Helias overcomes tired legs

In girls soccer win against Hannibal

Helias' Maddie Lammers takes to the air while trying to control the ball during Tuesday's game with Hannibal.
Helias' Maddie Lammers takes to the air while trying to control the ball during Tuesday's game with Hannibal.

The spirit was willing. The legs, understandably, were a little weak.

"I think you could see the girls are a little worn out," Helias coach Brad Dempsey said Tuesday night after the Lady Crusaders topped the Hannibal Lady Pirates 2-1 at the 179 Soccer Park.

"We gave the effort, but I think we're a little worn down right now."

Tuesday's game was the fifth in six days for the Lady Crusaders.

"The season has just been bang, bang, bang recently," Dempsey said. "We haven't had a practice in the last two weeks, we just play games. You want to get in as many games in as you can, but we're getting worn down. In the JV game, we had three subs and four in the varsity game."

But Dempsey stressed he didn't want to take anything away from the Lady Pirates.

"Hannibal has played everybody tough this season," he said. "They weren't going to give up, they were going to defend hard and we have a lot of respect for the way they played."

Helias got on the board midway through the opening half when Becky Roberts knocked in a corner kick.

"She bent it in," Dempsey said.

The Lady Crusaders were strong on corner kicks throughout the game.

"It seemed like we headed five or six of them over the top of the net tonight," Dempsey said. "It was just one of those nights, but Becky was putting great balls in box and we were going up to get them. We weren't able to capitalize on them."

Roberts picked up Helias' second goal about three minutes into the second half, scoring off an assist by Morgan Rundle.

Hannibal (7-3) scored with a little more than five minutes left on a goal by Bri Johnson.

There will be little time to rest for Helias (7-4, ranked No. 6 in Class 2), as the Lady Crusaders will play today at Class 1 defending state champion Duchesne.

"We're going to see what we're made of, it will be interesting to see if we can match their energy on their field," Dempsey said. "We're one day away from a break that the girls really need."

The JV game will start at 4:30 p.m., with the varsity to follow around 6:15 p.m. in St. Charles.

In Tuesday's junior varsity game, Helias posted a 2-0 victory against Hannibal. Maddie Casten and Abby Shepard scored for the Lady Crusaders, while Kayla Yanskey had an assist. Ashley Rehagen picked up the shutout in goal for Helias (6-1-1).