It took a little time, but the Helias Lady Crusaders did what they needed to do to get a victory.
Coming off a break of nearly a week, the Lady Crusaders defeated the Borgia Lady Knights 3-1 in the Helias Soccer Shootout on Friday night at the Crusader Athletic Complex.
"I think that long break showed a little bit in our slow start," Helias coach Jay Hebenheimer said. "The girls said that wasn't going to be a problem, they weren't going to start slow.
"But then we came out and started slow."
Helias got on the board about 16 minutes into the game when Bailey Henson scored off an assist by Grace Winegar.
It's the 11th goal of the season for Henson.
"Bailey is playing out of her mind this season," Hebenheimer said.
The score came on one of just three shots on goal for the Lady Crusaders, who had a shot by Izzy Luebbert bounce off the post with 10 minutes on the clock, in the first half. Helias had just five total shots in the first 40 minutes compared to seven for Borgia.
"We weren't really all that focused," Hebenheimer said.
That carried over into the last 40 minutes.
"We played better in the second half," Hebenheimer said. "I can't say we played our style or what we normally do."
Helias is playing without four starters due to injuries and Hebenheimer said the Lady Crusaders are still working on developing chemistry with new players on the field.
"A lot of the relationships we've been building all season aren't there with the lineup changes, so we're learning tendencies all over again," he said.
The Lady Crusaders doubled their advantage about 10 minutes into the second half on a goal by Hannah Loethen, assisted by Luebbert.
"That was a great finish," Hebenheimer said.
Helias made it 3-0 midway through the second half on a score by Winegar.
Borgia (1-8-1) got on the board on a penalty kick with a little less than 10 minutes remaining from Anya Castelli.
Helias junior keeper Emilee Nappier made four saves in the victory after being pressed into service due to injuries.
"She is holding her own, she's doing what we need her to do back there and that's the important thing," Hebenheimer said.
Helias (6-3-1) will face Neosho in the final game of the Shootout today at noon.
In other Shootout games Friday, Waynesville blanked Neosho 5-0 while Union defeated Notre Dame de Sion 1-0.