Bulldogs' offensive display sinks Lancers

~ Notre Dame scored three headers in a 5-1 victory against Lutheran South.

FENTON, Mo. -- Notre Dame's record-setting offense was unleashed on Class 2 quarterfinal opponent Lutheran South on Tuesday in a 5-1 rout at the Anheuser-Busch Center.

The Bulldogs (24-1) will face West Plains (19-5-2) in the semifinals 6 p.m. Friday back at the Anheuser-Busch Center. This will be the second final four trip for Notre Dame, which won the state title in 2002.

It took just 2 minutes for Notre Dame's offense to put the ball in the net. Junior forward Ty Williams pushed a header past Lutheran South goalie D.J. Lampert on a cross from Austin Gelsheimer.

"We try to get the ball out wide and then cross the ball in the middle and crash the box and hope something good happens," junior Ryan Willen said.

For the Bulldogs, who are making their first state playoff appearance since the state-title run before any of the current players were in high school, scoring the first goal helped ease their players into the atmosphere. Once they had the lead, the Bulldogs looked confident and in control of the game.

"It took a lot of pressure off us," Willen said. "We were all nervous and then Ty scored the header, and we were a little more relaxed after that."

Added Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn: "Early goal-scoring makes the game so much easier."

Once the Bulldogs get their offense going, goals can come in bunches. Jack Wedemeier nearly put Notre Dame ahead 2-0 at the 10-minute mark, but Lampert pulled back a low shot which almost got behind him on a one-on-one opportunity.

Less than 3 minutes later, Willen found senior Abe Dirnberger, who made a quick turn and shelved the ball just underneath the crossbar for a 2-0 lead.

"There were some nice goals, good soccer goals," Wittenborn said. "Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you run a nice play. I thought we had some quality goals there."

Lutheran South was not ready to lay down just yet, and started to pick up the pressure about midway through the half. Notre Dame's defenders and midfielders started to resort to fouls, and Lutheran South was able to create some pressure.

One of those chances came back to haunt Notre Dame 17 minutes into the half. Notre Dame sophomore goalie Ryan Bass and the Bulldogs' defenders failed to clear on several chances, and Ethan Jost put away a header to cut the lead to 2-1.

"We had some guys that were sick and [Mark] Zimmer was out, so we probably moved some guys around more than usual," Wittenborn said. "I thought in the first half a couple of the younger guys were nervous and taking some fouls we usually don't take. Once they settled in, we were fine."

The chippy play for Notre Dame lasted about 10 minutes before the Bulldogs' dominance reappeared. Dirnberger nearly scored his second goal on a header with about 15 minutes left in the half, and Williams was robbed by Lampert on a chip shot about 10 minutes later.

Wedemeier, Notre Dame's leading scorer, put the game out of reach with a shot off a corner with about 3 minutes remaining. It was the 29th goal of the season for Wedemeier, who set the school's single-season record earlier this year.

Lampert came out of goal to try and catch the ball, but failed to bring it down, and Wedemeier cleaned up the garbage. Zach Capriola and Brock Dirnberger assisted.

"I've got some good guys around me," Wedemeier said. "It's all them."

Up 3-1 at the half, Notre Dame was rarely tested in the second half. The Bulldogs had several good chances early in the half, but did not add to their total until late in the game.

John Unterreiner put away a header with about 15 minutes left on assists from Mark Himmelberg and Wedemeier.

About 10 minutes later Brock Dirnberger put away another header, this time on assists from Unterreiner and Josh Robert.

Those final two goals helped to punctuate Notre Dame's dominance in the air on Tuesday. The Bulldogs have been good in the air this season, and they had three header goals on Tuesday.

"That's pretty amazing," Wittenborn said. "I thought last year I was disappointed with our play in the air. We had a good season last year, but we weren't good in the air. This is probably the best we've been up in the air around the goal, and it's not just Ryan Willen. We have a lot of guys that make their runs and are around the ball."