The Jefferson City Jays got off to a good start to the soccer season with very good defense and just enough offense to get the win.
That formula didn’t carry over into this weekend’s Richard Wilson Classic.
“We know we’re not going to score a lot of goals, but we’ve found ways to win this season,” Jefferson City coach Scott Blake said Saturday after the Jays finished 0-3 in the two-day event. “But this weekend, we couldn’t do it. There were no more tricks in the bag.”
On Friday, the Jays fell 1-0 to Lutheran: St. Charles.
Jefferson City suffered a big loss during the game as well as senior Aarush Deshpande suffered a knee injury.
“That put us in the wrong direction, we were playing without a senior attacker,” Blake said.
On Saturday, Jefferson City opened with a 2-0 loss to Joplin.
“We were in the unique position of getting down early, which is different for us because we are usually defensively stable and don’t give up much early.
“It was a bit surprising for us trying to fight back.”
The Jays suffered another loss to injury in the game as Tuck Feeler had to get stitches after getting spiked in the face.
“Another starter, a midfielder, we were playing without because of injuries,” Blake said. “It made things difficult missing two pivotal players.”
Jefferson City wrapped up play against Oakville, falling 6-0 to the Tigers.
Oakville led 3-0 at the half, then added a fourth goal in the opening five minutes of the second half.
“When you fall behind like that, you start to think when is the best time to take some players off to prevent additional injuries and play some of the younger guys,” Blake said. “After they scored the fourth goal, I tried to put next year’s lineup on the field to see what would happen.”
Blake was happy with the way the reserves played to wrap up the game.
“We competed for a little while, it was good for them to get some experience,” he said.
Despite the lack of success on the scoreboard, it was a productive weekend for the Jays.
“We’re searching for how good we can be moving forward without compromising ourselves defensively,” Blake said. “We’re trying some things, but we need to get good at what we can get good at.
“I think after this weekend, I have a better sense of what the guys can do and the style we need to play.”
Jefferson City (6-4) is back in action Tuesday in a Central Missouri Activities Conference contest at Sedalia Smith-Cotton.
The Classic is an annual tribute to Richard Wilson, a longtime supporter of soccer in Jefferson City.
“We are thinking about the Wilson family and we’re proud to host this event for them,” Blake said.
This news is republished from another source. You can check the original article here