West Jessamine’s dominating season ends with tough playoff loss
NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. — A team that has only allowed 27 goals and has scored 42, which has only one loss on their home field and wins their respective district undefeated, would make a strong case for regional champions and state contenders. Sadly, this was not the case for the West Jessamine Colts, who suffered a tough playoff loss, only two playoff games in, to the Boyle County Rebels.
With Brock Sutherland as the team’s head coach, the road for a good winter season was open, and the possibility of a deep playoff run didn’t seem impossible for the Colts.
The players out of Nicholasville were coming into the season with nine wins, six losses and only one draw for the 2020 fall. The undefeated record of 2-0 placed them first at their respective district, District 46.
The record might show that the Colts were an average team, but some of their most dominating matches and runs will make you reconsider their identity as a team. They won 6-0, 9-0 and 6-0 against the Lincoln County Patriots, the East Jessamine Jaguars and the Wayne County Cardinals, respectively.
The 59% win percentage wasn’t enough to get them into a deep playoff run, and they lost 1-0 against the Boyle County Rebels on Nov. 22, which is pretty surprising because the previous meeting of the two teams resulted in a 4-1 victory for the Colts on Sept. 26.
Through the analysis of numbers and statistics, it seems that the team hasn’t been able to assert the dominance and the pressure that it’s capable of applying, while the full potential of the players is far from being achieved.
The season that just ended was neither catastrophic nor excellent for the Colts. They finished with ten wins, seven losses and only two draws, which makes up for a winning percentage of 58%. Their league record, once again, was an undefeated 3-0.
The match that gave the Colts the title was against the Mercer County Titans for the 46th district championship, where the Nicholasville players lost 1-0. According to the Harrodsburg Herald website, the weather was rough that day.
“Lightning still flashed across the sky at times during the game, but KHSAA rules state the game can continue as long as it is 10 miles away,” it stated. “Mercer and West Jessamine athletic trainers took turns monitoring the weather radar, and luckily the game was able to be played without stoppage, unlike some other district games in the area.”
The team then had to face Pulaski County Maroons for the first round of the playoffs.
“Pulaski County head boys soccer coach Darrell McGahan knew his club would have to play a perfect game to get a win over West Jessamine in the opening round of the boys 12th regional soccer tournament at Somerset High School,” Doug Eads said in an article for the Commonwealth Journal.
The game of the Maroons was far from perfect, and with multiple players on a bad day, the Colts won by 5-2, putting an end to the season of the Maroons out of Somerset.
“You just can’t make those types of mistakes and win against a team like West Jessamine,” Coach McGahan said after the game. “You have to play a perfect game, and we didn’t.”
In the same fashion as the 2020 fall season, the final game for the season came in the second round of the playoffs, once again, against the Boyle County Rebels. The team out of Nicholasville fought hard, and even though the Rebels didn’t have an easy win during the previous season, they still got to the second round, putting an end to the Colts’ playoff run.
With a final score of 3-2, the Colts were eliminated, acquired third place in Kentucky’s region 12, and ended the season as the 39th best team in the entire state of Kentucky.
Regardless of the season’s outcome, one thing is for sure when it comes to the West Jessamine Colts. They will keep fighting, keep getting better and keep working as the underdogs so that they acquire a top-30 spot in the Kentucky rankings in the future.
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