Three second-half goals send Helias past Capital City

Helias teammates Izzy Luebbert (left) and Savanah Feltrop celebrate after Luebbert scored the first goal in Wednesday's game against Capital City at Capital City High School.
Helias teammates Izzy Luebbert (left) and Savanah Feltrop celebrate after Luebbert scored the first goal in Wednesday's game against Capital City at Capital City High School.

The wind was howling straight down the field.

It figured to play a major role in deciding the outcome Wednesday as the Capital City Lady Cavaliers played their first-ever home soccer game against the Helias Lady Crusaders.

Except it didn't as Helias scored all three of the goals in the game into the wind in posting a 3-0 victory against Capital City in Central Missouri Activities Conference action.

"We thought we would have the advantage playing with the wind in the first half," Helias coach Jay Hebenheimer said. "It turns out it was a disadvantage because our passes were just racing away from us."

Going into the wind in the final 40 minutes, the Lady Crusaders concentrated more on their passing game to get the ball down the field.

"Our possession got much better," Hebenheimer said. "We kept the ball on the floor a lot more and we moved it quickly and eventually found some ways to slot it through their back line."

Capital City had a couple of good scoring chances in the first half, tallying all three shots on goal in the first 40 minutes.

"We had some opportunities, we had a little more possession than I thought we would against the wind," Capital City coach Travis Cairer said. "We connected a little bit, the first half looked good. We talked at halftime about doing a lot of the same things, keeping the ball on the ground and make sure we're building up the attack instead of just dumping it.

"But we gave it a shot anyway."

Helias got on the board midway through the second half when Izzy Luebbert took a pass from Savanah Feltrop and lined a shot into the net from about 25 yards out.

"She did a great job of looking to serve the ball, but sometimes, she still just needs to go with it," Hebenheimer said. "She took a great serve from Savy and just drilled it."

The Lady Crusaders doubled their lead about three minutes later when Luebbert found a sprinting Caroline McCurren, who scored to make it 2-0.

"We know (Luebbert's) capable of beating you individually, but it's the runs you have to be aware of," Cairer said. "When you focus on just her, you can get caught not paying attention somewhere else."

Luebbert capped the scoring with about five minutes remaining, getting a turnover and driving to the goal to make it 3-0.

"We're young, a little immature in our mentality a little bit," Cairer said. "That cost us at times."

Capital City finished with 10 total shots in the game, with Helias finishing with 12.

Kaitlyn Buker made three saves in picking up her third shutout of the season in net for the Lady Crusaders.

Helias (3-2 overall, 2-0 CMAC) is back in action Monday against Rock Bridge in Columbia.

"It's going to be a tough one," Hebenheimer said. "It's going to be fun."

Capital City (1-1, 0-1) will host Jefferson City on Monday. The varsity-only game will start at 5:30 p.m.

It is the first of three games next week for the Lady Cavaliers, who will play Tuesday at Ewing Marion Kauffman Charter in Kansas City before hosting Warrenton on Thursday.

There was no JV game Wednesday.