Jimmies win AII, clinch nationals

• Thomas Cooke

Thomas Cooke
• George Gauld

George Gauld

Talk about it

It didn’t take too long for the Jamestown College men’s soccer program to become a national player.

Thanks to Saturday’s eye-opening 3-0 win over 15th-ranked Ashford, Iowa, in the Association of Independent Institutions championship game, the Jimmies advanced to nationals for the first time in the six-year history of the program.

George Gauld got the Jimmies (15-4-1) started early and they never looked back in shutting out the Saints in San Marcos, Calif.

“It’s a nice achievement for our program and for the players individually,” said JC soccer coach Phillip Bohn. “Ashford is a very good team. Sometimes it seems like when we play a team with a little bit of status, like Ashford, it brings out the best in our team.

“I wouldn’t say we played our best game, but we had our best sustained stretch of good play against a quality team.”

The Jimmies will play a road game Saturday in the opening round of the national tournament. Those pairings will be released today.

Gauld’s early goal, off a nice feed from Jonathon Lodge, gave the Jimmies the jump start they needed.

“It seems like when we score early, we just play with more confidence. So George scoring that first goal early was huge,” Bohn said.

Austin Dillard added a second first-half score in the 33rd minute, but the play in the opening 45 minutes was even otherwise, Bohn said.

Thomas Cooke came up with a handful of big saves and Bohn lauded the junior keeper from England for his continued steady play.

Bohn said the Jimmies’ best stretch came in the final 15 minutes as they put the clamps on defensively.

“Ashford played a strong game. They’re a very good team. There is no question about that,” he said. “As the half wore on, our guys seemed to play with a little more swagger.”

Jack Keeling, about an hour into the match, pushed the lead to 3-0.

Cooke finished with six saves. Gauld, who also had a goal in Friday’s 4-3 shootout win over Houston-Victoria, was named tournament MVP.

“In the second half I felt like we played up to our potential,” Bohn said. “We moved the ball. We played composed. We created opportunities and transitioned to defense really well.

“To win a game of that magnitude, you have to rise to the occasion and I give our guys credit for doing so.”

A.I.I. Tournament

At San Marcos, Calif.

Championship

Jamestown College 3, Ashford, Iowa 0

Jamestown College 2 1 — 3

Ashford 0 0 — 0

Scoring summary

First half

1, George Gauld (Jonathon Lodge), 8:58; 2, JC, Austin Dillard (unassisted), 32:20.

Second half

3, JC, Jack Keeling, 58:19, CK.

Keeper saves, JC, Thomas Cooke 4-2—6. Ashford, Patrick Kinsella 1-0—1.

Records: Jamestown College 15-4-1; Ashford 12-3-4.

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

Tags: college sports, sports, jimmies, soccer