A great defensive performance by the Jayhawks and some offensive opportunism from Luuk Willemsen were the keys to that long-awaited victory Wednesday afternoon as Jamestown CC picked up a 2-0 NJCAA nonconference win over the Tribunes to improve to 6-2-2 on the year.

“It’s a big win because they are a Division I program and I’ve been here 11 years and we haven’t beaten them,” Anderson said. “We’ve tied them before, and we’ve been close a couple of times. This is the first time we’ve been able to get over that hump. They are a good squad. They are big and strong and fast and they have good skill.”

With 10 minutes left to play and the Jayhawks holding a 1-0 lead, things took a bleak turn when Monroe CC’s Santieno Harding was dropped in the box following contact with a Jamestown CC defender.

Lined up for his chance to bring things back to even, Harding opted for a low shot inside the left post. Jayhawks goalkeeper Jakob Moore guessed correctly when it counted the most, diving to his right in that moment and deflecting away the shot to lift the Jayhawks bench to its feet.

Jamestown Community College’s Vinicuis Rodrigues (23) and Monroe CC’s Garrett Hungerford battle for possession during Wednesday’s NJCAA game at the Physical Education Complex.

“This is the second one he has saved this year. They’ve only had two, he’s saved both of them,” Anderson said. “If he guesses right, which is what penalty kicks are, it is about an 80 percent chance he’s going get it.”

Things just kept getting better for the Jayhawks late in the game, as the Monroe CC defense cleared a ball up to midfield to try and force the action the other way.

That ball was picked off by Jamestown CC’s Christopher Calladine, who quickly shuffled a pass to Willemsen.

Noticing that Tribunes goalkeeper was up near the top of the 18-yard box, Willemsen floated a high ball that could not be reached by Fischer to give the Jayhawks a much-needed two-goal lead.

After Monroe CC got out to a hot start, maintaining possession for the better part of the opening 10 minutes of play, Jamestown CC was able to find its footing and get some passes laid down.

The hosts’ first offensive chance of the day came as Jesse De Costa hit a nice crossing ball that was gathered and struck by Michael Andalora for a looping shot that just missed the mark high. Moments later, Willemsen would show great situational awareness after collecting a ball in open space.

Beating his man with a slashing move, the freshman from New Zealand was able to wire a pass to a cutting Tyler West, who finished off that opportunity with a low left-side shot to give the Jayhawks the lead in the 19th minute.

“The play that Luuk made where he went to Tyler and got that goal in the first half, that’s a huge game changer right there. Because now we’re playing from ahead and that’s a big difference,” Anderson said. “I think the kids learned today that we don’t have to play the game the same way every day in order to win. Some teams don’t have that ability but today we showed that we could play defense, then break out and take advantage of our opportunities, which is huge for us.”

Defensively, the Jayhawks were certainly living by a “bend-but-don’t-break” mentality.

Saad Mohacht would threaten to tie things up with a breakaway just before halftime, but Moore was able to rush out and cut off the angle on that chance, forcing a shot that fell wide right.

Moore would come up with two more great saves in close late in the game as the Tribunes continued to press in desperation, while defensive stopper Alexander Beuke handed in a stalwart defensive effort through all 90 minutes of play.

Jamestown CC is now undefeated in its last five contests, and will host Tompkins Cortland CC at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.