ND soccer falls to Westminster

Fans attending Notre Dame's soccer game Saturday against visiting Westminster Christian may have thought they were at a rugby match with the amount of elbows and shoulders thrown in a 2-1 overtime win by Westminster.

"It was very physical," Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn said.

Despite the physical, sometimes chippy play, only two yellow cards were given out during the game. Each team picked up a card in the opening half.

"We got bumped around a little bit," Wittenborn said. "I'm trying to teach the guys to react the right way when things don't go your way and sometimes that's a hard lesson to learn.

"I thought, for the most part, we did today. I thought we kept our composure well."

When the elbows were not flying, both teams were able to create some decent chances. Westminster scored first less than five minutes into the game on a header from Logan McDonald.

Notre Dame (5-6) was not down for long, responding with a goal of its own 10 minutes later. Frankie Ellis was sprung loose on a ball from Abe Dirnberger and put a shot into the right corner for a 1-1 tie.

Ellis' goal was Notre Dame's last strong chance on goal, though. Westminster controlled play the rest of the first half and the majority of the second half.

Notre Dame's defense and goalie Nathan Kolda were able to keep the score tied until midway through the first sudden death overtime.

Notre Dame's defense cleared a ball off the goal line on Westminster's initial shot, but a failed clearance went straight into the air where it was headed in by Westminster's Shawn Thomas. Kolda appeared to be knocked down on the play, but no call was made.

"I thought we played hard, and Westminster's got a decent team," Wittenborn said. "I thought the crucial calls went their way. I thought our goalie got knocked down there."

JV -- Notre Dame won 2-0. Goals: Ty Williams (2); Assist: Jack Wedeimeyer

-- Jeremy Joffray

Jeff City Capital Classic

Central lost two games at a tournament in Jefferson City, falling 1-0 to the host in the semifinal and 3-2 to Jeff City Helias. Sam Bornstein and Lance Altenthal scored the goals against Helias, while Ryan Ponder and Matt Hellrich had the assists.

CROSS COUNTRY Hancock Invitational

The Central girls placed eighth in the large-school division in the 42nd annual Hancock Invitational at Jefferson Barracks Park in St. Louis County.

Eighty schools and about 1,900 runners competed in the meet.

Jennifer Pancoast led the Tigers, finishing ninth in 19 minutes and 40 seconds over the 3.1-mile course.

Central's boys were 17th as a team.

In the race for schools in classes 1-2, the Notre Dame boys finished third behind Herculaneum and Priory. Notre Dame had four medalists, led by Greg Kanneberg's eighth-place time (18:03).

The Notre Dame girls finished sixth. Brooke Beussink finished 22nd and Casey Crawford 26th.

Varsity Girls 4A Division

1. West Plains 35; 2. Lee's Summit North 97; 3. Emporia, Kan., 152; 8. Central 219

Central results -- 9. Jennifer Pancoast 19:40; 26. Holly Shaffer 20:59; 32. Linnea Woldtvedt 21:22; 75. Emily Ponder 23:03; 77. Allison Dohogne 23:06

Central JV girls -- 14. Liz Alberson 23:14; 30. Sarah Schneider 23:57; 47. Heather Deischer 24:33; 66. Gina Yarbrough 25:05; 76. Stephanie Watts 25:19

Varsity Girls 1A-2A Division

1. Herculaneum 43; 2. Moberly 69; 3. St. Charles Lutheran 141; 6. Notre Dame 199

Notre Dame results -- 22. Brooke Beussink 24:03; 26. Casey Crawford 24:36; 45. Kelli Nagel 25:55; 52. Hailey Brown 26:46; 54. Megan Rosenquist 26:50

Notre Dame JV girls -- 131. Teresa Miller 26:37; 173. Jennifer Hinkebein 27:26; 220. Allie Bryant 28:58; 228. Allison Beussink 29:16; 237. Katie Burrus 29:53

Varsity Boys 4A Division

1. West Plains 45; 2. St. Joseph's Central 110; 3. Emporia, Kan., 112; 17. Central 425

Central results -- 51. John Kipper 17:54; 73. Cory Huskey 18:22; 91. Daniel Austin 18:42; 112. Dale Brannock 19:35; 115. Alex Eom 19:49

Central JV boys -- 71. Shaun Owens 20:17; 90. Chris Schindele 20:58; 109. Jeremy Jernigan 21:30; 116. Carson Kelley 21:45; 164. Karl Bratcher 25:23

Varsity Boys 1A-2A Division

1. Herculaneum 39; 2. Priory 53; 3. Notre Dame 115; 8. Kelly 238

Notre Dame results -- 8. Greg Kanneberg 18:03.7; 25. Austin Critchlow 18:53.1; 26. Matt Pfau 18:53.8; 30. Brian McCrate 19:01.9; 39. Cody Essner 19:25

Notre Dame JV boys -- 37. Brian Milbach 20:35; 43. Jon Ramsey 20:43; 61. Richie Bohn 21:22; Lance Carroll 21:48; 78. Alex Ressel 21:52

Late Friday Fox Invitational

Ashley Meyr placed 15th to lead Jackson at the Fox Invitational on Friday.

Jackson results

Varsity girls -- 15. Ashley Meyr 20:53

JV girls -- 101. Rebecca Parker 27:49; 106. Beth Barton 28:06

Varsity boys -- 43. Norman Popp 19:09

Freshman/sophomore boys -- 5. Sam Masters 18:29; 18. Trenton Rogers 19:05; 67. Zach Dumey 22:35; 68. Nick Grieshop 22:38; 71. David Law 22:54

GIRLS TENNIS Central 6, Nerinx Hall 1

Playing in a seven-match format for the first time this season, Central kept its undefeated dual record in tact on the road. The Tigers improved to 11-0.

Singles: 1. Monica Toole (C) def. Laura Maher 6-4, 6-4; 2. Liz LaFoe (C) def. Sarah Casperson 6-0, 6-1; 3. Sarah Ford (C) def. Lauren Venegas 6-2, 6-3; 4. Lindsey Pingel (C) def. Colleen Blosser 6-1, 6-4.

Doubles: 1. Dani Gross-Brett Ford (C) def. Julie Fztukowski-Natalie Kaiser 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 10-6; 2. Jill Blattner-Maggie Limbaugh (C) def. Emily Moore-Annie

Halbert 6-1, 6-1; 3. Sarah Hampel-Natasha D'Agrosa (N) def. Brittney Hiett-Kristen Ford 7-6 (13-11), 6-4.

OTHER SPORTS

• In junior high football action, Central fell to North County 12-6.

-- From staff reports