The athletic department had a full house on Wednesday, Sept. 14, but soccer still managed to steal the show. Although field hockey took on Maryvale, women’s tennis served it up against Friends, and men’s volleyball faced Gilman, soccer was the main event.
On the women’s side, number-four ranked IAAM ‘A’ Conference Lady Patriots suffered a tough loss against the number-one ranked McDonough Eagles, 1-3.
“McDonough is the best in the area and the girls played extremely well, especially in the second half,” Athletic Director Larry Dukes said.
Anna Bialczak and Ashley Spivey scored the two goals for McDonough in the first half.. JC was trailing early on, but attempted to make a comeback in the second half as junior Olivia DiFonso scored the only goal for JC.
“The first half we started out rough. We came out in the second half and we played a lot better offensively and defensively,” junior Kiana Wright said.
Coach Gary Lynch believes that the loss will not have much of an effect on the season.
“What this does affect is their [the team’s] chance of receiving the home team advantage in playoffs,” Lynch said.
The women’s varsity soccer team’s record is now 4-1 with wins against Bohemia, Elkton, Patterson Mill, and Bel Air.
The Patriots play against the Magic at Mercy High School this Wednesday at 3:45 p.m.
The MIAA ‘A’ Conference men’s varsity soccer team has a record of 5-0-1 so far this year, compared to last year’s record of 3-12-1. The boys’ team recently defeated the Archbishop Spalding Cavaliers 2-1. The Cavaliers’ Vince Perez scored their only goal in the first half with 50 seconds left.
“The game was a hard-fought game that we had definitely earned the victory,” sophomore Joe Otenesak said.
JC scored both goals in the second half of the game. First from sophomore Colby Fell with an assist from senior Vince Perry, and second from sophomore Zach Hammons scoring with the corner kick from senior Chris Wohlfort.
“I was pleased anytime you get a positive result. Especially in your first league game, it’s always a good feeling. The fact that were down 1-0 in the first half and be able to come back and win, the game spoke a lot of the character of the players that we had on the field. They didn’t quit. It’s a characteristic that you really need in the league that we are in. They were able to regroup at half time and make some tactful adjustments and created some opportunities in the second half,” Assistant Coach Rodney Johnson said.
“The men’s soccer team demonstrated constant pressure and started off the second half with two goals. I’m proud of the good start to the season,” Dukes said.
The men’s season record is now 3-1-1 after losing to Calvert Hall 0-2 on Friday. The Patriots take on McDonough at 4:00 p.m. today at JC.
Imani Love is a Sports Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.