Jays record 4-1 win against Tigers in soccer

The final score might look like it was a bit of a laugher.

But until late into Monday night's contest between the Jefferson City Jays and Waynesville Tigers, no one on the winning side was even cracking a smile.

"I was extremely disappointed with our effort and our play in the first half," Jays coach Eddie Horn said after Jefferson City's 4-1 win against Waynesville at the 179 Soccer Park.

"We were just going through the motions and that's disappointing with as many seniors as we have."

And those 16 seniors were told about that at the half, which ended in a tie at 1.

"Hey, it's their senior year and if that's the way they want to play, we'll be done in a week," Horn said.

Waynesville got on the board first 10 minutes into the contest. After the Tiger keeper came up with a corner kick by the Jays, Waynesville countered down the right side. Daniel Sesay of Waynsville fed teammate Alberto Reyes in front of an open net to give the Tigers the lead.

"It was a good goal, you have to give them credit for that," Horn said.

It was the first of two shots in the game for the Tigers. The other came with about 15 minutes left in the contest.

But Horn didn't think falling behind changed the mood of his team.

"It didn't seem to give us a sense of urgency to get things going," he said.

The Jays knotted it about eight minutes later when Erich Sporleder drove from outside the box and lined a shot to the back of the net.

Horn thought maybe that would spark his team. He didn't see it.

"And it's like we thought, "Now it's level again, we'll win,'" Horn said.

The Jays took the lead for good about eight minutes into the second half when Jordan Carron scored off an assist by Romando Thomas.

Jefferson City's final two goals came in a three-minute span. With 15 minutes remaining, Logan Horn dribbled toward the Waynesville goal and fed Thomas for the score. The final score came from Erick Oritz, assisted by Colton Acock.

"If it went to 4-0, then 4-1, that would have been a little different," Eddie Horn said. "But for them to score first, that's what's disappointing."

The Jays finished with 25 total shots, including 15 on goal, to go along with 14 corner kicks. Waynesville (9-13) had just one corner kick.

"We didn't have an edge, we can't come out and just go through the motions against anybody," Horn said. "Anybody can beat you."

The win was a season-best fourth straight for Jefferson City (13-7-3), which will close the regular season with its traditional clash Wednesday with Rockhurst. The varsity game should start around 6 p.m. at the 179 Soccer Park.

The Jays are the No. 3 seed in the Class 4 District 11 Tournament. Jefferson City will face host Rock Bridge in the semifinals of the four-team event at 7 p.m. Monday. Hickman, the top seed, will meet fourth seeded Battle at 5 p.m.

The championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday.

In Monday's JV game, the Jays picked up their 12th shutout of the season in a 4-0 victory against Waynesville. Nick Ryan and Kord Pearson shared time in goal.

Tucker Jett had two goals for the Jays (13-1), while Chad Hamler and Tanner Haugen had one each. Haugen, Jett, Brendan Drury and Isaac Johnson each had an assist.