E-ZACH-LY ENOUGH: 'DOGS WIN 2-1; MILLER SCORES TWICE TO BEAT CENTRAL

Finesse and strategy were not primary concerns when Cape Girardeau Central's soccer team hosted Notre Dame Tuesday at Lou Muegge Field.

"The name of the game today was long, hard shots," said Central coach Tom Doyle.

Unfortunately for Doyle, his Tigers continued to fire blanks, while Notre Dame's Zach Miller tied the match in the first half on a deep shot and then won it in the second with another rocket.

Notre Dame spoiled Central's home opener 2-1.

The Bulldogs, who have only one senior, improved to 3-1. Central, which has averaged around 2.5 goals per game the past few seasons, has only six in five matches and fell to 2-2-1.

Miller said his performance against Central ranked behind only one other of his career: He scored the game winner last year against St. Francis Borgia, Notre Dame's biggest district rival

"I like to have the goals against Central," Miller said. "I know all of those guys and it's kind of nice to be able to rub it in."

After Central's Justin Shelby scored on a long attempt from the middle on a pass from Nathan Gibbar at the 23-minute mark, Miller tied the game 12 minutes later.

"Jason Garner got the ball on the right side and . . . he passed it and I called Oliver Sander off the ball and he just let it go and I just pulled the trigger and it went in," said Miller.

Doyle said his team made a defensive mistake that left both Miller and Sander open.

"(Notre Dame) had about five on three there, so obviously we had two men there who were not being marked," Doyle said.

Miller won the match 26 minutes into the second half. Sander was credited with an assist.

"(The Central defender) pulled way back off of me to about the 18 (yard mark), and I noticed that the goalie was out, and I just chipped it up and over him," Miller said.

Central had opportunities to tie, including a close-range shot that caromed off the crossbar with the goal keeper away from the net and eight and a half minutes remaining.

Said Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn: "Soccer's a tough game. You've got a 2-1 game, and you had several balls on each team that could have gone in the goal. We're excited to win, but we also know that Central played well also.

"For a young team to come over and win on Central's field is a big win for us."

Doyle said although his team spent 75 percent of Monday's practice working on putting the ball in the net, it continues to struggle offensively.

"You're not going to win a whole lot of games with one goal," he said. "We're not where we need to be offensively yet. We should still win some games when we give up two goals."

In the JV game, Notre Dame got two goals from Adam Obermiller and one from Luke Oliver to win their season opener 3-0 over Central. Michael Gosche got the shutout in goal for the Bulldogs.