The patience of Andrew Butler and his Nixa teammates was tested Thursday, sometimes to a great extent. 

The Eagles trailed Springfield Catholic mightily in time of possession as the teams played their second match against each other in less than a week. No matter, Nixa won on the scoreboard, 3-0, to sweep the teams' two matches.

After playing defense the great majority of the night as the Irish passed the ball and passed some more, Butler's perseverance was rewarded over the final five minutes. He scored twice to seal the Eagles win.

"They had a lot of possessions and would swing the ball around the back and the midfield," Butler said. "They played keep-away whenever we would press. They like to play the wing, to get crosses. But our defense played great. They didn't have a ton of great chances in front of the goal. 

"Sometimes, I get frustrated when we're not getting the ball and (the opponent) is just swinging it around," he added. "I had to settle down and play in the back more, anticipating the ball, instead of trying to press up."

Nixa played defense for prolonged stretches, but never let up.

"The way they were moving us around, I was getting tired and everyone was getting tired on defense," Carson Palmer said. "But our defense stayed in it and played well. We got in the right places and cleared it out at the right times."

"We don't have dynamic players at every position," coach Evan Palmer said. "So, we have to sit back a little bit. We sit back and let the other team do some things. But around the goal we're going to tighten up and make sure you have to earn everything."

Palmer made a halftime adjustment, allowing Nixa to keep Catholic from dominating the ball as much as the Irish had possessed it in the first half.

"We dropped in one of the forwards and basically played a 5-4-1 to keep those guys in the middle covered and they couldn't just do whatever they wanted to do," he said. "Once we made that adjustment, the second half was better."

Nixa took advantage of its only scoring opportunity in the first half, as Carson Palmer scored off an assist from Butler. A steal by Josh Stoneberger put the Eagles' offense in position to score.

"We got a nice steal and got the ball out to Andrew," Evan Palmer said. "We've been working on the midfielder getting in the box. So many times it's easy for a midfielder to not get in the box. It's hard to get there. But when you do get there many times you are going to be rewarded. Andrew did a great job to get there, got the ball out and then got it back."

Carson Palmer initially didn't like his shot on goal.

"I got lucky that it went through (the goalkeeper's) legs," he said. "I didn't really think it was a good shot. I got lucky."

Butler made the Irish 'keeper pay for being too aggressive late in the second half. Butler converted on two open-net scenarios up his goals count on the season to eight.

"In the corner of my eye, I kind of saw the goalie coming out, so I was thinking that if he came out like that, I was probably going to have room to take a touch and play it in," Butler said of his first goal. "It was a huge relief. It was big for our team and allowed us to relax."