JAY – Even though it’s only the middle of September and the Jay Tigers are only a quarter into their field hockey season, it’s certainly not too early for a turning point. Just ask Jay coach Sandy Nemi and her team.

The Tigers were outshot and outcornered by the previously undefeated Telstar Rebels on Wednesday, but they managed to pull off a 2-0 victory.

“We’ve struggled to score goals,” said Nemi, whose team dropped a decision to Telstar less than two weeks ago and last week was routed 7-2 by rival Livermore Falls. “Hopefully we’ve got it out of our system. The communication was back and we were talking. That’s the key. I hope we’re on a roll now.”

Jay (2-3) wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard as Jaclyn Lautz capitalized on a penalty corner chance just 3:34 into the game. Kristen Uhuad’s stroke to the top of the circle resulted in a loose ball in the crease area which Telstar failed to clear and Lautz banged it into the goal.

“We’re not real strong on our corners,” said Nemi. “We’re trying to work on getting all five players into the circle.”

The quick goal triggered a timeout by Rebels coach Gail Wight and seemed to spark their offensive attack.

The remainder of the first half was the Kaylie DeMillo highlight reel as the Jay keeper continually kicked out saves and kept rebounds to a minimum.

“She made some really nice saves,” said Wight. “She was sending them into the clear and no one was there.”

Jay added to its lead after another penalty corner. Lindsey McDonald sent a long hit into the circle and the ball ended up on the stick of Lautz, who buried her second score of the game.

The Rebels (4-1) earned numerous scoring chances and had 17 penalty corners, 12 of them coming in the second half. But the Rebel attack just never seemed to click. When Mallory Brown would stroke the ball into play, the Rebels struggled in settling the ball for a shot. When they did settle the ball, they misfired.

“We had some nice carries to the into the circle but we couldn’t get the hard hit,” said Wight. “We’d get the ball in but just couldn’t finish it off.”

Late in the second half, the Rebels picked up the attack and Chea Davis blasted two shots toward the cage. The first was a hard shot off a corner that DeMillo made a right pad save on. The second was kicked out of harm’s way by the keeper.

“I really didn’t have too many hard drives straight on,” said DeMillo. “The girls did a good job of defending them.”

She also echoed her coach’s statements.

“Hopefully,” she said, “it’s a turning point for our season.”