By DOUG EADS, CJ Correspondent
Danville — Could the Somerset Briar Jumpers exercise the demon that is the Danville Admirals?
Somerset’s soccer team came into last night just one game away from a regional championship, yet to attain that regional crown, Brian Blankenship’s crew would have to get by that old and very familiar nemesis — Danville.
The Admirals defeated Somerset in the 2006 regional final at Clara Morrow Field by a score of 4-1, and upended the Briar Jumpers in the semi finals of the tournament the very next year, by a 5-1 margin.
Earlier this season, in the second game for both clubs to be exact, it was Danville once again getting past Somerset in the All A regional final by a count of 3-2.
Could last night be the night Somerset would finally break through against the Ads in the finals of the Boy’s 15th Regional Soccer Tournament.
Unfortunately, no it would not.
Danville’s Jake Winkler scored all three goals for his club, as the Ads broke open a 1-1 tie at the half with the Jumpers by scoring twice after the intermission, once again ending Somerset’s season with another heartbreaking victory, this time by a 3-1 score.
After watching his team finish the ‘09 campaign with a 14-5-2 record, coach Blankenship talked afterwards about how much this year’s Somerset team meant to him deep, deep inside.
“I’ll remember this team forever,” stated an emotional Blankenship after last night’s tough loss.
“I enjoyed the seniors so much,” continued the SHS coach. “I’ve been here for three years, and they stuck with me and they wanted to play for me and I wanted to coach for them. It’s been great.”
The Admirals struck early in last night’s championship tilt, as Winkler got a ball past Ben Blevins just over three minutes into the game, for a quick, 1-0 Danville lead.
Somerset however would rally back.
In the 21st minute, Jon Claude Burlew scored off a great assist from Cory Moss, and the Jumpers had evened things at 1-1, which is where the score remained at the half.
Unfortunately, in a well-played game by both clubs, this game wasn’t without some big-time controversy in the early moments of the second half.
With just over 30 minutes left in the game, Alex Pence looked to have been taken down inside the penalty box by an Admiral defender, however no call was made.
Moments later, on a corner kick by Somerset, Colby Hall appeared to have headed the ball past the line at the Danville goal, however the officials ruled that keeper Byron Hempel had made the save in front of the goal line.
Both of those calls — make that no calls — didn’t sit too well with the Somerset coach after watching his club’s season come to an end.
“We had Danville on their heels tonight, and if we had gotten that PK, and then we hit that one goal on the corner kick, there’s no way they get that third goal, and we walk out of here with a win,” lamented the SHS coach.
“We did have chances after both of those calls though, so I don’t want this to sound like a bunch of sour grapes,” Blankenship remarked. “I’m not sure why they had such a young referee doing this game in the middle. I’m sure that he’s experienced, and I don’t want to take the angle that this loss is on the refs, because we still had our chances to win this game.”
After those two calls went Danville’s way, the Admirals did what a good team would do in that situation, and that’s take advantage of the opportunity that has presented itself.
Winkler tallied his second goal of the contest in the 59th minute giving the Admirals a 2-1 lead, and then he closed things out with the hat trick, scoring his third goal of the evening with just 6:56 remaining in the contest.
The loss ended Somerset’s remarkable run over the course of the past month, leaving Blankenship, as he put it, almost speechless when trying to talk to his kids after the Briar Jumpers season came to an end with the loss to the Ads.
“As far as the speech at the end, I really didn’t want to think about what to say, because I just wanted to say, ‘We’ll win this one’,” Blankenship stated.
“Danville’s a good team and they play year round,” pointed out the Jumper coach. “Everybody in our district — we just don’t have any summer teams, and I thought we would have to overcome that with effort in this game. And, I thought tonight our guys left their heart out on that field. They never stopped playing hard tonight, no matter what.”
Making the 15th Region’s All-Tournament Team from Southwestern was Cody Inabnitt and Britten Vanhoose, while Somerset placed Ben Blevins, Burlew, and Alex Pence on the squad.
With the victory, Danville improved to 16-3-2 on the year and advanced to next week’s Sub Sectional round.
