The Helias Crusaders kept with it Saturday afternoon.
The Crusaders gave up a goal in the opening seven minutes to the North County Raiders in their final game of the Richard Wilson Classic at the 179 Soccer Park. After dropping their first two games, it might have been easy to pack it in on Homecoming weekend.
But Helias scored twice in the final 11 minutes of the half on their way to a 3-2 victory against North County.
"The first half was a little frantic, but we were able to pull ourselves together," Helias assistant coach Brian Shepard said.
The Crusaders tied the game from a bit of an unlikely source as freshman Jaxon Meller ended a scramble in front of the Raider net to knot the game at 1 with 11:22 remaining in the first half.
Connor Mudd scored with 2:39 left in the half to give the Crusaders the lead for good. Luke Hynes got an assist on the play.
Helias made it 3-1 less than two minutes into the second half on a score by Brendan Callahan.
North County cut its deficit to one with a score four minutes later. But Helias, which started five sophomores and had mostly freshman as reserves for the Classic, was able to keep North County away from the net for much of the remainder of the contest to seal the victory.
"We're young and the younger guys are all small," Shepard said. "But they're getting better each game, they're getting accustomed to the speed and physicality of the varsity game.
"It's coming along, it's going to be a slow process, but we're building toward the postseason."
Helias opened play Saturday with a 7-5 loss to Carthage.
Hynes scored all five goals in the game for the Crusaders.
"That was a tremendous game," Shepard said. "He's playing with a lot of heart, he's carried us a lot this season.
"There's no quit in him."
The Crusaders dropped a 2-0 decision Friday to Sedalia Smith-Cotton to start the Classic.
Helias (3-5) will play Tuesday at Camdenton before hosting Mexico on Thursday.