Central holds off Squaws in title game

St. Vincent dominated Saturday's championship game of the Cape Noon Optimist Spring Classic soccer tournament in every phase but the score.

The Squaws controlled play through most of the game, but Central capitalized late on one of its few scoring opportunities for a 1-0 win.

Central improved to 8-3-1.

Although St. Vincent (10-7) utilized a strong north wind to its advantage in controlling the ball during the first half, the Squaws were unable to find the net.

St. Vincent went on the attack early, as Jessica Welker snuck behind the Tigers defense only to have the ball knocked away from behind less than 7 minutes into the game. Welker also had two shots turned away by Central goalkeeper Chelsea Burns and with 27 minutes left, she missed wide left.

The best scoring opportunity for the Squaws came on a penalty kick with 13:35 left in the half, when Burns made a leaping save and then rebounded in time to knock away the putback attempt in front of a crowded net.

"We did an excellent job on defense," Central coach Tom Doyle said. "We're a little thin back there right now, we have a few girls out -- one starter missed today with severe asthma and another defender who has mono -- and we had three girls who played the entire game without coming out."

St. Vincent coach Eric Long said his team did well in using the wind to its advantage, however, he was more impressed with the Squaws' performance to start the second half.

"We did a solid job of ball control," Long said. "That first half, we really used the wind to keep the ball in, but I feel we played better the second half against the wind, but sometimes that's how it goes."

Despite the wind favoring Central in the second half, St. Vincent continued its pressure, as Welker pushed a shot just over a leaping Burns and the goal a minute into the half.

Welker missed a shot wide left with 29 minutes remaining. Two minutes later, she pushed a shot across the front of the net and wide right.

Central slowly began to put together an attack. After several long shot attempts by Central's Meghan Orr were tracked down by Michelle Herzog, Orr stole a goal kick from the Squaws and found the top right corner at 3:48.

"They had a great shot on goal there and they took advantage of a mistake by our defense of not covering the girl on the goal kick," Long said, "but they still had to make a great shot."

Burns and the Central defense then staved off a frantic St. Vincent rally. With just seconds left, Welker centered the ball from the right corner over the top of Burns to an open Kelsey Kutz in front of the goal, but Kutz could not take advantage, kicking and missing the ball before Central could clear the ball out of bounds and the clock expired.

Notre Dame 2, Sikeston 1

In the third-place game, the Bulldogs prevailed in overtime.

Notre Dame (6-5-2) has beaten Sikeston twice in overtime this season.

Lauren Mehner scored the Bulldogs' first goal with an assist from Destiny Dirnberger, and Mehner fed Meridith Medlin for the game-winner about seven minutes into overtime.