It seemed big at the time. It was even bigger at the end.
Tucker Jett's goal with 1:33 left in the first half turned out to be the lone score of the game Wednesday night as the Jefferson City Jays edged the Rolla Bulldogs 1-0 at Eddie Horn Field.
"The critical minutes are the first and last 10 in each half," Jays coach Scott Blake said. "Any time we can get something in that time, it's huge."
On the play, Jett took a pass from Chad Hamler and slotted it into the bottom corner of the net.
"Rolla is hard to break down defensively," Blake said. "We got the one and that turned out to be big."
Rolla wasn't too shabby on the offensive end as well. The Bulldogs had several good runs at the goal.
"I feel like their front four guys were pretty dangerous," Blake said. "They were very coordinated, very quick on the dribble."
Jays keeper Nick Ryan had to make a couple of strong saves in the shutout, including steering a shot wide in the final 15 seconds of the game.
"Anytime we got a little sloppy in the back, Nick was there," Blake said.
It was the first time this season Jefferson City's defense had been tested repeatedly on the dribble by its opponent.
"Most teams have tried to pass through or around us, but tonight, we had to play more of an individual defense," Blake said. "I was pleased with the way Peter (Kuster) and Joe (Wilder) held up.
"We have a couple of district opponents who are going to make us play like that, so it was good to see us get some work in on it."
Jefferson City used some different shapes and players in different spots in an attempt to shake up its offense.
"We're not the type of team that can go out and spring somebody and expect to score," Blake said. "We're going to have to work at it and by moving some things, we had a chance to see what people could do."
The Jays also looked to add some offensive opportunities by pressing the Bulldogs when the visitors were in their defensive end.
"We want to get the ball back from the opponent in the front half of the field, not just the back half," Blake said. "We need to find ways to score and I think that can help us do that."
Jefferson City (2-4) is back in action Tuesday at Southern Boone in a game originally scheduled to be played at the 179 Soccer Park.
"We are so home heavy in our schedule this year, we flipped it to get ourselves another home game next year," Blake said.
In the JV game Wednesday, Jefferson City blanked Rolla 3-0. Bowen West scored two goals for the Jays, while Sam Allen had one. Toby Hughes and Eli Chapman split time in goal in the shutout for Jefferson City (2-3-1).