ND hopes to finally beat sectional nemesis

For all the success the Notre Dame High School boys soccer team has had over the last several seasons, there has been one missing ingredient -- and a glaring one -- for the Bulldogs.

They have never been able to advance past the sectional round of the playoffs.

Notre Dame hopes to finally take that next step tonight. But in order to do that, the Bulldogs are going to have to knock off a major nemesis that has consistently frustrated them in recent times.

St. Mary's, which will battle Notre Dame in a 6 p.m. Class 1A-3A matchup at the Anheuser-Busch Conference & Sports Centre in Fenton, has defeated the Bulldogs in the sectional round the past three years.

"We've played decent against them, but we've just come up short," said Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn of the defending state champion Dragons from St. Louis. "They've been one of the best teams in the state about every year."

Notre Dame has also been one of the state's premier squads over the past several seasons, but the Bulldogs have not really been able to prove it because they always seem to run into St. Mary's once they get out of districts.

The Bulldogs have compiled an eye-opening 131-36-15 record in the last seven years and they have captured four straight district titles.

"We're pretty proud of what we've accomplished," Wittenborn said.

And this just might be the year the Bulldogs (17-4-2) finally slay the Dragons (12-6-5). Notre Dame, ranked second in the state coaches' poll, earlier this season defeated visiting St. Mary's 1-0.

"I think we've got a real good shot, but it's still going to be a tough game," said Wittenborn. "St. Mary's isn't ranked at the top in the state this year, but they play such a hard schedule, their record might not indicate what kind of team they have.

"I think the earlier game does give us confidence. In that way it works for us but in another way it works against us because there will be no sneaking up on them."

St. Mary's is led offensively by Pete Cacciatore, who has 16 goals. After that, the Dragons' production drops off considerably, with Rob Brown next (six goals).

Notre Dame features a senior-dominated, balanced team that lost just one player from last year's strong squad. The leading scorer is junior Adam Prasanphanich with 17 goals.

Senior Scott Wittenborn, who last season scored a school-record 24 goals, has 11 this year despite missing about three weeks with an injury. Junior Tyler Cuba, who scored 20 goals in 2000, and senior Timmy Wencewicz both have seven goals.

All told, 20 Bulldogs have found the scoring column this season.

"That's very unusual," said Brad Wittenborn. "We're a lot more balanced offensively this year."

Defensively, the Bulldogs have been rock solid. Goalkeeper Travis Siebert has recorded 13 shutouts.

"We've got a very strong defense, Travis Siebert has been outstanding in goal and we've got a lot of speed," said the Notre Dame coach. "I think we've got a good shot."