ND, Jackson take district crowns

In a year of firsts, Notre Dame's girls soccer team added another in the Class 3, District 1 Tournament championship game held Wednesday night at Notre Dame.

Playing in its first-ever district final, the Bulldogs (20-2-1) held off a late St. Vincent charge to win 2-1.

Notre Dame scored the first goal of the game in the 28th minute. Kristen Boos took a pass from Lauren Mehner and beat Squaw goalie Michelle Herzog to give Notre Dame the 1-0 first-half lead.

Sierra Ellis scored on a free kick in the 68th minute to put the Bulldogs up 2-0.

"She just hit a perfect ball into the back corner of the net," Notre Dame coach Jeff Worley said.

Chelsey Brown scored for St. Vincent (16-9)with a little over a minute left. Caitlin Hoeh had the assist.

The win gave Notre Dame its first girls soccer sectional berth as well as its first 20-win season. The Bulldogs' previous highest win total had been 13.

"It's been a special year for us," Worley said. "With the players coming back I felt really good about this season."

Notre Dame will have a quick turnaround: It hosts St. Pius X of Festus at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Bulldogs beat St. Pius 1-0 earlier this season.

Worley said hosting the sectional, yet another first, should benefit the Bulldogs.

"Being able to host our sectional is special," he said.

Jackson 2, Central 1

After winning its first district title in girls soccer last year, Jackson was looking for a good encore. The Indians found it against Central.

Jackson won its second consecutive district title with a 2-1 overtime win over Central in the finals of the Class 4, District 1 Tournament in Farmington. The Indians improved to 21-2-1, and the Tigers ended their season at 14-10.

Leslie Gordon headed in the game-winner on a cross from Courtney Urhahn with less than two minutes left in the first overtime.

"I expected it to be a good fight," Jackson coach Zack Walton said.

The teams ended the first half scoreless, but midway through the second half Molly Hartmann scored for the Indians off a Trina Lang assist.

Eight minutes later Heidi Pilsner squared the game for Central and sent it to overtime.

Jackson advances to the sectional round at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Anheuser-Busch Sports Complex in Fenton.

--From staff reports