As always, the Jefferson City Jays were playing strong defense.
But as the clocked ticked inside 10 minutes to play in the first half Saturday, there were zeros on both sides of the scoreboard as the Jays faced the Blue Springs Wildcats in a Class 4 soccer sectional at Eddie Horn Field.
But up stepped Bassil Ahmed.
"Our team was getting a little frantic, but that goal helped calm us down," Ahmed said after his first-half goal broke the scoreless tie and propelled the Jays to a 4-1 win against the Wildcats.
The Wildcats were getting the better of play for much of the first half.
"This was not the kind of game that we wanted," Jays coach Scott Blake said. "We're not going to get any style points, we knew we'd have to grind and just dig."
Blue Springs threatened to score just three minutes into the contest. Jefferson City was whistled for a foul just outside the box, resulting a free kick. The ensuing shot attempt was on net, but Jays keeper Toby Hughes bumped it over the crossbar.
"We haven't been pressed like that in a while," Blake said. "But Toby stepped up with the big save, that was massive."
That was the best scoring chance either team had until late in the half when Ahmed worked through the Wildcat defense in front of the net to put the Jays on the board with 8:38 to go before intermission.
"When you're not playing well, but you've got something on the scoreboard, you're OK," Blake said.
It remained 1-0 until the Jays broke through with two scores in a two-minute span midway through the second half.
With just more than 22 minutes left, the Wildcats were called for a foul on Ethan Blake in front of the Blue Springs net. Darby Hall has been Jefferson City's go-to guy for penalty kicks in recent games and he knocked this one into the upper corner of the net to make it 2-0.
Less than two minutes later, Cale Heiberger of the Jays worked the ball to the end line before centering a pass to Ahmed. The senior found the back of the net to make it 3-0.
With about nine minutes left, the two combined on another score as Heiberger passed the ball to Ahmed, who headed into the net to record the hat trick.
"They were amazing passes, Cale was chopping people up," Ahmed said.
Scott Blake said the scores showed the versatility of the Jefferson City offense.
"Ethan was getting double-teamed a lot today, so we had to have somebody else step up," he said. "We're not just one guy, we're not just two guys.
"Cale is a wide-midfielder and he was coming from deep defensively and found his way to the end line. He found his moment and delivered high-quality passes."
Blue Springs (14-9) averted the shutout when Michael Zubeck scored with just :07 left.
"We knew they would be a tough opponent, so we focused up, made sure we were good on the backline and the midfield," Ahmed said.
It would have been the 20th shutout of the season for the Jays.
"It would have been nice to get one, but you're going to face teams that can score when you get to this point of the season," Blake said.
Jefferson City (24-2) will make a second straight trip to the quarterfinals Tuesday night when the Jays travel to Ozark to take on Tigers. Ozark (18-9) advanced with a 2-1 overtime win Saturday night against Nixa in its sectional.
The Jays have beaten the Tigers twice already this season, winning 3-0 on Aug. 29 at Ozark and 1-0 on Oct. 10 at Eddie Horn Field.
"It's tough to beat somebody three times," Blake said. "We are going to have to be ready to go."
The start time for Tuesday's game has not been announced.