ND, CENTRAL PUT FIELD TO PASTURE

The "Notre Dame hop" is no more.

Barring a delay at the new Notre Dame High School on Route K, Notre Dame's and Cape Girardeau Central's 1-1 tie on Wednesday was the last match played on the Bulldogs' enigmatic soccer field.

The hard, worn out parcel across from New Lorimier Cemetery will be laid to rest as a soccer field, and will produce no more of the unsympathetic bounces, known by some as "Notre Dame hops," that have confounded players.

And perhaps a tie was a peaceful, fitting end for a field that has accomodated a number of clashes between the two Cape Girardeau rivals.

The match concluded the regular season for both teams. Cape Central will enter its district tournament next week 9-12-4, and Notre Dame will begin its postseason 14-4-5.

When Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn was asked whether it was the field's last match, Central coach Tom Doyle, a veteran of many games on the tract, knew Wittenborn's answer.

"He hopes so," said Central coach Tom Doyle with a laugh.

"It very likely is -- and you guys could probably get it pretty cheap," Wittenborn quipped.

The field, although maybe not worth much as an athletics surface, was not unkind early in the match.

Three minutes in, Notre Dame's Wesley Steele booted a pass from around midfield that Ryan Fenwick gathered in front of Central's goal and scored easily.

Three minutes later, Central's Josh Ferguson lofted a shot over goalkeeper Colin Vandergraf from about 40 yards out on the left side.

Neither coach was pleased with the goal his team allowed.

"They scored on a free kick almost from midfield, and normally that shouldn't happen," Doyle said. "One right down the middle; we should have had somebody there."

"A floating ball from 40 yards out shouldn't go in," Wittenborn said. "That's a play that we've got to make. They had some better shots than that that we stopped."

Injuries have impacted Notre Dame in recent days. The Bulldogs played without standout midfielder Oliver Sanders (ankle), Josh Eftink (hand) and Adam Obermiller (ankle). And Rob Cuba missed the second half with a hip flexor strain.

Notre Dame will use its days off before the district tournament to nurse those injuries. Notre Dame is the second seed behind St. Pius.

"We need to get a couple kids healthy," Wittenborn said. "Obviously if Oliver Sanders is out for an extended period of time that will hurt us.

"We think we can win districts and advance beyond that. Against common opponents with the first seed, we probably stacked up a little better. I thought we might get the first seed, but we didn't."

Central, which has won five successive district titles, is the No. 3 seed in its district tournament in Poplar Bluff. The Tigers went 6-1-2 in their last nine games after struggling for much of the season.

"We were sitting there 3-11-2 and I thought, `my gosh, are we ever going to win again?'" said Doyle. "And then we won five in a row.

"We're not used to being the underdogs, but we'll see how the other half lives. I think the district this year is most probably as even as it's ever been. Obviously Jackson deserves the No. 1 seed, but we got a win, a loss and a tie against Jackson, so I think anything can happen down there."