Second half sinks Jackson girls soccer as Eureka rallies in Class 4 sectional

Jackson players leave the field after their 4-1 loss to Eureka in a Class 4 sectional Tuesday in Jackson.

Fred Lynch

The Jackson girls soccer program's continued search for a Class 4 sectional win will have to wait at least another year.

Looking for their first sectional victory since 2003, the Indians let a halftime lead get away as state-ranked Eureka dominated the second half and handed Jackson a 4-1 defeat on Tuesday at Jackson Junior High School.

Jackson (17-5) scored midway through the first half and led 1-0 at halftime, but it didn't hold up, as No. 4 Eureka (16-6) pulled the Indians apart by getting wide, and then punished them by scoring four goals in the final 40 minutes.

"I thought Eureka made some good adjustments," Jackson coach Justin McMullen said. "They got the ball out wide and kind of stretched us out. Three of their four goals were because of that. We were just a little unfortunate there. Their spacing was really good in the second half. That's a quality team. They're a top-10 team for a reason."

The Wildcats got a pair of goals from Jordan Thompson, while Kelsey Lanham scored the go-ahead goal and Audrey Brown added a strike for the visitors. Two of the goals came off corner kicks.

Jackson's Lauren Welker tries to score against Eureka's Hayley Jakovich, left, as Eureka goalkeeper Jensen Schoch grabs the ball during the first half of a Class 4 sectional Tuesday, May 23, 2017 in Jackson.

Fred Lynch

Blythe Beldner had a pair of assists for the victors, and Jodi Mocker added another.

Eureka was convincing in its second-half performance, but it was one that was a little out of the ordinary -- the Wildcats had not mounted a comeback once all season.

"This was our first game that we gave up the first goal and won," Eureka coach Gary Schneider said. "We've lost, what? Five games? Every one, we gave up the first goal. We were never able to come back. ... If we're going to be one of the good teams, we're going to have to face adversity, conquer it and keep going on. Hopefully we turn that corner today."

Jackson's goal came from Natalie Miller on an assist from Grace Pehle.

Miller's goal came after the Indians survived an early whirlwind of pressure from the Wildcats. But as the hosts settled in, they began to create some quality chances.

In the 19th minute, striker Lauren Welker got in behind the defense on a well-weighted through ball by Pehle, but Welker was bodied to the ground and unable to get off a dangerous attempt.

Three minutes later, Welker beat a defender and pushed the ball centrally to Pehle, who knocked the ball to an on-rushing Haylie Woodard, whose shot was blocked.

Jackson's wave of attack paid off in the 22nd minute when Pehle held up the ball with her back to goal and played off to Miller, who, from about 22 yards out, struck a sailing shot over the top of Eureka goalkeeper Jensen Schoch and under the crossbar for a 1-0 lead.

"We've seen some film and a lot of our girls play with [Welker]," Schneider said, "so we knew how fast she was. And we knew how aggressive she was going to be, and ... we were not ready for it. As much as we prepared for it, we were not ready for it in the first half, and we were down."

The Wildcats created their share of pressure in the first half, generating six corner kicks to Jackson's one, but they failed to generate quality looks at goal. Jackson out-shot the visitors 6-2 through 40 minutes, and neither of Eureka's shots were on frame.

Jackson's Grace Pehle, left, kicks the ball away from Eureka's Megan Moll during the first half of a Class 4 sectional Tuesday, May 23, 2017 in Jackson.

Fred Lynch

That changed after halftime, as the Wildcats made a more pointed effort to push forward.

"We were playing too defensive in the first half. We were playing not to give up a goal, and we give up a goal," Schneider said. "So we had to convince them that we had to push up. We're good enough. We've got to get more of an offensive punch. We had five girls defending two. We're better than that. So we got that adjusted, and we were able to now attack the seams they had in back and were able to get around the corner."

The Wildcats went inside out in the 45th minute, as Beldner ran at the back line before pushing the ball wide to right midfielder Thompson, who cut back on her left foot and curled the ball inside the far post to knot things at 1-all.

A 52nd-minute corner kick saw the ball bounce through the 6-yard box, with Jackson missing multiple opportunities to clear it. Instead, it was Eureka's Lanham who finally knocked the ball over the goal line to take a 2-1 lead.

And in the 63rd minute, the Wildcats landed a knockout punch, again going wide. This time Beldner beat a defender 1-v-1 on the right wing, cut to the end line and rolled the ball toward the penalty spot, where Brown was waiting to guide a shot home.

The Indians couldn't seem to stop the bleeding, as Eureka's wide play was the perfect weapon to stretch and pull the hosts apart -- Jackson's 4-4-2 diamond formation utilizes a narrow midfield setup that is especially vulnerable to getting beat on the wings.

"That's just one of those things, as a coach you're going to have to sacrifice some things tactically at times," McMullen said. "All year long, we knew that right there was a spot [of vulnerability], and they had the personnel to really expose us in that. We were going to come out of [the formation], and right when we came out if it, they scored their third goal. And so we were just a little unfortunate with the timing of that. But that's a part of the game. You've just got to take chances."

Eureka put the final touches on the game as Thompson scored her second of the night in the 69th minute, heading a corner kick off the body of a defender and into the goal.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats found ways to limit Welker's time on the ball. The sophomore attacker overwhelmed Eureka in the first half but became less of a factor as the game wore on.

Welker had an opportunity to break the 1-1 tie in the 49th minute, as good ball movement found her cutting into the box from the right side and unleashing a shot, but the ball smacked harmlessly into the side netting. It was her last good opportunity of the game.

"It's a combination of they won a lot of balls [in the midfield], and they keyed on her a lot obviously," McMullen said. "I thought in the first half, we had a couple of opportunities that if we capitalize on, it's probably a different game in the second half, but that's just the way the game goes. We would have liked to have played a little bit more possession, but when you get behind, you have to start going a little more direct there. And that's what happened."

The result brought an end to a season in which the Indians had some ups and downs, but captured a second district title in three years.

The program will say goodbye to a key group of seniors -- Sam Schnicker, Haylie Woodard, Sarah Gammon, Randa Norman, Rylee Stafford and Nikki Sotak -- all of whom started on Tuesday.

"I feel like this team was very cohesive all year long," McMullen said. "Even in the middle of the season when we lost a couple of games in a row, we didn't really panic. That's really the character of the kids I have. They want to compete, and I thought all year they competed, whether it was good or bad. They played with a lot of heart today, and I think at the end of the day, that's what I'm most proud of -- our heart and our dedication all season long."