As crosstown showdowns go, it had the feel of a regular Monday night game.
"It was kind of a ho-hum game," Jays coach Eddie Horn said after Jefferson City defeated Helias 1-0 on Monday night at the 179 Soccer Park.
"Once we got the goal, it's not like we quit playing, but then we settled on putting the ball behind them and make them try to make a play against us."
Helias, which didn't have a shot in the first half, turned up the pressure on offense in the last 25 minutes. But the Crusaders couldn't come up with the equalizer.
"We are having a hard time being consistent with our play," Helias coach Michael Metzger said. "It seems like when we realize that the game might be slipping away, that's when we step it up a level. That's when we start to play.
"The unfortunate thing about that is you can't decide that's when you're going to play. By then, it may be too late."
The Jays got on the board about 10 minutes into the contest. Erich Sporleder fed Jordan Carron on a give-and-go and Carron lined a shot into the opposite corner for the goal past Crusader keeper Ben Mitan.
"It was a great pass by Erich and a great finish by Jordan," Horn said. "I don't think there was much Mitan could do on that."
Mitan, back in goal for the Crusaders because of an injury, stopped four other shots in the first half and totaled eight saves in the game. He made three great saves in the opening 15 minutes of the second half to keep it close.
"I think he did one heck of a job," Metzger said.
From there, Horn went into his memory bank and the Jays settled into a different style than they usually play.
"One thing I've learned from playing and watching games on Helias' home field, teams make mistakes when they try to possess the ball and knock it around," Horn said. "It's a little tight, you need to press. We took a page out of some previous Helias teams by getting to the midline, knocking it deep and seeing if you can press a team into making a mistake."
The Crusaders finally got something going late. Their best chance to score came with about 10 minutes left when a shot went wide after an indirect kick was awarded outside of the top of the box.
"When you play teams like Jefferson City, you can't play the last 25 minutes and expect to win," Metzger said. "Because the chances are slim that it's going to happen."
Zach Brooks got the shutout in goal for the Jays.
Jefferson City (7-6-3) is back in action Thursday at Camdenton before hosting the Art Firley Shootout on Friday and Saturday.
"While it wasn't a showcase for soccer in this town, it was good enough to get a result for us," Horn said. "And this time of the year, it's about a result and moving on. We were a little flat, we've played a lot lately, but we'll take the result."
Helias (11-7) will play Thursday at Marshall.
In Monday's JV game, the Jays posted a 3-0 victory against the Crusaders. Isaac Johnson had a pair of goals for the Jays (8-1), while Max Allen also scored. Noah Gernander had an assist. Nick Ryan was in goal for the shutout, Jefferson City's eighth of the season.