The Class 3 soccer Final Four is scheduled for next Friday and Saturday in Fenton.
The road to the Final Four for Helias goes through Neosho today as the Crusaders (9-15-1) take on the Wildcats (17-7) at the Carver Athletic Complex in a quarterfinal contest scheduled to start at 2 p.m.
Helias got hot with the start of the postseason, winning the District 9 title with victories against Warrensburg (8-0) and Camdenton (6-1) before besting Glendale (2-1) in Wednesday night's sectional. All three of those games were at the Crusader Athletic Complex.
The Crusaders are averaging 2.2 goals per game, while allowing 2.4.
After starting the season 1-4, Neosho won 13 of its last 15 regular-season games. The Wildcats won the District 12 title with victories against McDonald County (2-0) and Webb City (1-0) before blanking Willard (2-0) on the road in Wednesday night's sectional contest. The three shutouts are among the 10 the Wildcats have posted this season.
The Wildcats are scoring 2.8 goals per game, while giving up 1.7.
Neither team was receiving votes in the final regular-season rankings by the Missouri Soccer Coaches Association.
The Helias-Neosho winner will advance to the semifinals next Friday at World Wide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton. The semifinal - against the winner of today's quarterfinal between 10th-ranked Grain Valley (15-4-3) and fifth-ranked Platte County (24-1) - is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start. The third-place and championship games are scheduled for next Saturday.
Helias has advanced to the Final Four six times in program history, the last trip coming in 2015. Neosho has won three straight district titles, but is looking to advance to the Final Four for the first time.
Both teams lost in the quarterfinals last season - Helias to Van Horn and Neosho to Glendale.