Two quick goals may have taken a bit of the edge off for the Helias Lady Crusaders.
Not that it showed up on the scoreboard.
"We got a little stagnant, but we still controlled the game," Helias coach Brad Dempsey said Monday night after the Lady Crusaders blanked the Warrensburg Lady Tigers 3-0 at the 179 Soccer Park.
It took all of six minutes for the Lady Crusaders to find the back of the net.
Tiffany Weaver did the honors, taking a nice centering pass from Jordan Poire and after finding herself wide open in the front of the goal, knocking it past the keeper.
"That was a nice shot by Tiffany," Dempsey said.
Helias doubled its advantage four minutes later on a great individual play by Becky Roberts. The junior took the ball near midfield and cut through a handful of Warrensburg defenders before scoring to make it 2-0.
"That was a great individual play by Becky," Dempsey said.
But from there, things kind of slowed a little bit for the Lady Crusaders on the offensive end. But on the defensive end, Helias kept Warrensburg away from the net and did not allow a shot in the opening half.
"Abby Rockers, Meghan Nappier, Kaitlyn Cowell, Haley Bax and McKenzie Casten - those five girls are starting to gel," Dempsey said. "Those five have really helped lead us to shutouts against some tough teams lately."
Things picked up after intermission and Helias had 16 shots in the final 40 minutes,
"There was a time where we weren't communicating, it was a bit of a lull," Dempsey said. "But then we started attacking again, we moved the ball and got back into our rhythm and playing strong."
The Lady Crusaders got their final goal with about 12 minutes remaining when Taylor Hagenhoff scored off an assist by Roberts.
Hagenhoff has recently moved to a forward spot from the midfield.
"Taylor has a rocket shot, she's physical, she's a gamer," Dempsey said. "I've thought a lot about moving her recently and it's a change we need to make."
Liz Czarnecki played the first 70 minutes in the goal for Helias before Lydia Linsenbardt came in to finish the contest. Helias finished with a 28-4 edge in shots, including a 16-2 bulge in those on goal.
"It was a great team win," Dempsey said.
Helias (11-6) is back in action Wednesday against Jefferson City. The junior varsity game will start at 5 p.m., with the varsity to follow around 6:45 p.m.
In Monday's JV game, Helias blanked Warrensburg 8-0. Sydnee Kliethermes had two goals for the Lady Crusaders. Scoring one each were Morgan Rundle, Katey Hunt, Lauren Brune, Taryne Barton, Ali Boudreau and Julie Harris. Assists went to Rundle, Barton, Courtney Twehus, Hunt and Abby Farrow.
Johanna Schokker and Olivia Wolken shared time in goal for Helias (10-2-1).
III
On Saturday, the Lady Crusaders split a pair of games and finished second in the Hickman Tournament.
The Lady Crusaders opened the day with a 1-0 win over the host school.
Weaver scored the game's only goal off an assist from Bax, while Czarnecki got the shutout in goal.
In the championship game, Helias dropped a 2-1 decision to Nixa. Hagenhoff's unassisted goal was the lone tally for the Lady Crusaders.