Early goals lift Perryville past Notre Dame

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- With his team heading into a bitter rivalry against district foe Notre Dame, Perryville coach Jerry Fulton told his players they would have to get off to a quick start if they wanted to win.

The Pirates followed Fulton's advice by jumping out to a two-goal lead 10 minutes into the first half on their way to a 2-1 victory Monday at the Perryville Soccer Complex.

"It seems like every time we play Notre Dame we want to wait, and wait and wait to capitalize," Fulton said. "I really challenged them in practice last week, and before the game I said, 'Guys, we need to go early,' and thank God they did, because we got the two real fast and that ended up being the difference."

The two teams met in the Class 2 District 1 finals last year, where a goal in double overtime gave the Pirates a 1-0 win and their second straight district championship.

Perryville's quick start provided the only goals it would need against Notre Dame (9-3-2).

Perryville's Eann Bergman, left, celebrates with Conner Stark after scoring the first goal against Notre Dame during the first half Monday, Sept. 29, 2014 in Perryville, Missouri. (Fred Lynch)

Five minutes into the first half Perryville senior Luke Schlichting delivered a cross to Perryville junior Eann Bergman, who was running diagonally to the middle of the box. Bergman beat three Bulldog defenders to the ball, and when Notre Dame goalie Thomas Himmelberg moved up in the box to make a play, Bergman quickly slid to the left and past Himmelberg to score into an empty net.

"As soon as I saw him come up in the box I knew I could get around him and score," Bergman said. "It was a great ball and worked out perfectly for us. We run that play all the time, but I never get such a wide-open shot like I did tonight."

Five minutes later the Pirates were set up at the top of the Notre Dame box after earning a free kick.

Schlichting lined up to take the shot, but faked it at the last minute. Perryville senior Matt Moran followed closely behind and rifled a bending shot that went past a five-man Notre Dame wall and into the right side of the net.

Moran said he had no doubt about scoring on the free kick.

"Luke [Schlichting] and I have practiced free kicks an endless amount of times here at this very same field, at this very same spot," Moran said about his free kick goal in the first half. "I knew I was going to put it in, and I saw them set the wall up just how I like it, so after that it was all about getting it to bend and finding the side netting."

Notre Dame senior Will Popp scored to make it 2-1 with 27 minutes left in the first half. Popp one-timed a crossing pass high in the air with his back to the goal. The ball went over the head of Perryville goalie Luke Dobbelare and bounced into the bottom right corner of the net.

"I couldn't do much about it," Dobbelare said. "It was so nicely placed that I thought it was going over the net, but when I looked back it was in. The guy had his back towards me. I'm not even sure how he scored."

Perryville kept the ball on Notre Dame's side for much of the second half.

Notre Dame coach Matt Vollink said a slow start in the first and second halves, as well as a lack of confidence throughout the game, led to the Bulldogs' demise.

"When you play at Perryville you have to know it's going to be a great, close game. You have to have that quick start," Vollink said. "That first five or ten minutes they came fast and strong, and we didn't. It was kind of back and forth from that point on, but we still weren't beating them to balls or always making the right decisions for the rest of the game."

With 11 minutes to play the Bulldogs had a chance to score on a corner kick. Popp delivered a well-placed ball to the center of the box, but it was immediately cleared by the Pirates' defense.

Two minutes later Ben Parsons had a breakaway chance for the Bulldogs. The senior stole a pass at midfield, broke free from a defender and ran down the middle of the field. Parsons took a shot at the penalty kick marker, but Dobbelare was there to make a diving stop and secure the win for Perryville.

"The great thing about soccer is that anything can happen at any given time," Vollink said. "So when you get those opportunities you really have to try and take advantage of them because you might not get one again. It's one of those things where some games it falls and some games it doesn't. You can always have those what-ifs, but that's just how it is."

With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, both coaches are anticipating a possible rematch in district play.

"It already feels like a playoff-type atmosphere against them," Fulton said after Perryville's win. "And that's good for soccer in this area. We love this rivalry because it fires us up and gets us ready to play, and honestly it keeps us focused on what our goals are -- and that's to win a district championship. We'll be ready for them again because I'm sure we'll be matching up in districts very soon."