JAKE PITCHER certainly took Senior Night seriously.
The Eagle 12th grader recorded a hat trick Thursday as East Jackson pulled away for a 5-2 win over Jackson County to clinch a no. 2 seed in the April Region 8-AA tournament.
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“It was just a great Senior Night for him,” East Jackson coach Chris Cooley said. “He’s going to enjoy it.”
Pitcher got started early, opening the scoring with a goal in the fourth minute. Jackson County responded with scores from Danny Butler and Patrick Ventura to take a 2-1 lead but Jonathan Zarco scored the equalizer in the 21st minute.
Pitcher put the Eagles ahead for good with a goal in the 28th minute.
“Once we settled in the midfield and the defense, we just started clearing the ball out and not playing with it too much and just possessing with quick passes,” Cooley said. “I really think that’s what changed the game. We just started making fewer mistakes.”
East Jackson then led 4-2 at the half after Yeng Xiong added a score in the 30th minute.
Pitcher completed his hat trick with a late goal in the 71st minute.
“He’s been playing really well when he’s very, very strong on breakaways,” Cooley said. “That’s how he got his goals. So he played, really for him, a technically perfect game, which is just going for those breakaway shots. He did a really good job finishing. He had really nice placement and power, so his parents have got to be proud of watching that game.”
The victory means East Jackson will host its first-round playoff game in the 8-AA tournament in mid-April against the no. 3 seed out of the North subregion. Union County is currently in third place on that side of the region.
“The difference between second and third means the difference between playing Dawson and probably Union,” Cooley said. “That’s a huge difference. We have to win that first playoff game to make state and it’s a big difference between those teams, which one we play. So we’ve given ourselves a really good path now into state which is nice.”
East Jackson now has a bit of a break. The Eagles have one more regular season game remaining when they play Region 8-AA North no. 1 seed East Hall April 13 prior to the start of the 8-AA tournament.
“It’s worked pretty well,” Cooley said of the upcoming break. “A lot of our guys are kind of tired and we’ve got a couple of injuries.”
East Hall “is going to be a tough game,” Cooley added. The Vikings are 8-1-1 overall and 4-0 in subregion play.
“They’re the top team in the Northern subregion,” he said. “They’re very strong. It is a good solid game to play, and our guys know that they’re up against a tough game and that always makes them train harder.”
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