How Jones College women's soccer finally broke through to win its first NJCAA championship
The Jones College women's soccer team was playing its fourth game in six days on Nov. 18, but if there was fatigue, it didn't show.
Less than four minutes into the NJCAA Division II championship game at Tucson, Arizona, the Bobcats' Gemma Whitchurch took a cross pass from Celine Ottah and kicked the ball into the net.
The score ignited a 3-0 victory over Johnson (Kan.) County and gave Jones College (17-1-1), located in Ellisville, its first national championship.
“I’m just so proud of the girls,” Jones coach Dolores Deasley told the Clarion Ledger. “It’s unbelievable. This is something I have been dreaming of for quite some time now since I've been at Jones. The girls showed up all week.”
Deasley, who became head coach in 2008, has a 209-50-10 record. The climb to the championship win over Johnson County (18-4-2) has been one of persistence. It took three years after she was hired to win the first of seven Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference championships. The Bobcats had lost in the NJCAA semifinals twice in the previous three years and made four previous appearances in the national tournament.
The critical point for the Bobcats occurred just before the end of the regular season. Jones defeated No. 1-ranked Northwest Mississippi Community College 3-0 at Senatobia on Oct. 20 then lost its regular-season finale at home to Holmes Community College 3-2 four days later, one day after it had climbed to No. 1 in the rankings.
The Bobcats struggled in their postseason opener in the Region 23 / Gulf District championship, slipping past No. 13 Pearl River on penalty kicks to earn the trip to Tucson. Jones won games on Nov. 13 and 14 to reach the NJCAA D-II semifinals, where it faced Holmes on Nov. 16.
“Our girls weren’t quite ready to be done in Tucson,” Deasley said. “We were hungry for another shot at Holmes and got our redemption with a convincing 4-0 win.”
Deasley was selected as the Coach of the Tournament, and Ottah was selected MVP. The offensive MVP was Jones' Hilary Jaen, and Bobcats keeper Jona Hennings was defensive MVP. The players were joined on the all-tournament team by Whitchurch and Abby Sheriff.
“It is nice to bring it (championship) home finally,” Deasley said. “It has been a long time coming."
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: How Jones College women's soccer won its first NJCAA championship
