Junior worked to improve game

It’s one thing for someone to realize how they can improve.

It goes for any aspect in life; getting better at a career, relationships or hobbies.

The same is true for athletes. Most often, athletes have an idea of the weak aspects of their game.

So they drill, practice and work hard to get better.

What a difference a year can make.

A season ago, Kendra Muhlenkamp was always a moment too late in taking a shot on the soccer pitch.

It was a result of a number of reasons; inexperience, lack of comfort with being on varsity as an underclassmen and anxiousness when the ball was at her feet.

Then a Jay County High School sophomore, Muhlenkamp had a decent offensive year. She was third on the team with nine goals and second with six assists. She could have had more of the first category had she, often times, taken one less dribble.

The hesitation, the extra dribble as she crashed the net frequently led the ball trickling too far away from her so she couldn’t take a shot.

A year later, a year wiser and more experienced, the forward has thrust herself into the role of one of the premier players for the Patriots alongside senior Lucy Laux, who led the team with 14 goals as a junior and 23 as a sophomore.

The difference? She’s faster with her shot.

“In the past I couldn’t really get my shot off quick enough,” she said following Tuesday’s 10-1 thrashing of the Woodlan Warriors. Jay County, which has won back-to-back Allen County Athletic Conference championships, moved to 4-0 on the year and 2-0 in conference play. A win Tuesday against South Adams secures the team’s third consecutive ACAC title.

While coming of age and conceding the leading role to Laux as a sophomore, Muhlenkamp has emerged as an equal to the senior captain.

Through four games, they both have 11 goals. More impressively, they’ve each recorded hat tricks in three straight contests, including Muhlenkamp’s four-goal effort against Woodlan.

Tallying three goals in a game is nothing new for Laux. She had a half dozen before the season began.

Muhlenkamp, however, didn’t score as a freshman and never had a multi-goal game as a sophomore.

“Excellent,” she said after her scoring onslaught, which also included three assists Tuesday. “I’ve never had a hat trick until this year. My coach and my teammates really help me to get to this point.”

Muhlenkamp torched Heritage for three goals — as did Laux — during a 9-1 win over Heritage Aug. 17. Two days later, they repeated the feat in a 10-2 win at Muncie Burris. And of course the Laux-Muhlenkamp show Tuesday was a sight to see. Muhlenkamp assisted on all three Laux goals, and the senior returned the favor for one of her two helpers.

In four games, Muhlenkamp has eclipsed what it took her 13 games to do a year ago.

“She’s the Energizer Bunny,” said Giles Laux, Jay County’s coach. “Her foot skills have gotten better from last year. It’s noticeable.”

She dribbles less while on the offensive, seizing the opportunity rather than having it pass her by.

She’s also benefitting from solid one-touch passes from Laux and fellow forward Breea Liette, as well as her midfielders Alex Bader, Hannah Phillips and Mikele Suman.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my teammates,” said Muhlenkamp, whose Patriot squad hosts the Celina Bulldogs at 5 p.m. tonight. Celina was a 2015 state semifinalist.

“They are the ones that gave me the chances to score, the chances to assist and to win,” Muhlenkamp said. “I think we’re a lot quicker. We like to send more through balls and more assists.

“I think overall we’re just a faster team.”

Muhlenkamp and Laux are two of the quickest girls on the team, and their speed has helped them get to the right place at the right time.

Against Woodlan, Muhlenkamp scored twice by slipping behind the defense, and goalkeeper, to bury shots into the net.

While she deflects credit for her recent scoring surge, Muhlenkamp’s realization of what she needed to do to get better and going through with improving that aspect of her game is precisely why she’s been able to find the back of the net so often.

If the first four games are any indication, the only one who can stop her is herself.

But if she were to find another shortcoming in her game, there’s no doubt she’d work to do what it takes to fix it.