Jay Co. loses third straight

For about 10 minutes Thursday, the Patriots were in control.
They had the scoring chances, spent most of the time on offense and looked ready to get back in the win column.
But then the field shifted. The Knights scored before halftime and the home team couldn’t recover.
The Jay County High School boys soccer team lost for the third straight game, dropping a 1-0 decision to the Norwell Knights.
“I honestly don’t even know what it is,” Brad Horn, Jay County’s coach, said of how quickly the game tilted in favor of Norwell. “At some point they are going to get tired of losing.
“They’re not a team that should be 1-5 right now.”
The Patriots were shut out for the second time this season, the first a season-opening loss 2-0 to Muncie Central.
“I’ve told them, ‘You’re good enough. If you do the right things, things are going to happen,’” he said.
But it was a fortuitous bounce late in the first half that led to the game’s only goal.
Norwell sophomore Kade Zadylak sent a corner kick toward the goal. A Patriot player softly attempted to clear the ball, but it bounced toward Alex Murray, who rifled a close-range shot past JCHS goalkeeper Zach Chaney with 20.9 seconds remaining in the half.
“Our defense is our strong point,” said Horn. “Every so often our defense has those brain farts and makes a bad play.
Chaney, the Patriots’ senior goalkeeper, finished with eight saves. Five of them were in the first half.
“That’s not on Chaney, that’s not even on the defense,” Horn said. “That goal was off a corner kick that we tried to get pretty, tried to heel kick it. We should have gotten it out right away.”
Jay County, which is off until Thursday when it plays at Blackford, couldn’t recuperate after the goal.
The Knights, who were previously winless and moved to 1-5-1 on the year, controlled the tempo for the remainder of the game. The Patriots, meanwhile, had difficulty connecting on their passes, keeping the ball in the midfield and working it up to the forwards, Daniel Fugiett and Jason Schlosser.
“Every time we have a ball and we try playing it, it goes directly to the other team,” Horn said. “We’re moving. We are working hard. But always, if there’s an open ball in the open field the other team ends up with it.
“It comes down to the heart and determination and we don’t have that right now.”
On the few instances Jay County was able to get the ball in the offensive zone during the second half the chances came up empty.
Schlosser sent a free kick toward the goal in the 50th minute, and Angel Perez’s header attempt missed wide right. Schlosser had two more chances — one in the 65th minute and the other with less than a minute to play — but both were turned away.
Jay County had six shots on goal. Collin Laley turned away one in the first half before giving way to Kyle Murray at halftime.
Early in the game, Jay County appeared as if it wasn’t going to let the losing skid hit three games. It had two scoring chances in the first two minutes, with Gavino Lopez taking a shot from about 30 yards away that Laley saved. Moments later Lopez and Schlosser had a give-and-go opportunity deep in the Knight zone but weren’t able to put a shot on net.
The Patriots had three more chances the rest of the half as the momentum slowly shifted toward the Knights.