FENTON, Mo. - After having their state-title hopes dashed the day before, it would have been understandable for the Helias soccer team to be less than thrilled to play Saturday's Class 3 third-place game.
And when the Crusaders fell down by a goal just 50 seconds into that game, it would have been easy to pack their bags and go home with a fourth-place finish.
But the Crusaders roared back from that early hiccup, dominating the majority of play the rest of the way before eventually settling for a 2-all tie with the Grain Valley Eagles.
Helias senior forward Braden Remmert, who scored the team's first goal, said the team came into Saturday's game with the right mindset.
"I think us being such a young team - we only have three senior starters and everybody else is going to be returning - the atmosphere was pretty laid-back," he said. "(Friday) night we had a blast, we were having fun at the hotel goofing off, watching the United States (World Cup qualifying) game.
"I think that helped us realize that, "Hey, we have nothing to lose. We can't get first, but we can end the season with a bang.' (Saturday) was a great game, it was a fun game."
Grain Valley got the ball first and worked it around before Noah Espinosa took a pass and then made a long run down the right sideline before putting it home.
That woke up the Crusaders, who got two great chances in the next three minutes and dominated the time of possession the remainder of the half.
"It's not our mentality (to quit)," Helias head coach Michael Metzger said about the quick goal. "Maybe in the past it would have been that way, but not anymore.
"Like I say all the time, the team knows that we can compete with anybody in the state. We showed it in the second half (of Friday's semifinal loss to eventual state champion Webster Groves), and we showed it today. I'm proud of the players for bouncing back like that."
Helias squeezed off eight shots in the rest of the first half, and even though several good chances went by the wayside, Remmert said the team didn't get discouraged.
"You'd think that, but it helps when the crowd gets involved," he said. "... We definitely were knocking on the door. We got that first one and tied it and then we had control of the game."
Helias finally broke through when Remmert ripped a shot from 20 yards out with 11:47 left until halftime.
"We've been in that position before, have had situations like that where we've gotten down," Helias senior goalkeeper Ben Mitan said. "But that's what this team is about, we fight back."
While the Crusaders went into halftime tied, they were fated to never lead this one. Espinosa slipped free, took a pass from Blake Desselle and put it home to put the Eagles (20-7-1) ahead 2-1 with 28:58 remaining.
The Crusaders (17-11-1) answered slightly more than two minutes later when freshman forward Nick Brandt took a throw-in from senior defender Bradley Kemna and slotted it home to tie it at 2.
Helias, which had a 7-0 edge in corner kicks in the second half, had several set pieces in the waning minutes but couldn't come up with the go-ahead goal. The Crusaders ended up with a 14-9 lead in shots for the game.
"I'm not angry by any means, but there just needs to be a win there (under those circumstances)," Metzger said. "But it is what it is. (A tie) is better than losing the game."
The Missouri State High School Activities Association does not break ties after regulation in third-place games at state, and this marked the second time Helias has ended up tied in one, as the Crusaders tied for third in Class 2 in 2009.
This year marked the first trip to the Final Four for Helias since taking fourth in Class 2 in 2011.
"This was huge, it gives us a lot of confidence for the years to come and lets everybody know that state's achievable," Mitan said. "... We've grown so much since the beginning of the year. I think we set our goals high and I'd say we achieved most of them. I'm extremely happy and I think everybody else is, too."
Metzger, in his first year as head coach, said the players believed they could get to state from the get-go.
"Was it a far-fetched thing? Yeah, maybe," he said. "But we talked at the beginning of the season and they were like, "We want to get to the Final Four.' So it was, "OK, that's a realistic goal, let's do it.' And we did."