A couple of lapses is all it took.
The Helias Lady Crusaders gave up goals in the first two minutes and the last two minutes Saturday and dropped a 2-1 decision to the Duchesne Pioneers at the 179 Soccer Park in Jefferson City.
"We have to be better than that," Helias coach Brad Dempsey said. "When you play teams like Duchense, it's a tested program and they are tough."
The Pioneers, who have won the Class 1 state championship the past two seasons, got their first goal when the Lady Crusaders failed to clear the ball from in front of their own net.
Emily Cardwell of Duchesne was there to knock it into the net to give the Pioneers the early lead.
The Lady Crusaders seemed a bit out of sorts early in the game and had to switch formations to try and get back on track.
"It's the second game in a row we've had to do that," Dempsey said. "We were struggling in transition and that slowed us down a little bit," Dempsey said.
The Pioneers had six other shots on goal in the opening half.
The Lady Crusaders came back to tie it with about seven minutes to play before intermission when Kayla Yanskey converted on a penalty kick after it was ruled she was fouled while in the box.
Tied and refreshed after intermission, the Lady Crusaders had the better of play for much of the second half. But they just couldn't find the shot to give themselves the lead.
"We had some great chances, that's just the way it goes," Dempsey said.
The Pioneers got the game winner with two minutes left when Ryan Kielty found herself wide open in front of the Lady Crusader net and scored.
"You are always disappointed when you lose, that's a given," Dempsey said. "But we did some good things and we need to build off of those."
One thing Dempsey would like to see is better practices from the team
"The practices are very average right now and that's on all of us," he said. "We have to get more at practice so we can get more out of the games.
"Our staff has the challenge of getting more out of the players. It's there, they may not know it's there, but it is. And I hope the players are ready for that challenge. The main thing is we have to give more, all of us. If we all do that, then we're going to improve."
One positive for the Lady Crusaders was the return of Emma Wyrick, playing her first game of the season after tearing an ACL last September.
Helias (5-5-1) will be busy with games this week. The Lady Crusaders will travel Tuesday to Moberly before hosting Sedalia Smith-Cotton on Wednesday. On Friday, Helias will play host to Lee's Summit West and Lee's Summit North as part of the Capital City Shootout.
In Saturday's JV game, Helias defeated Duchesne 4-0. Sarah Pierle had two goals and an assist. Megan Kerr and Maggie Kehoe also scored for Helias.