Jefferson City beats Helias 4-0

Jefferson City forward Marcus Woodruff lunges to block a clearance kick by Helias midfielder Sam Heckart during Monday night's soccer match at 179 Soccer Park.
Jefferson City forward Marcus Woodruff lunges to block a clearance kick by Helias midfielder Sam Heckart during Monday night's soccer match at 179 Soccer Park.

Big players come up big in big games.

That's a lot of bigs. But the bigs did the job Monday night for the Jefferson City Jays.

Jefferson City scored in the first three minutes against Helias, then added three more goals in the second half in taking a 4-0 decision at the 179 Soccer Park.

"The goals we scored were all on special plays," Jays coach Eddie Horn said. "It wasn't like Helias did anything wrong, we just had some moments where it would have been tough for anyone to stop."

For the Crusaders, it was a night where little things turned into big things.

"We made just a few mistakes, but those mistakes can turn into goals," Helias coach Chuck Register said.

Marcus Woodruff got Jefferson City on the board early, taking a perfect 30-yard pass from Nate Luebbert to the net for a score.

"That was a big-time pass," Horn said. "Nate put on a show out there."

Giving up a quick goal wasn't on Helias' wish list.

"We lost a guy and they get one early and we're playing from behind," Register said. "We didn't get a chance to settle into the game and we're trying to play quicker than we should."

The Jays had a couple of good chances just slide by the post later in the half and took that one-goal lead into intermission. And that one-goal lead wasn't comfortable for the Jays.

"One was not going to be enough, Helias is hard to shut out," Horn said. "We had to get another one."

Helias got into a rhythm at the start of the second half, but couldn't get onto the board.

"We had some chances, but we have to be able to finish," Register said. "We needed to put a little pressure on them.

"If we get one, you never know what might have happened."

Instead, it was the Jays who got an insurance goal about 14 minutes into the half. The score came on a pretty give-and-go between Aaron Crane and Mason Vonderhaar, with Crane getting the score.

The Jays made it 3-0 about 10 minutes later when Crane converted on a diving header on a pass by Cody Boyce.

The final goal came in the final 10 minutes on a corner kick. Erich Sporleder got the score, assisted by Jastin Magallanes.

Horn said he had no idea how his team would play.

"As tired as we were, I was pleasantly surprised with the energy we had out there," Horn said. "We had a little zip to us."

Alex Hilke got the shutout in goal for the Jays.

Jefferson City (15-3, ranked No. 7 in Class 3 by the Missouri State High School Soccer Coaches Association) is back in action Thursday at Camdenton before hosting the Art Firley Shootout this weekend.

Helias (11-5, ranked No. 9 in Class 2) will host Marshall on Thursday.

In Monday's junior varsity game, Jefferson City (8-3-1) defeated Helias 1-0 on a goal by Magallanes.