Early hole

Helias falls to St. Pius X: K.C. in quarterfinals

It took a while for the Helias Lady Crusaders to find their footing.

By the time they did, time was just about up.

The St. Pius X: Kansas City Warriors scored two goals in the opening 10 minutes Saturday afternoon on their way to a 4-2 victory against the Lady Crusaders in a Class 2 soccer quarterfinal contest at the Crusader Athletic Complex.

“I have to change that, I’ll take ownership of that,” Helias coach Jon DeSha said. “It’s on me to create a culture, an attitude that we’re going to roll people.”

Heading into the game, DeSha said the first 15-20 minutes would be the most important of the contest against the Warriors. St. Pius X put Helias on its heels, getting goals from Bri Witthar and Lauren Vogt to make it 2-0 with 30:01 remaining in the first half.

Witthar made it 3-0 with a little less than nine minutes remaining in the first half.

“We were flat, really the whole half,” DeSha said.

The Warriors finished with 11 total shots in the first half, including seven on goal.

“When you face an opponent that throws the ball forward to players that will vigorously attack with it, you’re likely to come out on the short end of the stick,” DeSha said. “We needed some players to show up in the first half and I wasn’t sure where they were at.”

On the other side, Helias uncharacteristically had just two total shots, both on goal.

Halftime was spent reminding the players to play Helias’ brand of soccer.

“Coach Katelyn (Cowell) said we needed to get back to who we are,” DeSha said. “That’s moving the ball, finding the seams, finding the passing lanes. We weren’t doing that, we were turning it over and then not defending.”

Macy Wilderson made it 4-0 in favor of St. Pius X with a goal a little more than four minutes into the second half.

“Their front six are the ones that hurt us, not the back five,” DeSha said.

Helias got on the board with 12:17 remaining when Dani

Buker chipped a shot over the Warriors keeper off an assist by Grace Winegar.

Buker was credited with a goal about three minutes later when the ball went off a Warrior player into the net.

Helias finished with eight total shots in the second half.

“They were indicators of what we could have done in the first half, what we should have done in the first half,” DeSha said. “We worked our hearts out in the second half against a team that really hasn’t allowed many goals.”

It was the first win for the Warriors this season that wasn’t a shutout and just the fourth time the team has allowed two or more goals to an opponent.

St. Pius X (21-5), No. 1 in the Class 2 power rankings by the Missouri High School Soccer Coaches Association, advances to the Final Four on Friday and Saturday in Fenton. St. Pius X will take on No. 7 Pleasant Hill (16-6), a 4-2 winner against Logan-Rogersville in its quarterfinal, in the semifinals at 5 p.m. Friday. The other semifinal at 2:30 p.m. will pit No. 12 Clayton (11-10), a 3-2 winner against St. Pius X: Festus, against No. 2 Whitfield (15-1), which defeated Orchard Farm 2-1 in PKs in its quarterfinal.

Helias, No. 6 in the power rankings, ends its first season under DeSha at 16-10-1. The Lady Crusaders won their first district title since 2018.