With 3-1 Win Over Ocean Springs, Jays Focus on Their Saturday Match Against the Raiders

Chase Rushing watches as his second goal of the match strikes the right corner of the net in Monday night’s 3-1 win over Ocean Springs. The Jays collide with Archbishop Rummel on the Raiders’ field in Metairie on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 12:30 p.m.

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Junior co-captain Chase Rushing scored 95 seconds after the referee’s whistle started the match Monday night against Ocean Springs — and added a second goal in the 57th minute — to lead the Blue Jays to a 3-1 win over the visiting Greyhounds at John Ryan Stadium.

The Jays, whose overall record is 12-4-3 (in-state 12-0-3; district 4-0-1), have the rest of the week off — from playing a match, not practice — before reconvening in Metairie on Saturday, Jan. 17 to take on Archbishop Rummel. The district match begins at 12:30 p.m. at the Raiders’ field and marks the third time the two teams are meeting this season. In December, the Jays scored a lone goal, but it was enough to shut out the Raiders in the first district match between the two rivals. The Jays also blanked Rummel, 4-0, in the St. Paul’s Holiday Tournament. (Note that the starting time of Saturday’s Jesuit-Rummel match is 12:30, not 12:45 p.m. as reported earlier.)

In welcoming Ocean Springs to the Ryan on an unseasonably warm and humid Monday, the Blue Jays were still kicking themselves over a match that ended in a 1-1 tie last Friday night (Jan. 9) against their other district rival, Brother Martin. After breaking the scoreless deadlock with a Rushing goal early in the second half, the Jays had several excellent opportunities to put the game away, but just couldn’t find the net. With a little over four minutes left to play, the Crusaders caught the Jays with their guard down — on a long throw-in which was headed by one of their players. The ball then ricocheted off the foot of another Crusader and shot into the Jesuit goal. It all happened in the blink of an eye, but the memory of the tie was still fresh when the Jays took the field against Ocean Springs.

After the quick goal in the opening two minutes playing the Greyhounds, senior striker Dillon Fuchs coaxed the goalie out and then shot a rocket into the middle of the net to put the Jays up, 2-0, in the 23rd minute. In the second half, the Jays padded their lead with Rushing’s second goal. But in the 73rd minute, the Greyhounds ended the shutout by notching their lone goal.