JC wins on solid second

BERNE — Patriot coach Brad Horn has been working with his team on the same thing all season.
Know when to keep the ball on the dribble or send a through pass to a teammate making a run.
During the first half Saturday, they struggled to make that decision.
In the final 40 minutes, however, they honed in the ability.
The Jay County High School boys soccer team scored twice in the second half for a 2-0 victory against the South Adams Starfires.
“It’s all based on timing,” said Horn, whose team has won back-to-back games for the first time this season and moves to 3-5 (2-1 Allen County Athletic Conference) on the season. “That is our whole struggle this year is based on timing — knowing when to send it and when to keep it.
“They did that the second half and we got a lot better opportunities.”
After more than 50 minutes of scoreless soccer, the Patriots broke through. South Adams goalkeeper Lars In’t Groen left the goalie box to play a ball on the right side of the field, and rather than immediately clear it he tried to take a touch on the ball. His clearing attempt was then rushed, and he kicked it toward the center of the field.
That’s where JCHS senior Jason Schlosser gathered the ball and sent a shot toward the net. In’t Groen by then had recovered, and as he sprinted back he had to make a sliding stop on Schlosser’s attempt.
The junior keeper turned it away, but it bounced to Jay County sophomore Matthew Paquette, who buried the rebound into an opening on the left side of the net in the 55th minute.
“Paquette is one of the hardest workers we have,” said Horn, who also credited Schlosser for having the smarts to send his initial shot knowing In’t Groen was out of position. “I always want (Paquette) on defense. He’s a great defender. But I had to move him up because I know he’ll be the one to attack the goal every time.”
South Adams coach Luke McClung, a Jay County High School graduate, was disappointed In’t Groen made the decision to play a ball that was too far away.
“He shouldn’t have been out that far to play that ball to begin with,” said McClung, whose team drops to 3-3 (0-1 ACAC). “That was a misplay and he just dropped down in the goal and Jay County was there to finish.”
Less than five minutes later, Jay County’s lead doubled on a goal by sophomore Ian McCombs. Daniel Fugiett sent a corner kick toward the goal that sailed over both Angel Perez and Schlosser in the box — they jumped in an attempt to head the ball — and after a number of deflections the ball bounced to McCombs who kicked the ball into the right side of the net.
“Again, that’s the stuff we work on in practice every day,” Horn said. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. We got lucky and got a goal.”
In the first 40 minutes of the game, both teams battled to gain control. Each team had a number of scoring chances, with Jay County turning most of them into shots. The Patriots had nine shots, all but two of them were on frame, compared to just five for the Starfires.
“I told my assistant coach multiple times they play almost exactly the same style we do,” said McClung, referring to his father, Kevin. “Kind of feeling each other out. It’s interesting to watch the same mistakes we make they make.”
Offensively, especially during the second half when they were behind on the scoreboard, South Adams had difficult time finishing on its opportunities. Senior forward Brian O’Donnell had a number of shots saved by Jay County keeper Zach Chaney. O’Donnell had a strike from about 30 yards away stopped early in the second half, and late in the game O’Donnell found himself in a one-on-one situation with Chaney deep in the 18-yard box.
With the ball on the right side of the field, O’Donnell had Chaney leaning toward the far post but took a shot to the near post. Chaney dived back to stop the shot.
Again, late in the game, South Adams had another chance when O’Donnell sent in a corner kick but it went unconverted as there was no one there to play the ball.
“I felt like we outplayed them the second half but sometimes we don’t have people who can finish other than Brian,” said McCLung. “They don’t have confidence in finishing and we always had so many chances down there.”