Jackson girls hand Central first loss

With the Cape Central girls soccer team double-teaming all-state forward Molly Hartmann, Jackson's midfielders took advantage of the scoring opportunities that opened up.

The Indians controlled the middle of the field and the ball throughout the game to trounce the Tigers 3-0 at Central High School. Jackson improved to 2-0, while Central fell to 2-1.

"I thought the first half we played decent," Central coach Tom Doyle said. "We were doing a pretty good job of containing Molly. She wasn't that much of a factor that first half.

"I didn't feel we had one player who could really mark her one-on-one, so we had two people marking her."

With Central devoting its attention to Hartmann, Jackson's Hannah Kohm and Lucy Hartmann roamed free in the middle. This allowed the Indians to hold the ball in their offensive zone for most of the first half, but the Central defense and goalkeeper Chelsea Burns kept Jackson scoreless for most of the half.

"A couple of my players wondered why we weren't controlling the middle," Doyle said. "But when we're marking Molly with two people that opens up something in the middle."

After Burns denied Jackson's first four shots on goal, including a diving save on a breakaway by Molly Hartmann, the Indians scored when Amanda Brown found Kohm, who scooted a shot past Burns into the lower right corner at 13:00.

"We knew that we were going to look for some girls this year to step up," Jackson coach Zack Walton said. "They put two girls on Molly, and our center-mids understood that and took a good shot and got us a goal there right off the bat."

Jackson's offensive pressure took its toll early in the second half when Lucy Hartmann squeezed a shot inside the left post at the 36:25 mark. The goal was set up when Molly Hartmann headed a pass from senior defender Amanda Tenholder to her sister, Lucy, on the left side of the box.

After the second goal, the Tigers increased their offensive effort, but every Central challenge was met by the Jackson defense.

"They were playing really aggressive late, trying to get a goal, and I thought our defense played well and held in there," Walton said. " Anytime you come to Cape Central and hold them without scoring and get a shutout, your defense played well."

Freshman Emily Dietl added an insurance goal for the Indians off another assist by Molly Hartmann with less than 15 minutes left.