The gap separating his Pioneer High School girls soccer team from its crosstown rival wasn't wide enough for Lumumba Shabazz's liking, but it would have to suffice.

In a season when the Pioneers have often been dealt important lessons on the fly, perhaps making the most of another learning opportunity while protecting a slim lead would prove to serve Pioneer well down the road. So after an own goal suddenly provided some drama with 20 minutes to play Thursday night, maybe finding a way to overcome adversity in Pioneer's 2-1 win over Huron was more important in the long run than simply remaining unbeaten in Southeastern Conference play.

It's an obstacle that Shabazz felt like the Pioneers needed to clear before declaring them battle-tested as the regular season winds down.

"Once we gain mental composure and once we gain a certain sense of mental strength from it, I think we'll be alright," Shabazz said. "But I think it was an important lesson to learn." Pioneer (9-2-3, 8-0-0 SEC Red) built a 2-0 lead before the half, using a Nora Katterman goal in the sixth minute before Sam Waldrop registered an impressive goal with 10:40 remaining in the first half. The Pioneers had ample chances to add to their advantage, but Huron goalie Michelle Freed was solid in net, knocking away a few on-target shots to keep the River Rats close. Despite not mounting many offensive threats over the first 50 minutes, Huron (11-4-1, 6-2 SEC) suddenly found itself back in the game after a Pioneer header bounded past Pioneer goalie Kaitlyn Bedolla. Just like that, without even creating its own chance, Huron suddenly only trailed by a goal with more than 20 minutes still to play.

More on MLive.com: Boxscore The River Rats were awakened by the scoreboard change, suddenly putting more pressure on Pioneer's defense. Huron midfielder Ainsley McAllister got a couple of close-range chances, but Bedolla protected the lead, forcing Pioneer to overcome what could have easily been a game-changing miscue. "That's definitely hard (to play through)," Pioneer's Waldrop said. "But you just have to stay positive -- we're still up by one, so we just had to keep up what we were doing before. "But it's like a fight and both teams are going at it because one goal isn't a lot."

Despite increasing its chances, Huron never got the goal it needed to even the score. Pioneer had a couple of opportunities to pad its lead, first forcing Freed to make a diving save before hitting the crossbar on a free kick chance. Despite Freed's solid play, Huron's offense couldn't create enough chances to erase the deficit they had spent so much time trying to erase. "I knew it was going to be a matter of coming out in the first 10 minutes and asserting ourselves," Huron coach Reese Richardson said. "We knew they were a physical team and we knew we were going to have to match their physicality if we wanted to be in the game. "Once we gave up that first goal, I think we began to realize we had to buckle down, because at that point we had already put ourselves in a hole." Despite the own goal, it was Pioneer that tightened up, shutting down Huron despite giving the River Rats chances to draw even. But in doing so, Shabazz felt like the Pioneers took another step forward in getting to where they want to be by the end of the regular season. "Winning's a habit and in a game like this, when we got rattled but we withstand that, you build on that," he said. "You build an additional mental muscle for when you go on." Jeff Arnold covers sports for AnnArbor.com and can be reached at (734) 623-2554 or by email at jeffarnold@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffreyparnold.