A long few days may have caught up with the Helias Crusaders.
It was Homecoming weekend at Helias and then the Crusaders went to Moberly on Monday night and posted a 2-1 victory in overtime against the Spartans.
Just about the last thing the Crusaders needed may have been a visit from the Rock Bridge Bruins, the No. 1 team in Class 3.
"I could tell the past few days had taken some things out of us," Helias coach Chuck Register said after the Crusaders dropped a 3-0 decision Tuesday to the Bruins at the 179 Soccer Park. "We were a little sluggish."
The Bruins got on the board about 11 minutes in when Connor Blitz scored off an assist by Jacob Kovarik. Rock Bridge made it 2-0 later in the half on a goal from Brett Bales.
"We wanted to concentrate on defense at the start of the game," Register said. "And we got better on that as the game went along because our communication got better."
Kovarik made it 3-0 in favor of Rock Bridge (11-3-1) about three minutes into the second half.
The Crusaders didn't post much of an offensive threat against the Bruins.
"We got up the field a little bit more in the second half, we just couldn't get anything really dangerous," Register said.
Games like Tuesday will go a long way to preparing the Crusaders for important games later this season.
"We have to get ready for districts and games like this one prepare us for that," Register said.
Helias (10-4) is back in action Thursday when it travels to Mexico.