In a game that featured more fouls than total shots, it was almost fitting the final decision came down to a penalty kick.
Sarah Luebbert converted on a penalty kick with 3:34 remaining Thursday night to give the Jefferson City Lady Jays a 1-0 victory against the Quincy (Ill.) Blue Devils at the 179 Soccer Park.
"While we weren't at our best, at the end of the day we found a way to win and good teams can do that," Lady Jays coach Eddie Horn said. "Even with things not going our way, we got it done."
The goal was set up when Luebbert knocked to the ground for a foul inside the Quincy box. The sophomore then converted the kick, knocking it into the lower corner of the net under the diving attempt of Blue Devil keeper Anna Stock.
"I'm not a big fan of the person who got fouled taking the PK, especially on a hard foul like that," Horn said. "But after we missed the first one, we felt like she had to take that one."
That first miss of a PK was a part of what Horn meant when he said things weren't going Jefferson City's way.
In a 15-minute stretch midway through the first half:
• Luebbert had a liner go off the hands of Stock, then off the crossbar.
• Tayler LePage had a shot scoot just wide of the post.
• After a great steal by Natalie Vance deep in the Quincy defensive end, she passed it to Karina Esquivel, who had a shot go just over the top of the bar.
• Then Luebbert was fouled inside the Quincy box and the ensuing penalty kick went wide of the post.
"We had a hold of it with all of that, but then we miss the PK," Horn said. "All that happens and you have to wonder what the rest of the night was going to hold for us."
While the Lady Jays had a flurry of good scoring chances in the first half, the Blue Devils were limited to just one slow dribbler into the waiting hands of Jefferson City keeper Becca Sturgess.
Quincy found a little life in the second half and was in control of the pace of play for about a 15-minute stretch.
"They were pretty direct with their passing and then we started to play direct with our passing and we lost control of it for a while," Horn said. "They were able to do some things.
"But then we started passing it again like we should and I think we got it back."
The Lady Jays then turned up the offensive pressure in the final 10 minutes, which resulted in the Luebbert penalty kick.
"It was a good overall win," Horn said.
Sturgess had to stop another dribbling shot in the second half to pick up Jefferson City's sixth shutout of the season.
"In my mind, we've only given up one goal in the run of play this season," Horn said. "Defensively, we've been playing very well."
Quincy (3-5) finished with an 8-7 edge in total shots. There were 23 fouls called in the contest.
Jefferson City (7-1-1, ranked No. 5 in Class 3 by the Missouri High School Soccer Coaches Association) is back in action Tuesday at home against Rock Bridge. The junior varsity game will start at 5 p.m., with the varsity contest to follow around 6:45 p.m.
In Thursday's JV game, Gabi McGinty scored in the final minute to give Jefferson City a 1-0 win against Quincy. Megan Foster got the shutout in goal for the Lady Jays (6-2).