Jay gets team effort to beat WHS

Nearly every coach preaches selflessness and teamwork as keys to success, but those intangibles don’t always manifest in a quantifiable way.

They certainly did for the Jay County High School girls soccer team in its Allen County Athletic Conference match against the Woodlan Warriors on Saturday. The Patriots shared the spotlight, with three different players finding the back of the net in a 3-1 home victory.

“One thing I’m super excited for with this new formation we’ve been running is I’ve been really pressing that every time we get a point on the board it’s because our defense, our midfield, our forwards did our job and the forward just got that last touch on it,” said Jay County coach Kendra Muhlenkamp.

While Charlee Peters, Aixa Lopez and London Lloyd were the players who got that final touch on the trio of Jay County (3-1, 2-0 ACAC) scores, the defense also shined bright throughout the contest, stifling the Woodlan attack and keeping the Warriors (2-2, 1-1 ACAC) off the board for the first 79 minutes before conceding a goal with 57 seconds left.

“We just work as a really good team and make sure to get the ball up,” said Jay County defender Ariel Beiswanger. “We just play really good together, and it’s been the past few years, so we just work really well together and have created a strong defense.”

That unit is primarily fueled by the upperclassman quartet of Beiswanger, Emma Hatzell, Tessa Frazee and Raylah Newton. Throughout the game, the Patriots aggressively pursued offensive chances, leaving the defenders on an island to quell a bevy of Woodlan breakaways.

Time and again, the Patriots found an answer, with the defense’s tenacity and experience being enhanced by its chemistry.

“We all have a really strong friendship as well,” Beiswanger said. “So that helps it, and then we all just love the sport and always have fun during the game.”

The offense also had plenty of fun in Saturday’s triumph.

Freshman Charlee Peters got the festivities underway just over ten minutes into the contest, when she found herself face to face with the Woodlan goalie after receiving a throw in. While Peters’ first attempt was saved, she pounced on the rebound and trickled it in.

The goal was the first of Peters’ career, and could be a sign of things to come.

“She’s a freshman,” Muhlenkamp said. “But she’s still hungry to score, which is a good thing.”

For the majority of the contest, Peters’ goal was the only tally of the day. It wasn’t until just under 10 minutes remaining in the match when the Patriots finally got some breathing room, courtesy of Jay County leading scorer Aixa Lopez.

The senior used her dexterity and ball-handling ability to shake multiple defenders on the right side before blasting a low shot across the face of goal, tucking it inside the far post to double the Patriot lead.

With the victory all but secured, Jay County remained relentless. After generating a slew of chances throughout the game but being unable to finish, London Lloyd collected a Lopez feed on the threshold of goal and rocketed it in with 2:12 remaining in the match.

The goal was Lloyd’s first of the season. It ended a three-game goalless drought to start 2025 after she amassed seven goals last season as a freshman, third most on the team.

“I’ve been in a slump all season,” Lloyd said. “And it’s been harder for me to put the shots in the goal, so it felt really nice to finally be able to see that ball in the back of the net.”

While the Patriots lost the shutout on Woodlan’s goal in the final minute, the 3-1 victory represented a key bounceback for Jay County. The Patriots had just lost for the first time this season on Thursday in a 2-1 defeat to Coldwater.

“It was a hard loss,” Muhlenkamp said. “But we knew when we lost to that team, we definitely got better.”

Saturday’s win went a long way in solidifying that claim.