Neither the Helias Crusaders nor the Fatima Comets were really happy after Thursday's game.
Helias could at least take some solace in the fact it won, topping Fatima 3-1 at the Crusader Athletic Complex.
"Our touch isn't there, our shape isn't there and our finishing is escaping us right now," Helias coach Jay Hebenheimer said. "We have our opportunities, but we're hitting it right at the goalie or doing a flick pass to somebody behind us instead of taking a shot."
The Comets were disappointed in their effort as well.
"Props to Helias, they spread us out and dominated possession," Fatima coach Matt Eisterhold said. "They deserved to win.
"We did not come ready to play, we didn't possess the ball. I don't know if there's a lot of good we can take away from this game."
Helias got the lone goal of the first half when Zach Paschal dropped a pretty pass to Ryan Hake, who then lined a shot into the net to make it 1-0 with a little more than 26 minutes left on the clock.
"Zach's great at finding runners," Hebenheimer said.
Helias finished with a 9-2 edge in total shots in the first half, including seven of the eight on goal.
"I was happy to be down one because of the way we were playing," Eisterhold said. "There was no feel, the atmosphere was dead on our end.
"The boys were excited to play, maybe they were too hyped up in the moment. We didn't bring it."
The Crusaders doubled their advantage in the first two minutes of the second half when Carson Mudd scored off an assist by Sam Thompson.
"For what Carson's done for us as a freshman against big varsity guys, he's been very good for us," Hebenheimer said.
Helias added an insurance goal with about eight minutes to play when Luke Hynes slid a pass to the front of the net, where Thompson was waiting to score.
"Drive it in with an easy slide and finish in the box is how we want to score," Hebenheimer said.
Fatima got on the board with :28.3 remaining on a goal by Ryan Kesel to avoid the shutout.
"I guess it was nice to get one, as much as it didn't really mean that much," Eisterhold said.
Helias is battling some injuries, missing a pair of key players.
"We're a bit of a broken team right now," Hebenheimer said.
Kaleb Wilson, a senior, was injured in a 3-2 loss Monday at Kansas City Central and is waiting to find out the severity of the injury.
"He says he's good, we're just hoping he's not out as long as we first thought," Hebenheimer said.
Isaac Johnson, another senior, is out with an injured knee. He will be back before the end of the regular season.
"Ike is our lynch pin, it's a struggle without him on the field because a lot of what we do goes through him," Hebenheimer said.
Fatima (6-1) will host Missouri Military Academy on Monday.
Helias (4-6) is back in action Saturday at home against Ozark. The varsity-only contest begins at 11 a.m.
There was no JV game Thursday.