Hauser soccer coach Barry Grimes talks to his team at halftime of Wednesday’s game against Morristown at Hauser High School.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
HOPE — One month ago, Hauser wasn’t sure if it would have enough players to field a soccer team this season.
But thanks to a few athletes from other sports coming out for the team for the first time, the Jets have been able to not only play, but be competitive in most of their games.
That was the case again on Wednesday. Hauser played Morristown to a scoreless stalemate for 68 minutes before the Yellow Jackets scored twice in the final 12 minutes to pull out a 2-0 Mid-Hoosier Conference win.
“They’re working hard,” Hauser coach Barry Grimes said. “They’re competing. So I’m pretty pleased, but we want to keep working to turn those competitive halves into wins.”
Hauser’s Kale Schwartzkopf, left, and Morristown’s Kade Rogers battle for the ball Wednesday at Hauser High School.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
The Jets fell only 2-0 at Class A No. 16 Oldenburg Academy. One of their other losses came at an Indianapolis Lutheran team that was ranked at the time.
Hauser had only 14 field players available for Wednesday’s game. When two were injured in the first half, the Jets had only two available subs.
“We’re making progress,” Grimes said. “We’re playing basically 11-12 field players a game right now. A lot of players don’t have but four or five games of soccer experience at this point. Our effort is good. We’re trying to battle through injuries, and we’re trying to do the right things. We’re connecting passes , we’re starting to talk more, we’re starting to have better defensive rotations. So I think we’re getting closer and closer to being able to compete for the conference and the sectional.”
Hauser’s Hannah Taylor, left, kicks a ball toward the Morristown side of the field Wednesday at Hauser High School.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
Morristown outshot Hauser (0-4-1, 0-1) 33-13, putting 13 shots on goal to six for the Jets. Will Walters posted 11 saves.
The closest Hauser came to scoring was in the 37th minute when the Yellow Jackets keeper made a diving save on a free kick from Zach Weichman.
“They’re learning,” Grimes said. “We just don’t have the skills to be able to advance the ball against other skilled players. We have to learn how to pass and move without the ball and be able to advance the ball offensively. There’s a lot of pressure on our goalie and our defense because we’re getting a lot of shots against us.”
The Jets have added a home game with MHC rival Southwestern (Shelby) at 5 p.m. Friday.
