ND strikes early, wins 2-1

Notre Dame grabbed the lead with less than five minutes to go in the first half and withheld a roaring attack by Central late in the game to win Tuesday's cross-town soccer clash 2-1.

The Bulldogs improved to 3-1 and the Tigers fell to 3-2.

In the first of what should be two intense battles between the two Cape Girardeau schools, it was an innocent shot by junior Blake Urhahn late in the first half that proved to be the difference.

Urhahn said that he was just trying to put pressure on the defense and ended up coming away with a goal.

"The defender misplayed it and I took advantage," he said.

The Bulldogs struck first on a header from highly touted senior Tyler Cuba. Cuba put away a cross from Josh Essner less then one minute into the game.

Central coach Tom Doyle said that his team came out a bit stiff, and letting up a goal in the first minute did not help matters.

Despite falling behind early, the Tigers were able to put constant pressure on the Bulldogs through the runs of speedy midfielder Calen Wills. Wills made several strong runs that almost ended in Tiger goals.

After several close-calls, Central was finally able to put one by Bulldog keeper Travis Siebert in the 14th minute of the first half. Junior Heath Orr headed in a cross from Trey Willis.

"Trey Willis took it down the line and I put it in," Orr said.

With the momentum on its side, Central was flying high until the long shot by Urhahn hit the back of the net.

"We had a little momentum," Doyle said. "We shouldn't have given up that late goal."

Both teams moved the ball well in the second half. For Notre Dame, seniors Adam Prasanphanich and Cuba were able to show off their speed as midfielder Dustin Tatum helped to get last year's leading scorers more involved in the game.

Bulldog coach Brad Wittenborn said that he moved Tatum up front so he could distribute the ball to his pair of high-scoring seniors.

"We played a different formation tonight than we played last week, which really helped us move the ball," he said.

Despite his early goal, Cuba was held in check throughout the first half, and did not have a good scoring chance again until midway through the second half.