The degree to which confidence and belief play in sports, or life, cannot really be quantified.

In soccer, there are wins and losses and ties. But teams also play for less tangible things, such as momentum, chemistry and confidence.

Holy Angels pretty much touched all those bases Tuesday night, surviving a fiery tilt at home with emerging rival Visitation High School. The Stars, No. 6 in the Class 1A coaches’ rankings, overcame an early deficit to emerge with a 2-1 victory that keeps them in the driver’s seat atop the Tri-Metro Conference, and with it, a bit of affirmation.

“It’s a confidence builder, and it shows that we can play with anybody,” Holy Angels coach Dave Marshak said afterward the win over the No. 4-1A Blazers. “We hadn’t really stepped up and won a match against a top team yet, and (Visitation) is one of the top teams in the state. Before tonight, I hadn’t seen us grab one of these showdown matches, and that’s as good a team as we’ve seen yet all year.”

Holy Angels senior captain Kiely Jones delivered the game-winning goal with 3:17 remaining to lift the Stars (9-2-2, 5-0-0) to a thrilling victory.

“When we get down, we don’t get down (mentally),” said teammate Brooke Innes, who delivered the assist on the final goal. “If anything, we want it to serve as motivation for us. I think this game is a good example of that.”

Visitation (8-2-0, 3-1-0) scored the first goal of the match when Blazers junior forward Maggie Conners netted a goal just 9:45 in.

It was the first goal scored this year against Holy Angels in conference play, and it marked Conners’ 11th goal this season.

The Stars would not stay down, however, as they continued to saw wood with their style of play. Tuesday night proved to be a contrast of styles as the ball-possession and short-passing of Holy Angels worked counter to the Blazers’ get-out-and-run approach.

“It’s a classic clash of style, and that’s why this victory was so important,” Marshak says. “We want to keep the ball on the turf and move it around, and they want to play a more direct game and play to their athletes.”

A mutually physical style took shape early on. But as the second half wore on, the Stars’ style began to win out, despite Visitation’s fresh legs due to heavy rotation of its players.

The grind wore on both teams, but especially the Stars, who lack the depth that the Blazers employ.

“Our kids need to be 80-minutes fit,” Marshak says. “Tonight, it wasn’t so much that we hit the wall, but they made us hit the wall because of how physical they made things. I could tell we got tired, but the girls dug deep.”

Holy Angels found the equalizer with about six minutes remaining before halftime, when senior captain Abby Welsch scored.

In the second half, the Stars were more consistent in applying pressure, and chances began to emerge.

At halftime, Holy Angels talked about the need to step up its press, and the forwards saw an opportunity developing every time they chased down the loose ball on the end lines and delivered a cross. 

Eventually, something was going to budge, and that something came with less than four minutes to play.

Innes, who was working on the wing and in the corners, gained control of the ball and quickly delivered a well-placed pass to Jones.

“Brooke did a great job of getting me the ball,” Jones says. “We’d been working on it (all game) and there I made a quick turn and was able to put it just over the keeper.”

It was a lesson in perseverance for the Stars, whose touch passing and possession won out over the runs and vertical movement that Visitation favored.

“It’s one of our strengths,” Innes says of creating scoring opportunities with the cross. “When we execute that well, good things usually happen. Kiely was there in the right place at the right time…it’s just something that works for us.”

Senior captain Kiely Jones came through with the game-winning goal late in the game to help lift the Stars over Visitation 2-1 on Tuesday night at the Academy of Holy Angels.

The Stars overcame an early deficit to level the match before halftime. They broke the stalemate when Brooke Innes set up Jones for a goal with just 3:17 remaining.

Holy Angels, ranked No. 6 in the latest Class 1A coaches' poll, improves to 5-0 in Tri-Metro Conference play and 9-2-2 overall. No. 4-1A Visitation (8-2-0) falls for the second contest in a row after losing at St. Paul Central 1-0 on Sept. 26.

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