ND blanks St. Pius for district crown

The Notre Dame Bulldogs, overcoming cold temperatures and a muddy field, collared the Class 2 District 1 boys' soccer championship Thursday with a 3-0 win at home over St. Pius.

The game was delayed a day because of a wet field. The effects lingered Thursday as the teams battled slick conditions.

"We expected to be here because this is such a special group of players," Notre Dame coach Brad Whittenborn said.

The first half came and went without a ball entering either team's net but both teams had several shots on goal that forced goalies Travis Siebert and Adam Baechle to full extensions at times.

"They put a lot of really strong shots on us but Siebert was just awesome in goal," Whittenborn said.

The result is a berth in the first round of the state playoffs Tuesday against the District 2 winner, which will be determined Saturday.

"It was a good hard game," St. Pius coach Dan Bokern said. "It's what you like to see in soccer."

Despite the chances they received neither team took advantage. The players slipped and slid all over the treacherous field before Notre Dame was able to get an advantage in the second period.

The spectacular saves continued from the keepers but St. Pius' ragged play eventually led to the first goal of the game. Dustin Tatum broke the scoreless tie at the 24-minute mark after he had had two near-scores.

"We had so many chances, I knew we would break it," Siebert said.

Whittenborn said later that his team began to relax and play better after it scored its first goal. That spelled doom for the Lancers.

Six minutes after Siebert's goal, David Kiblinger scored to put the game out of reach.

Notre Dame (17-5) regained its footing on the rain soaked field and St. Pius sunk deeper. Adam Prasanphanich scored the final goal with less than five minutes left in the game.

"This feels great, especially for the seniors," Siebert said.

Siebert, an All SEMO-Conference pick this year and second team all-state last year, finished with 11 saves.

"I just did what I had to do to keep us in the game," Siebert said.

"He has terrific hands and he's a battler," Wittenborn said of Siebert. "He's one of the toughest competitors on the team, he puts his heart and soul into everything."

Josh Essner and Jonathan Market each had assists for the Bulldogs.

St. Pius' loss is its second consecutive to Notre Dame in the playoffs. Notre Dame posted an identical 3-0 score over the Lancers last year in the title game.

"It was a good game but maybe someday in the future we'll turn the tables on them," Bokern said.