Most soccer coaches will tell you that while a two-goal lead is great to have, it’s also the most stressful lead to have.

After scoring twice in the opening 18 minutes of Wednesday’s Interstate 8 Conference, Ottawa held that lead until host Morris scored with 10 minutes left.

“When you’re up two goals it feels like you have some breathing room, but you really don’t,” Ottawa coach Kevin Olesen said. “If the opponent scores, like Morris did today, to cut it to one goal all the momentum is on their side. I was proud of the way and how quick we responded.”

The Pirates (4-1, 1-1) regrouped to regain the two-goal lead four minutes later and then added two more goals to post a 5-1 victory in a physical contest.

“We missed a few opportunities to finish throughout the game,” Olesen said, his squad holding a 32-7 overall shot advantage, including 16-5 on goal chances. “But that said, we were creating those chances. I felt the girls collectively did an excellent job of putting their teammates in good positions to make plays. I thought we played a at very high level, kept our composer in a physical game, and quickly fought back when Morris created some adversity cutting our lead to one with 10 minutes to go. We are making good progress.”

Ottawa took the lead in the fourth minute on a 35-yard direct kick by Taylor Brandt and made it 2-0 in the 18th minute on Ella McGrath’s goal off a Brandt assist.

“At halftime we talked about how we just needed to put one in, cut to one, and then keep it going,” Morris coach Steven Custer said, his team falling to 2-3-1 overall and 1-1 in league play. “We were finally able to do that, then had another really good chance right away after that but couldn’t finish. The Ottawa scored on a beautiful goal to make a two-goal game again and that just took the wind out of our sails. The girls kept battling though and we saw a of good things we can build off of.”

Morris keeper Jordin Wilson (11 saves) made a handful of great saves through the opening 30 minutes of the second half to keep it a two-goal match. The Warriors broke through with 10 minutes, 43 seconds remaining on a goal off a scramble by Zara Lugo.

“Jordin really kept us in the game in the second half,” Custer said. “She made some incredible saves and some really good decisions coming out of the net to clear possible chances.”

The visitors pushed the lead back to two goals just under four minutes later when Chloe Carmona hit Georgia Kirkpatrick in stride with a pass to the left wing and the latter scored on a shot into the top right corner of the net.

From there Carmona netted a pair of goals in the final five minutes, the first off a rebound of a Brandt 40-yard direct kick and the second on a 25-yard direct kick from the right wing.

“Those are plays where you have to expect there to be a rebound,” Carmona said of her first tally. “I didn’t really anticipate, it looked like the keeper had it in her hands, but then all of a sudden, it bounced behind her. It was just reaction. Coach Olesen is always talking about crashing the net and staying with a play, really that’s all I did.

“It was a physical game for sure, but nothing dirty. It was just two teams really wanting to win.

“(Morris scoring) really flipped a switch for us. Not that we were playing bad, but we maybe weren’t being as aggressive as we could have been. Morris making it 2-1 really woke us up.”

Both sides are scheduled back in action Saturday as Morris is at the Princeton Invite, while Ottawa hosts Coal City at King Field.