April 20—JAMESTOWN — The Blue Jays’ first game back at Rotary Field in nearly three years ended as perfectly as possible.
The team completed the sweep of St. Mary’s on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Saints 5-0 to improve to 4-0 in the Western Dakota Association standings. The Jays beat St. Mary’s 2-0 on April 11.
“I give St. Mary’s a lot of credit,” JHS coach Colton Altringer said. “They are a very hard-working and determined team. They put a lot of pressure on us last week and this week, but today the girls realized that when they do the little things right consistently, they can play with anyone in the state.”
Altringer and his team have a three-game week ahead of them. The team will travel to Minot on Tuesday and return to Rotary Field on Thursday and Saturday hosting Dickinson and Williston.
Although it took the entire Blue Jay team to win, it was the freshmen who put the Jays on the scoreboard.
In the seventh minute, freshman Briella Martin broke free and past St. Mary goalkeeper Joclyn Barone, putting her team up 1-0.
Martin scored another unassisted score in the 18th minute. The freshman currently leads the Jays in total scoring with four goals in four games played.
Mary’s managed to limit more chances for Martin in the first, but that left Layla Becker alone.
Becker, an eighth-grader, recorded her second goal and assist of the season before the end of the half. Becker’s assist went to sophomore Haley Attleson.
The Jays outscored St. Mary’s 5-0 in the first half.
“That’s the story of our team,” Altringer said. “You listen to our starting lineup and it’s a junior, a few seniors and the rest are sophomores or freshmen. Clearly, this group is working and coming together really well. They’re figuring it out and it’s fun to watch.”
In the second, the Blue Jays veterans got it right.
In the 62nd minute, Reese Christ dribbled downfield and scored one to increase the Jays’ lead to five.
Because the Jays played on the front foot throughout the game, Altringer said the team toned down the intensity throughout the second half. While the coach would like to see this corrected to prepare the Jays for teams like Minot, he said he expects the team to find extra equipment as it gains more experience in college football.
“It’s really important to me that these girls continue to grow. We need to work on the little tangible things now so that as they get older they can continue to get better and better.”
Jamestown 5, St.
SM 0 0 — 0
JHS 4 1-5
Punctuation
First half
1. JHS, Briella Martin (unassisted) 7th minute; 2. JHS, Briella Martin (unassisted) 18 minutes; 3. JHS, Layla Becker (unassisted), 35 minutes; 4. JHS, Haley Attleson (Becker) 38 minutes.
Second time
5. JHS, Reese Christ (unassisted) 62 minutes.
Shots on goal: St. Jamestown 7
Goalkeeper defense: SM, Joclyn Barone 2; JHS, Olivia Sorlie 2
