Jimmies hold off Houston-Victoria

The Jimmies blew a late lead, but found some magic in a shootout to keep their national tournament homes alive at the Association of Independent Institutions tournament on Friday in San Marcos, Calif.

Leading 3-1 with less than 90 seconds left in regulation, the Jimmies conceded two goals in the last 62 seconds, forcing overtime.

After 30 scoreless minutes of overtime, the Jimmies then won a tension-filled shootout 5-4 over Houston-Victoria.

Thomas Cooke came up with two big saves in the shootout. The second put the match on the boot of Jonathon Jacobs, who ripped home the winner.

The win moves the Jimmies (15-4) into today’s championship game against Ashford at 4 p.m. The two teams met Oct. 20 in Clinton, Iowa, with the Saints winning 2-1. The winner advances to nationals.

Cooke played a huge part in the win for the Jimmies. He made 10 saves, including six in the first half and three more in the second overtime.

After a scoreless first half, the two teams combined for six goals in the next 45 minutes.

The Jimmies took a 3-1 lead on goals by Ellis Riley, George Gauld and Jade Johnson.

In the shootout, Jack Keeling, Matt Balshaw, Gauld, and Dominic O’Connor each were successful, but Riley was denied. But Cooke made his second stop in the shootout on Victoria’s sixth attempt, setting up Jacobs.

Ashford 2, JC 0

Ashford scored right before halftime and then again shortly after the intermission en route to a 2-0 win over the Jimmies.

Hollie Babut scored in the final minute before the break to put the Saints up 1-0. They stretched it out to 2-0 on a score from Gudrun Eggertsdottir in the 53rd minute for the final tally.

The Jimmies had just two shots on goal. Kayla Byle stopped seven of the nine shots she faced in the game as Jamestown College finished the season at 8-9-2. The eight wins were the most in a season since 2005.

Association of Independent

Institutions Tournament

At San Marcos, Calif.

Ashford, Iowa 2, Jamestown College 0

Jamestown College 0 0 — 0

Ashford 1 1 — 2

Scoring summary

First half

1, Ashford, Hollie Babut (Chamea Palmer), 44:56.

Second half

2, Ashford, Gudrun Eggertsdottir (Alicia Tamburro), 52:55.

Keeper saves: JC, Kayla Byle 3-4—7. Ashford, Jessica VanDyke 0-2—2.

Jamestown College 4,

Houston-Victoria 3, Shootout

UH-Victoria 0 3 0 0 0 — 3

Jamestown 0 3 0 0 1 — 4

Scoring summary

First half

No scoring.

Second half

1, JC, Ellis Riley (unassisted), 65:42; 2, UHV, Christian Turman (Hector Gonzalez), 70:20; 3, JC, George Gauld (unassisted);, 87:44; 6, JC, Jade Johnson (Jack Humphries), 88:21; UHV, Stiven Ospina (Turman, Juan Ibarra), 88:58; 6, UHV, Ibarra (Ramirez).

First overtime

No scoring.

Second overtime

No scoring.

Shootout

UHV: 4 for 6.

JC: 5 for 6.

Keeper saves: UHV, Bradley Abrahamsen 1-2-0-0—3. JC, Thomas Cooke 6-1-0-3—10.

Sun sports editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at daves@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, jimmies, soccer