear out.”
But it was the more conditioned Bearcat team that had more chances — and converted — than the home squad.
“Left a lot of goals out there,” said Muncie Central coach Shea Hill, whose team avenged a 2-1 sectional semifinal loss last season to the Patriots. The Bearcats had an advantage in scoring chances 13-9.
“To get those opportunities and to set ourselves up as we did, those will come along as the season goes on,” he said.
After failing to convert on opportunities during most of the first half, the Bearcats (1-0) broke the scoreless tie with in the 35th minute. Clark Bailey took a shot from the left side of the penalty box that JCHS senior goalkeeper Jason Schlosser dived to save. The rebound caromed off Schlosser’s hands to Bearcat freshman Onnie Adams, whose secondary shot to the lower right corner found the back of the net.
“We had been talking about working non-stop until the ball is dead or the game is over,” Hill said. “I think he really took that to heart, followed that play in nice.”
Less than six minutes into the second half the Bearcats scored again.
Jay County (0-1) turned the ball over at midfield, and Aaron Green dribbled the ball inside the 18-yard box. He went left past a Patriot defender, fired a shot at Schlosser that deflected off his outstretched hands and into the net.
“Always like to have a two-goal advantage,” Hill said. “It is the most dangerous score in soccer because you can start to get complacent.”
Despite the efforts of the Patriots in the second half, they just couldn’t find the back of the net and began to run out of steam as the game progressed.
“We continue to try to work on conditioning,” said Horn, whose team meets defending Allen County Athletic Conference champions Heritage on Thursday in Monroeville. “We were right were we wanted to be. I knew there was going to be some letdowns mentally.”
Jay County’s best chance offensively came moments into the second half, when Daniel Fugiett slipped behind the Bearcat defense and put a solid shot on goal. Bearcat keeper Noah Scott saved the attempt in addition to the Patriots being whistled for being offside.
Moments later, Jay County got the ball deep in the Muncie Central zone but weren’t able to get off a shot.
On occasion, JCHS senior midfielder Zach Chaney set up his forwards, but the youngsters up front either didn’t crash the net or the Bearcat defense handled any Patriot pressure.
“You’ve got to count on your keeper, you’ve got to count on your defense,” said Hill. Schlosser made eight saves to Scott’s six. “When you’re playing good teams, there’s going to be opportunity at times. You have to be able to bend, not break.”
Aside from the favorable Muncie Central bounces that led to its two goals, the Jay County defense was solid. The Patriots were without defender Nathan Hamilton because he did not have the required number of practices completed. As the junior returns on Thursday the JCHS coach is hopeful for stellar play out the defense, which is the strength of the Patriot squad.
“Hamilton, he is a big part of our defense,” Horn said. “We’re going to have our same starting flat four (as last year) … I expect great things out of that defense.”