It was a progress report for the Jefferson City Lady Jays. They passed.
In their third game this season, the Lady Jays defeated the Moberly Spartans 2-1 in penalty kicks. Saturday afternoon, the rematch was a bit of a mismatch as the Lady Jays blanked the Lady Spartans 3-0 in the Capital City Invitational at the 179 Soccer Park.
"We're starting to mature," Jefferson City coach Matt Stacey said. "Our youth and new faces are starting to click and gel as a unit."
The Lady Jays got on the board about five minutes into the contest on a score from Sarah Luebbert.
"It was a great individual effort," Stacey said. "She's crafty and she worked her magic."
Jefferson City doubled its lead late in the half on a goal by Natalie Vance, who used her left foot to elude the Moberly keeper.
"I loved that because we've been encouraging her to shoot more and more," Stacey said. "She's such a hard worker, she does a lot of good things. She gets a lot of good chances, we just want her to get more out of those chances."
Moberly's best chance to score came about 10 minutes into the second half. But Jefferson City keeper Becca Sturgess came out of the net to stop the charge.
"That play shouldn't go unnoticed," Stacey said. "That was a great move on her part."
The Lady Jays got their third goal midway through the second half when freshman defensive back Katy Tambke rolled a shot from the top of the box threw the crowd in front of the net that just crossed the goal line.
"She's a go-getter," Stacey said. "She doesn't play like a freshman."
Abby VanConia of the Lady Jays provided a great distraction in front of the net to divert the attention of the keeper.
Three of the four backs for the Lady Jays now have at least one goal this season.
"That's something we like a lot," Stacey said. "It shows we are dangerous all over the field."
The Lady Jays had been off for a more than a week after a 2-0 loss to Ursuline Academy.
"That game left kind of a bad taste in our mouth and then we have to wait a week to get back out here again," Stacey said. "We've been practicing inside, which is not ideal, and you never know how a team will react after a layoff like that."
Jefferson City (7-2-1) will play Tuesday at Sedalia Smith-Cotton before playing Friday and Saturday at the Tournament of Champions in Burlington, Iowa.
III
Jefferson City opened the day with a 2-1 overtime victory against Glendale.
"That was a heck of a game for us against a very good team," Stacey said. "We played exceptionally well."
Vance scored Jefferson City's goal in regulation on an assist by Eden Hoogveld on a crossing pass.
Sturgess helped send the game to overtime with a sprawling save, Stacey said.
"It was unbelievable," he said. "Everybody thought it was going in."
Luebbert had the game-winner in the first overtime period.