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Blue Jays soccer team takes on Minot, still undefeated at home

JAMESTOWN — Layla Becker was a nervous wreck on Thursday — for about 60 seconds.

Down 1-0 against Minot, the Jamestown High School soccer team earned a penalty kick with five minutes left in regulation. Blue Jay captains, Ellie Krueger, Haley Attleson and Hannah Attleson, all decided Becker, a freshman for the Blue Jays, would be the best choice to make the PK.

"I was so scared," Becker said. "I didn't want to take it. I was just telling myself, 'don't hit it over, don't hit it over.' I was aiming for bottom left — it didn't go bottom left."

But it did go in.

"For a half second I thought she was going to save it but then I was like, nah, that's going in," Becker said with a smile. "I was so, so happy."

Jamestown and Minot ended the game in a 1-1 tie. Jamestown's second tie of the year, puts its record at 8-2-2 in the WDA. The Blue Jays will play their last home game of the season on Saturday, taking on Bismarck High at 1 p.m.

"Due to the loss on Saturday against Mandan, We told the girls at the beginning of this week that we needed to get something out of this game," JHS head coach Colton Altringer said. "We know we can compete with Minot. We just had to play our style and find a way to rebound from Saturday and I think our girls really did.

"They rose to the occasion very well," he said. "This was a very fast and physical game. This is a team that we match up with very well. It was a great showing for our girls, letting them know that we can keep up with any team in the state — even the team that, besides last year, won State three years in a row."

While Minot limited the Jays scoring chances, Jamestown clapped back and did not allow the defending WDA champions and 2024 state tournament runners-up to score a goal through the opening half.

jhs girls soccer 9 vs minot 37 051525.jpg

"Zero-zero is always a good spot but the girls are not complacent and I am not complacent." Altringer said. "We're always looking for what we can do next."

At halftime Altringer said the message to the team was to fix the little things, like moving certain players to different spots on the field to create more space and not matching up with Minot 1-on-1 but instead attacking with numbers.

It was a good plan, and it mainly worked save a defensive breakdown that allowed Jayda Schall to land one just past Anna Lunde to make it 1-0 with five minutes gone in the second half.

Lunde, a freshman goalie for the Jays, faced seven shots and made six saves. Lunde is in her first year as the starting varsity goalie. She has posted six shutouts this spring.

"I would like to give a shoutout to Anna Lunde," Becker said. "Being a goalie is really hard and she had a ton of good saves. She worked hard and she didn't quit. She didn't get down on herself ... she stayed strong and did a good job.

"It was a pretty evenly matched game," she said. "We played well."

Minot 1, Jamestown 1

MIN 0 1 — 1

JHS 0 1 — 1

Scoring

First half

No scoring.

Second half

1. MIN, Jayda Schall (unassisted), 45th minute; 2. JHS, Layla Beker (penalty kick), 75th minute.

Shots on goal: Minot 7; Jamestown 7

Goalie saves: Minot, Kynsli Gillmore 6; Jamestown, Anna Lunde 6

Katie Ringer is a sports reporter for the Jamestown Sun. Katie joined the Sun staff in the summer of 2019 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire with a degree in journalism. She can be reached by email at kringer@jamestownsun.com or by phone at 701-952-8460.

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