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With Tuesday’s 4-0 victory over Morristown East under their belt, the Jefferson County girls soccer team is now one win away from something special.

A win over West next Thursday would secure their third consecutive District 2-AAA regular season title, something that’s never been done before.

“I want to get the win in October that matters, but winning in the regular season would be nice,” Jeff County head coach Shawn Way said. “It’s never been done; there have been back-to-back district titles, back-to-back regular season titles, but three has never been done so we try not to talk or think about it in practice. It’s kind of like not talking to your pitcher in the middle of a no-hitter.”

While the final scoreline suggests otherwise, Tuesday’s victory was no layup. The teams battled for control of the midfield in the first half, each producing five shots on target with the Lady Patriots scoring the half’s lone goal in the 22nd minute.

East is a team that creates chances with their frenetic pressure from box-to-box, which can be hard to adjust to, but in the second half it was Jeff County who were the aggressors.

They prevented East from getting a single shot on frame, and earned nine of their own, converting on three of them.

“East is a super physical team, much improved from last year. Coach Joy has done a fantastic job with them,” Way said. “They kept it interesting in the first half, we were just waiting for that first goal to come and our girls weathered the storm and did a good job. I thought at halftime, don’t take your foot off the gas, and our second half was a lot more complete from a possession standpoint. It was just a great team effort tonight.

I felt like we were a little more calm in the second; being a district game, you know you’re going to have jitters. We were a little jittery the first 20 minutes, then settled in after the goal. Then in the second half we just found ourselves, the way we’ve been trying to play all season.”

As Way mentioned, the first 20 minutes were a feeling out process. The Lady Patriots created a couple of early chances, but the Lady ‘Canes responded.

Kirsten Sadlon created a number of near-chances by facilitating from the midfield, but the physical Jeff County backline didn’t allow anything to break through.

The Lady Patriots thought they had their first goal in the thirteenth minute when Sirly Banuelos put one past the keeper off an assist from Ashley Gaytan, but the line judge’s flag said otherwise.

They got another chance in the 22’, and Evi Tolzmann capitalized. She dribbled across the top of the box to the left wing, and sent a well-struck ball to the far post to put Jeff County up 1-0.

East didn’t lay down, however. Sadlon and Abby Partin East got their looks at goal, but weren’t able to convert; thus, the score sat at 1-0 entering the half.

Coming out of the half, the Lady Patriots were dominant. They controlled pace and possession from box-to-box, sending a barrage of shots at the East goal.

East keeper Alyssa Potter made a number of good saves, but couldn’t stop them all.

The first shot to break through came from Banuelos in the 55’, making up from the one called off in the first half. The second came from freshman Karen Soto, from a Banuelos assist just three minutes later. The final came from Anny Velasquez Cruz in the 77’.

The game was East’s first taste of district play this season. They travel to Chuckey-Doak on Thursday, and resume district play next Thursday at Sevier County.

The win improved Jeff County to 2-0 in district play, following their victory over Sevier County two weeks back. They now control their destiny in the district regular season.

“You only get three district games, so you just come closer to having home-field advantage come October,” Way said. “That’s a big thing, so we host Morristown West next Thursday for the regular season title. We’re where we want to be.”