Royals Dominate To Win Milestone Soccer District Championship

(#2) Jayden Schnitkey kicks for Jackson Christian. Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV Sports.

David Rice | JTV Sports

October 17th, 2024

After having many struggling seasons as a program, Coach Barney and the Royals were able to raise up a trophy on Thursday night, dominating Ann Arbor Central Academy 8-0 to win an MHSAA Division 4 Soccer District Championship.

It was chippy and rough for the majority of the game, but Jackson Christian started on fire right away with early aggressiveness on offense. Just 40 seconds in, Freshman Jayden Schnitkey scored the first goal of his hat trick making it 1-0 Royals. That opening goal came off a corner pass from Waleign Bizenigaw. 

After two missed penalty kicks, Jackson Christian put it back in the net again quickly. An assist from Jonathan Locke to Schnitkey made it a 2-0 game with still 34:49 left in the first half. Locke, just minutes later, scored his own goal for the Royals at the 32:27 mark off a goal kick to make it 3-0.

After Damian Orcasitas knocked one through, Jackson Christian led 4-0 going into the halftime break. AA Central was limited to minimal shots on goal throughout the entire game as the Royals opened up and maintained energy. 

“Keep up with the other team’s energy and the quality of our guys will overtop that. That’s exactly what we came out and did today” said Coach Nick Barney.

Jackson Christian continued its dominance in the second half. Jayden Schnitkey completed the hat trick just a minute into it to make it a 5-0 game. Nathaniel Locke added to the list of scorers for the Royals in the second half. 

Jonathan Locke added another two goals in the last 16 minutes, including the dagger to cap an 8-0 mercy rule, JCHS’s first soccer district championship since 2011. Both Jayden Schnitkey and Locke finished with 3 goals, Nathaniel Locke and Damian Orcasitas also scored for the Royals.

Jackson Christian will play in the Regional Semifinal on Tuesday (10/22) at 7pm at Royal Oak Shrine.

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