ND LOOKS FOR 1ST SECTIONAL WIN

The Notre Dame High boys soccer team will shoot for its first ever post-district victory tonight.

Notre Dame, which earlier this week won the second district title in school history, will take on St. Mary's of St. Louis at 7 p.m. in a Class 1A-3A sectional game at the Anheuser-Busch Conference & Sports Centre in Fenton.

Tonight's winner earns a berth in Tuesday's quarterfinal round of the state playoffs.

"We're really excited about the game," said Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn. "We've been playing very well and we think we've got a pretty good chance."

Notre Dame has an 18-4-4 record. The Bulldogs are coming off a 2-1 win over top-seeded St. Pius in Tuesday's 1A-3A, District 1 championship game played in Cape Girardeau.

St. Mary's, traditionally one of the St. Louis area's top small-school teams, is only 12-11-6, but the Dragons have played a brutal schedule that featured games against many of the top large-school squads in St. Louis.

Wittenborn scouted Thursday's 1A-3A, District 2 final in St. Louis, which saw St. Mary's defeat DuBourg 1-0 in double overtime.

"They're young, with no seniors, but they're quick and pretty skilled," Wittenborn said. "They beat DuBourg even though they played a man short for most of the game because of a red card, which shows you how skilled they are."

Wittenborn said his squad definitely has the experience edge and the Bulldogs are also bigger.

"I think we're a little bigger and if we have an advantage, it's probably in the air," said Wittenborn. "Their quickness concerns me. That's their main strength, it looks like. But it's not like we're a real slow team, although we're not the fastest."

The Bulldogs have been led offensively by Zach Miller with 22 goals. Chris Dirnberger has 12 goals and Adam Obermiller is at 10.

"We've been a pretty balanced team," said Wittenborn. "Nearly everybody on the team has scored a goal or two."

Notre Dame goalkeeper Colin Vandergraf has had a strong season and he has been particularly sharp recently.

"Colin's a senior and he has worked real hard," Wittenborn said. "We're proud of him. He's played great down the stretch and he made some big saves against St. Pius."

St. Mary's has struggled offensively with only 43 goals in 29 games, but that probably has something to do with the type of schedule the Dragons have played. Kevin Simpson has 11 goals for the Dragons while Mike Kuehn has scored nine times.

Wittenborn said he expects a close game that could probably go either way, depending on which team performs the best.

"I think it will be a good, close game," he said. "St. Mary's is a good team with a good tradition. We're more experienced. It looks like a really good matchup."