ND seeks spot in semifinals

~ The Bulldogs will face Notre Dame of St. Louis for a spot in the Class 1 final four.

Notre Dame's girls have had a lot to celebrate on the playing field this school year.

The Bulldogs captured district titles in volleyball, softball, basketball and most recently soccer. So far the girls have been shut out of state final four berths, something they will try to change today.

Notre Dame's girls soccer team will play Notre Dame of St. Louis in the Class 1 quarterfinals at 5 p.m. today at the Anheuser-Busch Center in Fenton, Mo.

"A lot of these girls are multisport athletes," Notre Dame coach Jeff Worley said. "If you look closely at these girls, they put a lot of effort in everything they do in practice and in games. They don't just do that for one sport. They do that in multiple sports. That plays a big part in having multiple district wins in a school."

It has been three years since the Bulldogs last made the state final four in girls soccer. This is only the fourth time the Bulldogs' soccer team has been in the state playoffs, but it was able to make back-to-back final four appearances in its first two attempts.

Now the Bulldogs are trying to make up for what has been a frustrating playoff record for their girls teams. The Bulldogs' volleyball team was able to pull of an upset of Festus in sectionals before falling in the quarterfinal round. The softball team fell 7-6 in the sectional round after appearing in the state final four the past two seasons, and the basketball team was nipped by eventual state runner-up Farmington 56-53.

"We just have a team full of athletes," senior Destiny Dirnberger said. "We've kind of been in the boys shadow all year. We want to prove our team is good enough to get to state."

The Bulldogs, who are trying to match the Notre Dame boys state soccer title in the fall, are carrying a head of steam into their quarterfinal game against the Rebels. Following a dominating 2-0 win over De Soto in Tuesday's sectional, the Bulldogs improved to 17-2-1 and extended their unbeaten streak to 13 games (12-0-1).

"It was definitely an energy boost how we played so well [Tuesday]," Dirnberger said. "We can even get better hopefully."

Bulldogs senior forward Meridith Medlin has been a key offensive players during the playoffs. Medlin scored both goals in the district finals and scored the first goal Tuesday. The Bulldogs have been dominant on the wings with Mindy Siebert and Taylor Sanders, and equally strong in the middle with Dirnberger, Medlin and Courtney Luehmann.

"We've really challenged them, and we've tried to send a message every game is going to be a little different," Worley said. "Some coaches say, 'We don't adjust to anyone, they adjust to us.' We want to find what you are going to give to us and we'll take it."

This is the first state playoff appearance for the Rebels. Robyn Meesey leads the squad with 20 goals, but no other player has more than six goals. The Rebels (13-9-1) used a late goal in the sectional round to knock off a Rosati-Kain team that made the state final four last year.

Tuesday's win was the eighth straight for the Rebels, who have allowed just four goals during that stretch.

"Notre Dame has a pretty good history," Worley said. "I know this is the first year they dropped into the lower class. We had them on our schedule but it was rained out. We've competed really well with them. We've had a win or two over them the last few years."