Perfect timing

Nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Having been beaten by Moberly twice during the regular season, the Hannibal Lady Pirates knew their opponents would be expecting more of the same during Thursday’s district championship game. But Hannibal coach Billie Heeley also knew the pressure was on the top-seeded Lady Spartans to dispatch of her team when it mattered most.
“Honestly, the pressure was off tonight,” said Heeley, following her team’s 1-0 win. “Everyone thought it was going to be Moberly’s game to lose. These girls knew they had nothing to lose and they left it all on the field and we’re just going to keep playing like that until this thing’s over.”
The game’s only goal came midway through the second half when Hannibal’s Jordan Campbell took a ball across the middle and drilled a shot into the back of the net to break the scoreless tie.
Defensive adjustments by Heeley and assistant coach Eric Hill made sure the goal stood up in the closing minutes.
“We just took away their long balls by putting Meg (Griffith) at sweeper and having Whitney (Voepel) play up more in the box,” said Heeley, whose team is now 13-12. “They’re definitely playing stronger and the changes we made paid off. Every single one of these girls had a great game and when they made a mistake they hustled and made up for it.”
Voepel would make nine saves in goal to post her second shutout in three district games.
The district championship was the third for the program and the second since Heeley took over as head coach three years ago.
The win also went a long way in healing some wounds leftover from last year’s district semifinal loss when the Lady Pirates were the top seed.
“We talked about that on Monday. We gave the game away last year. You go into the playoffs thinking one thing and then something else happens,” Heeley said. “Last year we thought it was a sure thing and we lost in the semifinals. This year there were some question marks but here we are district champs.”
Hannibal will now move into the sectional round where they will play defending Class 1 state champion, St. Dominic at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Moberly.