John Jay Remains Undefeated with 7-0 Victory over Somers

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The only blemish in John Jay’s season so far has been in the tie column, and on Saturday September 21, Somers came to Contest Field in hopes of leaving a mark. But John Jay mostly kept the ball in the Somers zone, and once breaking through, the onslaught went unabated.

Jojo Degl scored at 4:10 of the first, and the Wolves went onto an easy 7-0 victory.

John Jay got started for the first time about the 12 minute mark. Logan Bueti received the ball inside the circle and passed across the crease, where Finja Degl had a wide open box. The sophomore just couldn’t get her stick on.

Not to worry, Finja Degl was soon getting her club on a transitioning ball by Somers. She sent to Jane Brennan, and keeping it moving, Jojo would put a long shot in the box. Way out of the circle, there were no tip-in, and only the crowd got a rise.

Then Kaycie Keeley got her day started. Swinging left at the perimeter, she teed off, and the senior captain got her first taste of the challenging obstacle between the pipes. “She’s a great goalie,” said Keeley of Willow Browne.

The Tusker stopgap needed to be perfect on this day, though, and Jojo Degl made the point. She picked up the ball on the sideline, and stick handled among a sea of red. But the path that led to the scoring projectile was not as random as it appeared. “It’s a goal this year to hold onto the ball a little longer,” she revealed, and a little space meant a 1-0 lead.

Even so, the new paradigm is not about going it alone. “It really comes down to the trust I have in my teammates, and if I lose the ball, I know we are going to get it right back,” Degl explained.

Two minutes later, Jojo doubled down and moved in the same sea. She controlled at the 40, and greatly outnumbered, the senior drove forward. The ball then made its way to Kacey Keeley, and Logan Bueti tipped in her teammate’s blast at 1:51.

The 2-0 lead carrying to the second, Keeley kept the pressure on. She got the steal at the 40, manhandled the ball into the corner and put it on Catherine Natko’s stick. But Browne was there with another kick save.

Undeterred, Keeley kept playing hardball. Jojo Degl passed ahead where Keeley had inside position on the defender. Backing down, both fell to the ground, and Keeley rose up with the ball.

No pause, Keeley made space between three defenders, but Browne still had her number on the shot. “She does a really great job of coming out of the goal and cutting off all the angles,” said Keeley. “So it’s really hard to tell where to aim.”

Kicked away, Keeley broke free again at 4:42, and no angle only left the side of the box. So the 2-0 score held, and halftime still had it a game.

The third opened in similar fashion. Jojo Degl lifted a penalty shot ahead to Keeley, and she shot wide of Browne’s geometry. So the two switched places. On the penalty corner, Keeley passed left to Jojo Degl, she blasted, and Finja Degl stuffed in the rebound at 6:50.

Not done, Finja would take top spot of the Degl scoresheet at 2:52. She passed out the penalty corner, and then laying her blanket down in the crease, Degl’s diligence didn’t make it a day at the beach for Somers.

She got on the grind and put in goal number two. That left it to Jojo to even things up, and she got help from a fellow big sister. Jane Brennan received the penalty corner, passed to Degl and having the assist come from a defender was not really out of character, according to the John Jay Captain. “The way she plays, Jane is a second defender midfielder, and I absolutely love that,” Degl clarified.

Up 5-0, Keeley finally broke through. Finja Degl hit Keeley on the run, and all alone with Browne, she cut across. A wide open box made for an easy push at 5:32, and the conversion left Keeley half and half in terms of how badly she wanted to beat Browne. “Kind of but not that much,” she laughed.

Keeley also had the final chuckle at 1:15, and John Jay moved to 5-0-1 on the season.