Things were looking good Saturday for the Jefferson City Jays.
A goal early in the second half by Seth Stegeman gave Jefferson City a 2-0 lead against nationally ranked Chaminade in the Art Firley Shootout at 179 Soccer Park.
"I think we all got a little excited about possibly knocking off one of the top teams in the country," Jays coach Eddie Horn said.
But the Red Devils had made some lineup adjustments at the start of the half. And they paid off as those players got into the pace of the game as Chaminade closed the game with four unanswered goals to take a 4-2 victory.
"We're left walking away wondering what happened?" Horn said. "But they're really good, and once they got going, you kind of had a feeling what was coming."
The Jays got on the board midway through the opening half when Erich Sporleder hit Jordan Carron with a great pass and the junior lined home the shot.
"That was a great play, starting with the build up," Horn said. "Erich played a perfect ball in and Jordan stays composed, takes it in and scores."
Chaminade had a chance to tie it four minutes later on a penalty kick. But the attempt was turned aside by Jefferson City keeper Zach Brooks. It was the third penalty kick Brooks has stopped this season.
"I liked the way we played in the first half," Horn said.
The Jays doubled their lead early in the second half on Stegeman's goal, which was set up by a corner kick.
But then the roof caved in.
Jacob Pesek made it 2-1 with 26 minutes remaining after the Jays failed to clear the ball from in front of their own net.
"It was two whiffs on a bad play on our part," Horn said.
Tyler Huse then tied it six minutes later.
"You can't really fault us on that one, it was a good score," Horn said.
After a Chaminade shot bounced off the post with 12 minutes remaining, the Red Devils tied it on a goal by Kenny Massa with just under eight minutes to play.
"The kid hit a bomb," Horn said.
The Red Devils, who dropped a 2-1 decision Friday night to the Rockhurst Hawklets, got an insurance goal when Pesek converted on a penalty kick with about four minutes to play.
The Jays finished 1-1 on the weekend, having blanked Fatima 5-0 on Friday afternoon.
"It was a good weekend for us, we needed to play," Horn said.
Jefferson City (13-5) will host Southern Boone on Monday for Senior Night. The JV game will start at 5 p.m., with the varsity to follow around 6:45 p.m.