Wyrick sparks Helias in soccer season debut

For Emma Wyrick, Tuesday night was all about making up for lost time.

Wyrick, who hadn’t played for the Helias soccer team so far this year due to a torn ACL suffered during club season, made her return against the Moberly Lady Spartans.

It didn’t take long for the senior to make her presence felt, as she scored the first of her two goals less than one minute into the game. She had a goal and two assists after just 3:04 of game time, sparking the Lady Crusaders to a 10-0 victory.

Wyrick said it was great to play in the game, which ended with 23:06 left in the second half due to the mercy rule.

“I was very ready to play — I’ve been waiting a long time to get out here,” said Wyrick, who missed most of the 2015 season with a torn ACL in the other knee. “It was nice to come out and produce.”

Wyrick had been practicing with the team all season, but had not been cleared for contact until Monday. Playing in Tuesday’s game was her first dose of that.

“It was really nice to get out and play and work hard and have a result at the end,” she said. “With rehab, it’s just working toward something. It was nice to come out and get something done.”

With the game firmly in hand — Helias had an 8-0 lead at halftime — Wyrick even got a few reps with the JV team in the second half when all the other starters stayed on the bench.

“A big part of it is getting my conditioning back, because obviously I’m a little behind everyone else,” she said with a smile. “It was nice to get a couple more touches on the ball in the last couple minutes.”

Just 54 seconds into the game, Wyrick gathered a loose ball and put a shot past the Moberly goalkeeper.

Then with just 2:47 elapsed, a corner kick from Wyrick found Morgan Wieberg, who put it home.

When Kayla Yanskey picked up Helias’ third goal on its third shot of the game, that just 3:04 into the contest, it was Wyrick picking up the assist.

“We have good leadership on our team, but (Emma) is the captain, and she is the captain for a reason,” Helias head coach Brad Dempsey said. “You saw the impact she makes. There’s been games, even when we obviously had more talent than someone, where we struggled to score early on. … She comes in today and less than five minutes in, she has a goal and two assists. She’s a player.”

After the early onslaught, it took Helias more than eight minutes to strike again, that coming from Paige Weaver off a rebound with 28:20 left until halftime.

With 18:56 left in the half, Wyrick slammed home a penalty kick following a Moberly foul in the box.

The lead reached 6-0 with 15:31 remaining before intermission when a pretty cross from Hannah Crane was put home by Sarah Pierle.

Maya Heckart then scored off an assist from Pierle with 8:09 left in the half. The final goal of the opening 40 minutes came with 4:18 remaining when Olivia Farrow slipped a pretty pass through the box to Krystal Brauner, who put it home.

Most of the first half, which ended with Helias holding leads of 18-1 in shots and 9-0 in shots on goal, was played in steady rain.

The skies cleared for the abbreviated second half. Helias scored with 35:41 left when Olivia Wolken curled in a corner kick and ended it at the 23:06 mark when Heckart scored off an assist from Reese Hamilton.

“I know we didn’t get the JV game in, but all of the players in our program played tonight,” Dempsey said. “We never want to shorten a game, but if it happens while your lower-level players are out there, then it is what it is.”

Ashley Rehagen and Ally Webb combined on Helias’ fourth shutout of the season. Rehagen did not have to make a save while facing just that one shot from Moberly in the first half. Webb played exclusively in the second half, when the Lady Spartans did not get off a shot.

Helias (8-6) returns to action today at Sedalia Smith-Cotton.