ND, Jackson win crowns

SIKESTON, Mo. -- For nearly 50 minutes, Tuesday's Class 2 District 1 boys soccer championship between top-seeded Notre Dame and No. 3 Sikeston took on the feel of last year's title game, a 1-0 Sikeston win in penalty kicks.

Notre Dame's players were determined not to let that happen again, and with two goals within a 2-minute span less than 10 minutes into the second half, Notre Dame put the game out of reach. The Bulldogs added a third tally later in the half for a comfortable 3-0 win.

"I knew it was coming," Notre Dame senior Abe Dirnberger said of the goals. "Someone was going to score sooner or later."

Added junior Ty Williams, who tallied the first goal: "They shut us out last year and we had to go to PK's. We said that wasn't going to happen again. We were still positive."

Notre Dame (23-1) will play in the quarterfinals Tuesday at the Anheuser-Busch Soccer Complex in Fenton, Mo.

Sikeston goalie Scott Droddy was a brick wall in the opening 40 minutes, stopping one shot after another. Just five minutes into the game, Notre Dame had several point-blank shots which Droddy pushed aside. Those chances continued to come, and Droddy continued to stop them.

Droddy made at least seven saves in the opening half. Notre Dame's leading goal-scorer, Jack Wedemeier, had one of the best opportunities, but Droddy came off his line to make a sliding save midway through the half.

"I thought we were pressing a little bit the first half," Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn said. "We were creating chances and were close on some. That was the talk at halftime. We told them to try to relax, possess the ball and get it out wide and cross the ball."

It did not take long for Notre Dame to heed its coach's advice. Williams nearly broke the scoreless tie on a header about 7 minutes into the second half. The junior forward was all alone on the left side but did not get much behind the header and pushed it wide.

Notre Dame quickly got back on the offensive, and less than a minute later Williams took a pass from Abe Dirnberger and fired a shot past Droddy for a 1-0 lead.

"I just tried to focus on striking it well and it worked out," Williams said. "It was a relief off our backs. It was like, 'we got this.'"

The Bulldogs struck again almost immediately. This time, Ryan Willen got free inside the box and poked a slow-moving shot past Droddy and into the corner of the net. Wedemeier assisted on the goal.

Notre Dame did not let up, and about 6 minutes after Willen's goal, Dirnberger finished the scoring. Dirnberger took a pass from Williams and buried the ball into the right corner for a 3-0 advantage.

"There when the third one went in, everyone was able to relax a bit," Wittenborn said.

Throughout the second half, the ball made few appearances in Notre Dame's half. Sikeston finished with just three shots on goal as sophomore goalie Ryan Bass had little to do in goal for Notre Dame. One of the only real threats for Sikeston was broken up by defender Matt Kiblinger, who was able to tackle the ball right before the half on a three-on-one advantage for Sikeston.

"Matt's a very smart defender," Wittenborn said, "and I thought Jordan Buchheit really stood out [in the backfield]. He's fast and relentless back there."

Sikeston had beaten Notre Dame in the district championship game each of the past two seasons.

"For all the seniors we experienced these last two times and we wanted to come out, give our all and leave everything on the field," Dirnberger said.