With about 14 minutes left to play, the Mehlville Senior High girls’ soccer team was within striking distance of Marquette, trailing 2-1 in a key Suburban West Con-ference game last Thursday.

It was a long, brutal 14 minutes, however, as the Panthers allowed two more goals as the Mustangs clinched the 4-1 win.

“I think we played really well, but with about 14 minutes left to play, we just ran out of gas,” Mehlville head coach Scott Jackson told the Call.

“It was our third game of the week and we just got tired,” he said.

The Panthers (5-5-1, 2-4-1 Suburban West) received their lone goal of the game in the first half of play as midfielder Christy Capkovic scored on an unassisted shot.

The sophomore has kicked a team-high seven goals this season, including two game-winners, and scoring opportunities haven’t come easy.

After a strong freshman year, Capkovic has drawn a lot of defensive attention this year and Jackson thinks the standout midfielder may be battling an injury.

“I think she might be playing injured, but she won’t tell me,” Jackson said. “I also think that they’re tracking her a lot more than when she was a freshman.”

Mehlville sits in sixth place of nine teams in the Suburban West Conference but has the talent to claw back toward the top.

“I know we can play with these teams, I just have got to convince them that they can,” Jackson said. “There’s not much separating us from everyone else in the conference.”

Mehlville is host of the Mehlville Cup at the St. Louis Soccer Park this week, and the Panthers have a chance to raise their record above the .500 mark.

“I think that it’s going to be games against teams that are more at our level,” Jackson said.

The Panthers are slated to play Seckman on Thursday and Fox on Friday with both games scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. start.

Mehlville also will play Webster Groves at 10 a.m. Saturday.