It was a great way to start the season.
The Jefferson City Lady Jays got on the scoreboard a little more than two minutes into Friday night's game against the Troy Lady Trojans and went on to a 3-0 victory at the 179 Soccer Park.
"That was a great start," Lady Jays coach Eddie Horn said.
On the play, Sarah Luebbert worked the ball down to the end line at the side of the goal, then fed a waiting Kaley Ruff in front of the net. The junior lined the shot into the net to give the Lady Jays the early lead.
"That was a great play by Sarah to get the ball down there and to find Kaley," Horn said.
After the Lady Jays failed to convert on a penalty kick a few minutes later, Jefferson City was able to double its advantage midway through the half when Eden Hoogveld went high to head in a corner kick.
"It was a little unexpected, but I will take that any day of the week," Horn said.
The goal came on one of 13 corner kicks Jefferson City had in the contest.
Jefferson City outshot Troy 11-2 in the first half in holding a 2-0 lead.
The Lady Jays dominated the action in the second half. After coming up empty on several good attempts to score, the Lady Jays made it 3-0 with about 13 minutes left on a goal by Mackenize Lochhead.
"That was a great individual effort," Horn said.
And was a bit of a payoff after all the good chances.
"It was a just goal for our team because of how the game went," Horn said. "We earned that one."
Jefferson City had one of its best plays of the night earlier in the half when Natalie Vance worked her way to the end line and got the ball in front of the net. But the Troy keeper stopped three shots in a 10-second span.
"That was the best sequence that we had in the half," Horn said.
Jefferson City finished with a 17-6 edge in total shots. Becca Sturgess got the shutout for the Lady Jays, making one save.
"Defensively, we were pretty good," Horn said. "They didn't get a lot of chances."
Jefferson City did a great job of frustrating Troy forward Mariah Vollmer, who has signed to go to Division I Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
"She didn't get a lot done," Horn said.
It was a good first game for the Lady Jays in their debut under Horn.
"We needed this game," he said. "It's always nice to get a victory, but we have a lot to work on.
"Everybody needs to remember we are a work in progress. There are things that we're still working on and it can be a little frustrating for everybody."
Jefferson City (1-0) is back in action this afternoon against Ursuline Academy at the 179 Soccer Park.
"That's going to be a great test," Horn said.
The junior varsity game will start at 11 a.m., with the varsity contest to follow around 12:45 p.m.
In Friday night's junior varsity game, Jefferson City posted a 2-0 victory against Troy.