Jarred by Jarrells

MUNCIE — The Eagles have only given up five goals on the season.

The Patriots couldn’t add to that mark, while a freshman carved them up on the other side.

The Jay County High School girls soccer team struggled to get good looks at the goal against the Delta Eagles, while Avery Jarrells had a foot in every goal of the 7-0 defeat on Tuesday.

Delta (11-1) entered the match coming off its first loss of the season on Saturday as it fell to Pendleton Heights 2-1. While the Eagles only managed to score twice in the first half — Avery Jarrells and Jordan Bunch each assisted each other on a goal — the Patriots (8-4) couldn’t slow them down in the second half.

“I would say our biggest struggle was being in the right spots at the right times,” said JCHS coach Kendra Muhlenkamp. “I don’t know, we weren’t there. Our heads were not in the game. Hence, the second half, they scored four goals in the first (eight) minutes. That can’t happen. …

“I feel like as soon as they made that first goal in the second half, we just shut down.”

That first goal came off the foot of Avery Jarrells. The freshmen received a pass from Bunch on the defensive side of the field and was able to beat Ariel Beiswanger down the middle, shaded to the right half. She delivered the shot that put Delta up 3-0 after 2 minutes, 11 seconds, ran off the clock.

Beiswanger made a defensive stand against Mia Bollinger 47 seconds later, but the following corner kick from Grace Jarrells found Avery Jarrells’ head to get past Maleah Parsons in the middle of the goal.

Another two minutes ran off the clock and Avery Jarrells struck again. Emma Hatzell forced Shiloh Bunch to watch the ball go out of bounds, awarding Parsons a goal kick. The DHS freshman directly fielded the kick, got past Hatzell and took a chip shot that sailed over Parsons’ arm into the top right of the goal.

Avery Jarrells’ final goal of the match came at the 31:21 mark when she scored on a give-and-go with Grace Jarrells. Parsons came out of the goal to try to affect the shot, but Avery Jarrells stopped on a dime and sidestepped to the right before netting the ball.

“She’s physically a lot stronger than any of my players,” Muhlenkamp said. “She was smart, she knew how to pass, her first touch was incredible.

“A lot of times when we’re getting pushed and shoved, it’s going to be the stronger person and she knew how to stand her ground and be in the right areas.”

Avery Jarrells affected the game one last time as she sent a through ball that Bollinger scored on with 24:35 remaining in the game.

While Delta didn’t have much trouble scoring, the Patriots struggled to get good looks at the goal. The midfield and defense did a generally good job of stopping Jay County from getting clean looks, to the point that two of the best opportunities came on free kicks from just outside the box and a corner kick. (Charlee Peters took the first one by the top right corner of the box that Ruth Sherck saved, Raylin Hummer took another from the left side of the box that didn’t make it in close enough for a threat and Hummer also took a corner kick that got past Sherck, but Aubree Jarrells cleared the ball.)

“Honestly, the back line did great, but I also give a lot of credit to my midfield,” said DHS coach Mason Turner. “They did a lot from stopping it from even getting there. … Most of the time that’s our midfield and our defense making sure we keep the ball in front of us and on their side.

“They’ve been a unit all season, only allowing five goals. I credit a lot to obviously Ruth, but our defense is keeping it from Ruth as well.”

JCHS got a few looks during live play as well, but each were contested. London Lloyd managed a shot in the first half that Sherck had to dive to save. Aixa Lopez took a shot 12 minutes into the game that Sherck bobbled. Peters came up for an attempt at a rebound, but Adoree Smith sent it out without much trouble.

The Patriots will need a short memory as they take on another sectional opponent tonight in Yorktown before hosting Heritage in the final Allen County Athletic Conference game of the season on Saturday.

“We’ve got to want it more, play smarter and play like a team,” Muhlenkamp said. “Part of the reason I switched up the formation a little bit in the second half was to find some offensive rhythm but still remain strong in the back. That bit us in the butt as we fell apart really quick, but it’s something that we’ll have to work on in practice and figure out. The goal of coaching is to have your team playing its best by the last game of the season.”