'Fun to win': Blue Jays move on to next round of WDA tourney

Sep. 28—JAMESTOWN — Corey Genter has been telling his son Carter Genter one thing all season:

"Just keep shooting."

With 23 minutes gone in the Jamestown High School boys soccer team's WDA play-in match against Dickinson, Corey's advice came to in handy.

With a boot into the net from 10 yards out, Genter nailed his first goal of the season to help the Blue Jays get to their third state qualifier in three years.

The Jays defeated Dickinson 4-0 in the opening round of the 2022 WDA tournament Tuesday. The Jays are slated to take on fourth-seeded Bismarck Century on Saturday. The game is scheduled to start at noon at Bismarck St. Mary's High School.

"It's always nice to win," JHS head coach Brandi Harty said. "I am so happy for these kids. We have really struggled throughout the year with finishing and tonight — we put the ball in the back of the net. Right now the feeling is just pure joy."

Jamestown finished the regular season at 5-7-2 in the conference standings to earn the Blue Jays the fifth seed entering the WDA tournament, a position they are quite familiar with as they have been in WDA play-in the last two seasons.

Tuesday marked one of the first days Genter was playing at full speed. The sophomore has been out for most of the season with a nagging knee injury.

"I saw the ball in the air and there were people closing in on me so I was like, might as well shoot it since it's right in front of me," Genter said. "It ended up in a goal and I was surprised at first but it was nice to get one."

Genter has only been back in the Jays' lineup since last week and then a bout of sickness took him out of the running for the Jays' game against Bismarck High.

"It's actually kind of fun (being on the bench)," Genter said. "It's good watching my team play well. It's hard sometimes because I want to be out there but it's been better for the team so it's all good."

The sophomore has been rostered as a varsity team member since the 2021 season but he didn't see much playing time as a freshman since he was down with a fractured leg.

"He started off as being one who was going to play a lot of minutes for me but his injuries have kind of held him back," Harty said. "The poor kid has gone through everything but today was just a picture of him finishing.

"He's done that before for us but he's been up and down all season so it was nice to see him get a ball in the back of the net tonight."

Some other Blue Jays played some key roles in earning Jamestown its sixth win of the season.

With nine minutes gone in the first half, Iddi Ramadhahi dribbled far enough inside to notch the Blue Jays' first score of the night.

Ramadhahi, a transfer from California, has been a welcome addition to the Blue Jays' program this season as he has proven to be a dynamic combination of speed, skill and knowledge.

"We're still learning how to play with him but overall, I love having him on the team," Harty said of Ramadhahi. "His ability to find kids and to space and be able to take people on is just great."

The sophomore has scored a pair of goals for the Blue Jays and is first on the team in terms of assists with three.

Speaking of threes ...

Henry Yolain came blazing down the field to nab the Jays' third of the half. Yolain, a freshman, has knocked out five goals in his first season on the Blue Jays' varsity roster.

Yolain suffered an ankle injury a couple of weeks ago in the team's tilt with Bismarck Century but has rebounded quickly to help give some more depth to the Blue Jay bench.

"Henry gets hit so hard — he's a force," Harty said with a laugh.

"For him to be back as well — we're almost a full-rostered team and it's like, oh my gosh, this is amazing!"

Jamestown outshot the Midgets 10-3 in the opening half and had four direct kicks compared to Dickinson's one.

The final score of the game was a special one.

Gavin Skjeret and Maguire Stoudt had the play of their careers to end it all, with Skjeret knocking in Stoudt's pass to make it a 4-nothing ball game.

The score and assist were the duo's first stats of the season.

"They are seniors," Harty said with a smile. "Maybe they don't play a lot for me, but they both work so hard and have been in the program for a long time.

"To see that was just beautiful. It was so wonderful and the excitement they got from it — I love it. I love all of it."

Jamestown 4, Dickinson 0

DHS 0 0 — 0

JHS 3 1 — 4

Scoring

First half

1. JHS, Iddi Ramadhahi (Jarrett Zalumskis), 9th minute; 2. JHS, Carter Genter (Ramadhahi), 23rd minute; 3. Henry Yolain (Brady Hart), 34th minute.

Second half

4. JHS, Gavin Skjert (Maguire Stoudt), 62nd minute.

Shots on goal: Dickinson 8; Jamestown 25

Goalkeeper saves: Dickinson, Kaden Hintz, Luis Martinez 21; Jamestown, Grant Lunde, 8