The Jefferson City Jays and Southern Boone Eagles both played one good half and one bad half Thursday night.
It came down to which team's good half was good enough.
"I think the soccer gods were smiling on us a little bit tonight," Jays coach Eddie Horn said after Jefferson City tallied a goal 10 minutes into the game and made it stand up for a 1-0 victory against Southern Boone at the 179 Soccer Park.
Jordan Carron scored the goal for the Jays. The senior made a good move near the end line and knocked the shot toward the net. The shot was deflected and picked up some spin that sent it into the far post, then into the goal.
"We don't seem to get a lot of goals like that," Horn said. "It was a good individual effort by Jordan and he hit a decent shot to make it happen."
The goal came after Jefferson City did a good job of possessing the ball in the opening minutes.
"It was a nice move to get the shot," Southern Boone coach Chris Miller said. "It took a weird bounce and found a corner. They had pressured us, I don't know if they had threatened us, but sometimes if you keep it down there long enough, something like that will happen."
The Eagles, normally a high-pressure team, tried a different style at the start Thursday in their last game of the regular season.
"The first half was my fault," Miller said. "We viewed this game as a chance to try a few different things against a good team to see what we can do."
One of the moves was to put players in different positions than usual.
"I don't think we played with a whole lot of confidence," Miller said. "Sometimes when you do that, it works and is the greatest thing. Sometimes it puts everything out of whack.
"This was the last time we could do it before the games really start to count."
Southern Boone, which did not have a shot in the first half, turned things around in the final 40 minutes.
"We started to execute," Miller said. "The opportunities were there."
And with the Eagles playing better, the Jays took a step back and Horn was more than willing to accept responsibility.
"In the second half, I messed it up," he said. "I probably got into some over-coaching. Plus they played a little better in the second half."
With the one-goal lead, the Jays went into a more defensive shape. And one they hadn't really worked on.
"It was my fault, we tried something a little different that we hadn't practiced that much," Horn said. "It showed we need to train with it a little more."
The Eagles had a couple of good scoring opportunities in the second half, including a shot that sailed just over the top of the net with three minutes to play.
It was the first loss of the season for Southern Boone (21-1-1), ranked No. 2 in Class 2.
"We haven't really looked at wins and losses all year," Miller said. "The guys are sad that they lost, but if you said you would go through the regular season with just one loss, does it really matter if it's the first game or the last one?
"We just ran into a solid, organized team that defended well and got a break to go their way. It's darned hard to go through the entire season undefeated. We've had games this season where we've made that late shot to tie it. But to play the teams we're playing and to get a good result every time, you're asking a lot.
"But we gave ourselves a chance and that's all you can ask for."
Southern Boone will start district play Wednesday against Fulton in Ashland.
Jefferson City had lost to Southern Boone the last two seasons.
"They are as well-coached as anybody in the area," Horn said. "For us to get a win was big for us."
Tyler Hagar and Zach Brooks each played a half in goal in the shutout for Jefferson City.
Prior to the game, the Jays honored 16 players for Senior Night.
"It's one of the biggest groups we've had," Horn said. "It's a close group and a group that really enjoys being around each other.
"It's a group that wasn't always successful when they were young. But they stuck with it, stuck together."
One of the seniors honored was Jason Myers, a two-year starter who had not played this season after suffering a knee injury during the summer.
Myers was in the starting lineup Thursday and the opening kick was played back to him. Myers then passed to a teammate and the ball was then played out of bounds to stop play. Myers came off for a sub to a nice round of applause from the fans.
"You feel for Jason," Horn said. "He came a long way as a player, then gets hurt. It was nice to see him get back on the field and it was a class act for Southern Boone to allow that to happen. I tip my hat to them."
Jefferson City (12-7-3) will wrap up the regular season next week with home games Monday against Waynesville and Wednesday with Rockhurst.
In Thursday night's JV game, which featured a few minutes of hail, Jefferson City defeated Southern Boone 3-0. Max Allen had two goals, while Chad Hamler tallied the other score. Noah Gernander and Brendan Drury had an assist each.
Nick Ryan and Kord Pearson were in goal for the Jays (12-1) in the 11th shutout of the season for the team.