CENTRAL, NOTRE DAME SET FOR DISTRICT SOCCER

The high school soccer teams at Cape Girardeau Central and Notre Dame are both seeded first in their district tournaments.

Central's Tigers are the top seeds for the Class 4A, District 1 Tournament that begins today in Cape Girardeau.

Notre Dame's Bulldogs are seeded first for the Class 1A-3A, District 1 Tournament that begins Monday and is hosted by St. Pius of Festus.

The four-team 4A district will feature two games today, both beginning at 3 p.m. Central faces fourth-seeded Sikeston at Lou Muegge Field while second-seeded Poplar Bluff takes on third-seeded Jackson at Shawnee Park.

Today's winners will meet at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Lou Muegge Field for the district championship.

Central, after a slow start, has picked up plenty of steam. Despite a 2-0 loss to Notre Dame Thursday, the Tigers have a 15-9-1 record after being under .500 for much of the year. Poplar Bluff has had a strong season and Jackson has also proven to be dangerous.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame rolls into the seven-team 1A-3A district with its best record in school history at 20-1.

The Bulldogs, seeking their first-ever district title, received a first-round bye and will play at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in Festus against the winner of a Monday game between fourth-seeded St. Pius and fifth-seeded Union.

Other first-round games Monday pit second-seeded Borgia against seventh-seeded Pacific and third-seeded Lutheran South against sixth-seeded Bayless. The winners of those games play Wednesday in the other semifinal.

The championship match will be played at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in Festus.

Notre Dame owns a narrow victory over Borgia this season. Lutheran South and St. Pius are other traditionally strong teams in the district.