It wasn't the result the Helias Crusaders wanted.
But it also isn't the end of the season.
"The boys need to keep their heads up," Helias coach Jay Hebenheimer said after the Crusaders dropped a 1-0 decision Tuesday night to the Father Tolton Trailblazers at the Crusader Athletic Complex. "We're not competing for anything right now, we just want to get better as we get to the end of the season.
"If we can get things worked out and figure out who we are, we can surprise some teams in the postseason."
It was the first game for the Crusaders in 10 days.
"It wasn't what we were looking for," Hebenheimer said. "We spent the week working on defense, staying in formation and building out as a team."
Tolton tallied the game's lone goal a little less than 12 minutes into the contest as Landon Petri scored for the Blazers on a breakaway.
That was the lone shot on goal in the first half for Tolton.
"I think we showed in the first half what we had been working on," Hebenheimer said. "We possessed the ball well, we were controlled.
"They came at us over and over and our backline did a good job of holding them out."
The Crusaders had four shots on goal in the first half and had six in the game.
"We just couldn't find those late passes to get a finish," Hebenheimer said.
Hebenheimer would like to see his defense become a little more involved in the attack.
"They're hanging back while we're attacking and we're attacking six defenders with four," he said. "That's not going to work."
It's the fifth straight loss for the Crusaders.
"We're not in great form right now," Hebenheimer said.
Helias (2-10) is back in action Thursday at St. Louis University High. The Junior Bills (13-1-1), who lost 1-0 to Chaminade on Tuesday, are No. 1 in the Class 4 power rankings by the Missouri Soccer Coaches Association.
"Maybe we can surprise somebody if we go up there and park the bus to keep it a low-scoring game," Hebenheimer said.
That's the first of three straight road games for the Crusaders. Helias will play Monday at Jefferson City and next Wednesday at Rolla.
There was no JV game Tuesday.