The final on the scoreboard looked awfully familiar.
The Helias Crusaders got first-half goals from Dominic Salamone and Gage West on Thursday night and made them stand up in a 2-0 victory against the Hannibal Pirates at the 179 Soccer Park.
It is the fifth 2-0 victory this season for Helias (6-0, ranked No. 6 in Class 2 by the Missouri High School Soccer Coaches Association). The lone "blip" in the results came in a 3-2 victory Tuesday night against Fulton.
"I think we were a lot more focused for this game than we were Tuesday," Helias coach Chuck Register said.
The Crusaders got on the board about 13 minutes into the contest. Braden Remmert booted a long ball down the field that Salamone tracked down among a pair of Pirate defenders and used the outside of his foot to knock it into the opposite corner of the net.
"It was a perfect pass and a perfect shot," Register said. "I don't think the keeper thought it was going to go to his left."
Helias picked up an insurance goal with a little more than a minute remaining when West scored on a free kick from about 25 yards out.
"He was starting to get the knack on those last year and this year, he's improved a lot," Register said.
During the halftime break, the officials called for a delay due to lightning in the area. The game resumed 30 minutes later and a physical first half turned into hand-to-hand combat.
The teams were whistled for a combined eight fouls in the first half. They eclipsed that total in the first 10 minutes of the second half, including a yellow card on one Hannibal player and a red card on another Pirate.
The red card seemed to take much of the extracurricular activities out of the contest.
Helias finished with a 21-3 edge in total shots, including a 12-2 advantage on those on net.
Kyle Daledovich picked up the shutout in goal.
"We moved the ball a lot better," Register said. "We're getting there with our passing, we still have a little bit of work to do, but we're getting there."
Helias is back in action Monday at home against Battle.
In Thursday's JV game, Helias improved to 4-4-1 with a 4-0 victory against Hannibal. Sam Heckart had two goals for Helias, while Grant Stokes and Zach Simon recorded one each. Ethan Twehus had two assists, while Simon and Zach Schrimpf had one each.