ND girls claim district soccer championship

The combination of Mindy Siebert and Meridith Medlin terrorized St. Vincent up top, and goalie Shelley Frank came up with a pair of dazzling saves in the second half as Notre Dame held off St. Vincent for a 2-1 district championship win Wednesday in the Class 1 District 1 girls soccer tournament at Perryville.

Notre Dame won its fourth district title in five years and will host the District 2 winner De Soto at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The first half Wednesday belonged to Siebert, who simply ran free on the left side of the field. Siebert continually beat defenders down the sideline, using one move after another to march down to the endline and feed open forwards in the goal box.

Courtney Luehmann took one of those passes about 10 minutes into the half and hit the crossbar. Medlin got a head on the rebound, but St. Vincent goalie Megan Wengert was able to keep the ball out of the net.

Medlin got another chance on a Siebert feed 10 minutes later but launched a shot over the net.

Notre Dame senior Meridith Medlin (7) watched her second goal of the Class 1 District 1 championship game head for the net as St. Vincent defender Kailyn Petzoldt fell Tuesday at Perryville. Notre Dame senior Destiny Dirnberger followed the play. (Kit Doyle)

The third feed from Siebert to Medlin did not miss its mark, as Medlin worked a give-and-go with Siebert and found the back of the net with about 10 minutes left in the half.

"I think we really work well together," Medlin said of Siebert. "We've gotten that playing the last two years together. When she goes down the sideline I always come out in the middle of the goal box so she has someone to play it into. That's what happened [with the goal]."

Notre Dame (16-2-1) threatened to take control of the game with a pair of dangerous scoring chances late in the half, but Wengert was up to the task. Siebert had two point-blank shots -- Siebert's second chance came off an indirect free kick inside the box -- which Wengert was able to push away.

Despite dominating play in the first half, Notre Dame led just 1-0 at halftime.

"Mindy Siebert had a great game," Notre Dame coach Jeff Worley said. "She created opportunity after opportunity for us. They really didn't have an answer for her. She really came in with a lot of confidence. Tonight showed the type of player she can be."

Notre Dame forward Mindy Siebert jumps into teammate Meridith Medlin's arms after Sierbert assisted Medlin for the first goal in Notre Dame's 2-1 Distict Tournament win over St. Vincent in Perryville on Wednesday, May 16, 2007. (Kit Doyle)

The inspired play Notre Dame showed in the first half seemed to rub off on St. Vincent at halftime. Right off the opening whistle St. Vincent had an extra bounce in its step, and the results came quickly.

Frank was tested in the opening minute of the half, coming out to make a sliding save on a shot from Liz Brueckner. St. Vincent kept the pressure on, forcing Notre Dame to bring extra players back on defense.

"I think we came out relaxed a little bit when we should have come out the way we did the first half," Medlin said.

St. Vincent's best scoring chance came about 15 minutes into the half, as Jessica Welker redirected a shot on goal. Frank was moving to get into position for the initial shot, but was able to dive across her body and reach back to save the Welker flick.

Frank, Notre Dame's backup for much of the regular season, was forced into action when starter Claudia Brauss was injured late in the season. The junior came up big for the Bulldogs on Wednesday.

Notre Dame goalkeeper Shelley Frank, center, punched a corner kick away from St. Vincent players during Wednesday's championship game.

"She did a great job back there," Worley said. "The one they shot in and got a header on, Shelley was going one way and dove back to make the save. You won't see anything better than that."

Medlin gave the Bulldogs the cushion they would need with about 15 minutes remaining in the game. Medlin took a through ball and put a perfect shot into the right corner for a 2-0 lead.

St. Vincent cut into the lead on a corner late in the half. Brooke Brown sent a corner which got over the hands of Frank and deflected off a Notre Dame defender into the net.

"We took it to a next level I hadn't seen all year for us [after the goal]," St. Vincent coach Dustin Wengert said.

Notre Dame endured three more dangerous corner kicks from St. Vincent in the closing minutes., but the Bulldogs were able to keep any of St. Vincent's final chances from getting to Frank.

St. Vincent ended its season 19-7, setting a school-record for wins. The Indians lose just two seniors off their roster but will have to replace Wengert in goal.

"Most wins in school history and we've got a young team," Wengert said. "Going into the season, our goal was to go 19-6. We entered the district finals 19-6. The good thing is, of my 11 starters and 20 players, we have nine starters coming back and 17 of 20 coming back. So we should be back.

"We're going to miss Megan Wengert. You know what you're going to get from her day in and day out. I think she proved to everyone -- the Notre Dames, Jacksons, Cape Centrals and Perryvilles -- she's one of the top goalies in Southeast Missouri. And she became that in a two-year span."

Notre Dame fell to St. Pius 3-2 in double overtime the last time the Bulldogs made the sectional in 2005. The Bulldogs have not lost since April 2 and are 11-0-1 in that span.

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