The opportunities were few and far between Thursday for the Jefferson City Jays.
But they took full advantage of the ones they had as Jefferson City scored on both of its shots on goal and defeated the Quincy (Ill.) Notre Dame Raiders 2-0 at the 179 Soccer Park.
"There's no doubt we did if we scored on both of our shots on frame," Jays coach Eddie Horn said.
Not to say the Jays didn't have other chances against the Raiders. But the Notre Dame defenders blocked seven of Jefferson City's other 10 shot attempts.
"We know we're not going to score a lot of goals, two shots on goal and getting two goals is not a percentage you're going to get every game," Horn said. "So we're going to have to play good defense and we did for much of this game."
The Jays averted starting the season with three straight losses.
"I'm not a great historian, but I don't know that we've ever started a season 0-3," Horn said. "You hate to say the third game of the season is a must-win game, but if you did, this one probably was.
"This one should give us a little confidence. We needed something good to happen."
The Raiders had the better of play at the start Thursday, including a shot that just went wide on an open net.
"We were awful, we tried to give them the game," Horn said. "But after that, we settled in and started to get into a bit of a rhythm."
The Jays got on the board with about two minutes remaining in the first half after a restart near the Notre Dame end line. Seth Stegeman recorded the goal, assisted by Skylar Richardson.
"That was a nice goal and big for us to take the lead into halftime," Horn said.
The Jays doubled their advantage eight minutes into the second half. Colton Acock stole the ball near the top of the box in front of the Notre Dame net and rifled a shot into the left side of the net.
"He held the guy off, turned on him and shot it," Horn said.
Acock, a junior, is still getting back to 100 percent just 10 months after ACL surgery.
"He still has a hitch to his stride, but he should feel good about things," Horn said.
Jefferson City keeper Zach Brooks preserved the shutout with a diving save with about 10 minutes to play.
Quincy Notre Dame (3-1-1) had not been scored on in its previous four games this season.
Jefferson City (1-2) is back in action Wednesday at Rolla. The Jays are not home again until they host the Capital City Invitational on Sept. 19-20.
"We really needed this one," Horn said.
In Thursday's JV match, Jefferson City blanked Quincy Notre Dame 3-0. Tucker Jett scored twice for the Jays, while Brayden Carron tallied the other goal. Eric Ortiz totaled two assists while Dalton Green had one.
Tyler Hager and Nick Ryan shared time in goal in the shutout, the second of the season for the JV Jays (2-1).