The Helias Crusaders got the ball to the net. They just couldn't get it into the back of the net.
"We had so many opportunities, but for some reason, we can't get the cellophane off the front of the goal and the ball won't go in for us," Helias coach Jay Hebenheimer said after Monday night's 5-0 loss to the School of the Osage Indians at the Crusader Athletic Complex.
"It's been that kind of run for us lately, we've had a good attack, we've played good balls in, we just can't get the ball in."
The Crusaders had four shots in the first half, including one that bounced off the crossbar.
But the Indians went into halftime with a 4-0 lead. Osage tallied its first goal a little more than eight minutes into the contest, then scored the final three in the final 20 minutes of the half.
"We thought we had them game-planned, but after the first goal, we fell apart a little bit and they got away from us," Hebenheimer said.
The Crusaders settled things down in the second half. The Indians scored their final goal with 3:32 remaining.
"We got then reined in a little bit in the second half, we played a lot better," Hebenheimer said. "It was so much better than the first half."
School of the Osage (12-6) has won 10 of its last 11 games. Seven of those wins have come via shutout.
"That's a quality program," Hebenheimer said.
Helias finished with six shots on goal in the game.
It was the final home game for four Helias seniors - Sam Conley, Nick Schaben, Connor Schaefer and Logan Wilson. They were substituted for in the final minutes to cheers from the home crowd.
"I wanted them to hear that," Hebenheimer said.
It wasn't the senior seasons they might have wanted.
"You're going to have good teams that underperform, you're going to have bad teams that overperform," Hebenheimer said. "Seniors on down, everybody has kept their heads up and they've stuck with it."
Helias (6-14) will wrap up its regular season with a pair of road games, starting tonight with a varsity-only contest against Vianney in St. Louis before traveling Thursday to take on Mexico.
"It's two teams that beat us last year and we're hoping to go and get wins against them this year," Hebenheimer said. "We're going to focus on what we're going to do in the postseason."
The Crusaders are the No. 8 seed in the Class 4 District 6 Tournament that starts Saturday at Rock Bridge. Helias opens against top-seeded Hickman at 1 p.m.
In Monday night's JV game, Helias blanked School of the Osage 5-0.