Bulldogs' blond bombshell - ND tosses shutout against Central

At least this time it was true.

Blonds really did have more fun.

Notre Dame (14-4) proved that after defeating the dark haired Tigers of Central (14-6-1) 4-0 Wednesday night and completing the season sweep.

The Bulldogs, who dyed their hair blond as a team early in the season, picked up where they left off Sept. 10. Adam Prasanphanich scored the first goal in the opening minutes of the game off a cross from Tyler Cuba.

Central had plenty of chances to score, especially in the first half, but Notre Dame's defense made big plays to keep Central out of the net.

"There were very few shots from Central where there wasn't a blue jersey sock or shoe," Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn said.

"We had our opportunities," Central coach Tom Doyle said. "We just couldn't score. I guess this was just our black day."

The Tigers donned all black for the contest, including their newly dyed hair. It was meant to be a motivational tool for the Tigers, but didn't work well against the Bulldogs.

An errant pass from Central led to a Notre Dame breakaway and resulted in the second goal of the game. Bryce Willen led Blake Urhahn up the field and Urhahn put it away.

Three shots, two goals.

"We like to think of ourselves as a counter-attack team. We don't rely on ball possession as much as Central does," Wittenborn said of the turnovers his team forced.

Midway through the first half Dustin Haupt went down with what coaches said was a mild concussion. That put the Bulldog defense in a bind.

"I was proud of the way we stepped up on defense. Everybody that came into the game played their hearts out," Wittenborn said.

Notre Dame didn't let up in the second half and scored twice more.

"We just lost our composure in the second half and we didn't play very well," Doyle said.

The third goal come from freshman Frankie Ellis, who was playing in just his second varsity game.

The final goal was credited to Jonathan Market, who tapped a loose ball past goalie Aaron Meystedt.

Travis Siebert made seven saves in the first half alone and finished with nine in the game for the shutout.

Tyler Cuba went down shortly after setting up the goal from Ellis with a pulled groin and did not return. Coaches said they're hopeful both Cuba and Haupt will be ready to go for their next game against John Burroughs on Saturday.

"This was not anywhere close to our best performance of the year," Doyle said, "but I would rather lose this game and go on to win the district."