Fortunes reversed

On Tuesday evening, Kendra Muhlenkamp wanted her team to come out aggressive.

It scored twice in the first 37 seconds.

She wanted the Patriots to use the second half to work on crosses and longer shots.

Maria Laux cashed in a 25-yarder.

They ended up on the opposite side of those objectives against an undefeated rival Thursday.

The Oak Hill Golden Eagles got on the board in the first four minutes on a shot from more than 30 yards out, hit another long shot to start the second half and closed the scoring with a deflection off a cross as they handed the Jay County High School girls soccer team a 5-0 loss.

“Still figuring it out,” said Muhlenkamp. “I didn't underestimate. I knew they were going to be competitive. But, you know, we came off an 8-0 win against the team, hoping that would boost our morale …”

Oak Hill (8-0-1) blanked the Patriots while delivering on some of their objectives in the process. It controlled the ball immediately, getting on the board first when junior midfielder Bella Kenyon found herself all alone with the ball in the center of the field. She took the opportunity to bomb a shot from about 30 yards out, putting it just under the crossbar for a 1-0 lead at the 36:47 mark.

Be aggressive, check.

Shoot from distance, check.

Defender Brooklyn Young, a sophomore, scored twice in the second half as OHHS coach Samantha Metzger flipped her lineup. She launched a long shot of her own that connected in the first five minutes and then took cross from Lexi Nuber, typically the team’s sweeper, and deflected it past goalie Maleah Parsons for the five-goal final margin.

“It was definitely good for them to connect,” said Metzger, whose team now has four wins in a row for the second time this season. (A 1-1 tie with Manchester separates the two winning streaks.) “They both play defense, and so for them to be able to move up top and have a goal together was really exciting.

“I'm really proud of how our team played tonight,” she added. “We’ve had a week off, and … you never know how the girls are going to come knowing that you haven't played in a while. And I thought we came out ready to win from the get-go.”

It was a frustrating day for Jay County (5-3), which rarely saw scoring opportunities after rolling over Wapahani on Tuesday. While it wasn’t by any means a game played entirely on the Golden Eagles’ half of the field, the visitors tended to get to the ball first. Nuber kept it away from the net, and junior midfielder/forward Kora Pond alternately dictated the offense or made runs at the goal.

London Lloyd was generally at the center of the Patriots’ scoring opportunities, feeding a cross to Charlee Peters midway through the first half, taking a through ball from Raylin Hummer for a shot on which Oak Hill goalie Jolee Hawkins made a one-handed save and crashing the goal on a long free kick from Tessa Frazee. 

Peters also had a long shot saved at the left post about 10 minutes into the game, and Hummer ran a give-and-go with Elly Byrum late in the first half that Nuber and Hawkins were able to turn away.

“They were beating us to the passes, number one,” said Muhlenkamp. “And two, we weren't able to connect. They had some speedsters in the front …”

The Patriots played most of the game without leading scorer Aixa Lopez (six goals), who was hit in the side of the head by a ball kicked from behind her and did not return.

Oak Hill’s other goals came on a Pond through ball to junior Erika Newhouse at the 22:02 mark of the first half and a Landri Hardman blitz straight up the middle with 21:18 on the clock in the second half.

Parsons recorded 21 saves, her highest total of the season. (Her previous high was 18 in the Patriots’ 2-1 loss to Coldwater on Aug. 28.)

Jay County’s next four games will be on the road — the first three against conference opponents, including South Adams on Saturday, and the last against undefeated Delta (7-0) on Sept. 23.