It didn’t take much, but an early goal was enough for Seabury Academy’s soccer team to hold on and defeat Kansas City Lutheran, 1-0, Monday at the Youth Sports Inc. fields.

The Seahawks got started early when, only four minutes into the game, forward Elise Stella plucked an errant goal kick and wove her way through the defense before firing the ball to the back of the net.

Scoring opportunities were few and far between the rest of the way for Seabury, but the defense and goalkeeping did its job to preserve the victory.

The victory was a good shot at redemption for Seabury: It lost its first contest against Lutheran, 5-0.

Seabury coach Gunar Harmon said that the victory was a nice change of pace after the previous 5-0 beating and a pair of 8-0 victories it had registered beforehand.

“In the first game, they gave us the business,” Harmon said. “They needed to have a game where they would have a 1-0 lead throughout. It’s one of the toughest leads to hold.”

Seabury held back on defense most of the rest of the first half as Lutheran kept the pressure on in their offensive zone.

But goalkeeper Lindsey Ahlen made some critical saves throughout the game.

Just minutes after Seabury scored, Lutheran’s Hannah Denk slid through the penalty box for a point blank shot, but Ahlen made the stop. She wasn’t taking credit for the clean sheet, though, and thanked her defense for stifling several close calls.

“I wouldn’t have played the way I played without my defense,” Ahlen said. “We didn’t have many subs and they pulled it out.”

But Ahlen came up with a few big saves of her own as the defense was overwhelmed by a swarming Lutheran offense in the final minute.

With just 15 seconds remaining, Denk got one last chance for the equalizer when she deftly scooted past Stella for a shot on goal from the left side.

But Denk couldn’t get the shot to the opposite post, and Ahlen had the near post secured.

Afterward, Harmon was pleased to salvage the victory, especially because the Seahawks were missing players because of illness and other obligations.

“I told them going in, knowing that we were going to be shorthanded, that we were going to have to bring it,” Harmon said. “They had their chances, and it stretched but we didn’t break.”