Cape Central soccer cruises by Poplar Bluff

A pair of SEMO Conference foes clashed on Thursday evening at Cape Central High School.

Ultimately, the Cape Central Tigers prevailed with a 3-0 win over the Poplar Bluff Mules, getting them back on the winning side of the rivalry after a loss a season ago.

“I think it was big to get a win coming off our last loss against Windsor,” Tigers coach Dustin McKinley said. “We just wanted to make sure we got through the game healthy and got out of here with a win before going on spring break.”

From the onset, much of the game was spent in the middle-third, as neither team generated sustained pressure.

“We weren’t really sure what to expect,” McKinley said. “We haven’t seen Bluff play since we played them last year so we were just seeing how they were setup.”

With both teams struggling to generate any offense, it appeared the two clubs would enter halftime deadlocked at zero.

But, seemingly out of nowhere, Cape Central’s Tracie Helm found herself alone behind the Mules’ back line and she converted on her chance to make it 1-0 in the 34th minute.

“It was great,” McKinley said. “I think it relieved a lot of the pressure that was building up. To get out of that half with the lead was nice with how much pressure we were putting on.”

Following Helm’s goal, a switch appeared to flip for the Cape Central attack as the Tigers saw an increase in pressure offensively.

“At halftime, we talked about making sure we pressured up high and kept the ball in their defensive third,” McKinley said. “The chances would come if we kept doing that.”

Despite a couple of good looks to close the half by the Tigers, Cape Central took a 1-0 lead into halftime.

The momentum carried into the second half as on yet another Cape Central attack, Averie Huff converted a tap-in on an open net to push the Tigers’ lead to 2-0 just four minutes into the second half.

“We spoke to Averie at halftime and tried to tweak some things with her link-up play,” McKinley said. “I think ultimately that was a reward for her.”

As the saying goes in sports like soccer or hockey, the two-goal lead can be one of the worst.

McKinley also believes that to be the case and despite that, he liked the way his club played with the advantage.

“Our objective most of the time is to allow nothing in the first ten minutes of both halves,” McKinley said. “So, with the two-goal lead we just went back to that same concept. We just didn’t want to give anything away.”

The two-goal lead eventually expanded to three as Huff scored in the 66th minute to push the lead to 3-0.

While Cape Central’s offense stole the show with an impressive display of scoring, lost in that will be the play of the Tigers’ back line.

That line is anchored by a duo of seniors in Madison Phelps and Brynn Wulfers.

“They’ve been fantastic,” McKinley said. “I was talking to my assistant coach about how well they did stepping into the midfield and winning those challenges to give us possession back.”

Poplar Bluff (1-3) comes home for a 5:30 p.m. matchup on Monday, April 1, when the Mules host Carbondale, Ill, at Poplar Bluff High School.

Cape Central (2-2) returns to action at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 1, when the Tigers travel to take on the Perryville Pirates.