Liz Gayer was trying not to get too excited.

She was holding her run as long as possible, waiting patiently for the right moment to explode into the box.

Meanwhile, Edith Lopez was launching another corner kick - a play that has given the Hickman girls soccer team fits to finish lately.

When Gayer met Lopez’s high-arcing kick at the back post with a header in the 42nd minute, it gave the Kewpies a 1-0 victory over Smith-Cotton and provided some relief.

"It felt really awesome," Gayer said. "Usually I get really excited and I run in really fast, but I just held my run like" assistant coach Stephanie Krawczyk "kept telling me to."

Now all the Kewpies have to do is rinse and repeat. Hickman (7-10-4), which is the No. 4 seed in the Class 2 District 10 Tournament, plays fifth-seeded Smith-Cotton again in the opening round on Saturday at 179 Soccer Park in Jefferson City.

If last night’s match on Hickman Field lacked drama and intensity at times, the Kewpies know this weekend’s rematch won’t.

"It’s going to be a different game," Hickman Coach Jon Strodtman said. "You really can’t judge tonight and what’s going to happen Saturday."

For the moment, the Kewpies were happy to see a corner kick go in instead of being cleared away by the defense.

"It just felt like a lot of joy when it went in," Lopez said. "We’ve tried so many times. Every game we have like 10 corner kicks that go wide or barely over."

Hickman’s fans knew how much the play meant, as they gave a rousing round of applause until the Tigers kicked the ball off to get play restarted. Gayer, who had risen above the defense and put her header over the outstretched hands of goalie Cristian Sharp, received a bear hug from goalie Kelsey Mescher as she retreated to her center defense position.

The Kewpies forced six more corner kicks after the goal, but the closest they came to another connection was again off the head of Gayer in the waning minutes. That one flew high and wide.

Hickman dominated the slow-paced game and held the Tigers without a shot. The only time the ball reached the Kewpies’ box was a Smith-Cotton through-ball kicked too far. Mescher picked up her eighth shutout of the season.

Hickman almost took the lead in the 29th minute when Lopez hammered a shot from the top of the box that banged off the crossbar. The Kewpies got off six first-half shots but put just one on goal.

After the quick start to the second half, Hickman’s offense didn’t re-emerge until the final 15 minutes. Katie LaRue sent a low cross to the middle of the box in the 66th minute, but Kara Lappin’s volley went straight to Sharp. Six minutes later, Lopez hit another long shot - this time from 25 yards out - but it bounced and forced Sharp to just block the ball. LaRue pounced on the rebound but chopped it too high and Sharp recovered to make a diving save.

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