Notre Dame boys soccer team edges Perryville 1-0

Sometimes a simple formation switch makes all the difference.

It was exactly what the host Notre Dame Bulldogs needed on a windy Saturday morning to knock off district rival Perryville 1-0.

The Bulldogs coaching staff moved forward Jonathan Lynch to the outside left midfield position midway through the second half, and the move paid off.

Lynch buried the winning goal with just less than 15 minutes to play.

"When we finally scored, we moved Lynch back to the outside [midfield]," Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn said. "He was able to make a run to where he came across the field and that ended up leading to that goal. It was a run he made out of the midfield coming across. Every game is different it seems like. We're kind of trying to see who's on today and where we can free somebody up."

Perryville's Terry Davis kicks the ball in front of Notre Dame's Jonathan Lynch during the first half Saturday.

Perryville coach Jerry Fulton knew the switch was coming, but his team failed to cover Lynch.

"I saw what Brad did, he pulled Lynch from forward to halfback," Fulton said. "It's the same trick he used against someone else. I thought we had it covered, and we didn't. In my opinion, that's the change of the game right there."

Notre Dame (14-6) failed to muster many solid chances before the switch, mainly settling for optimistic shots or getting stuffed by the Pirates defense.

"[Lynch] is a very gifted player," Wittenborn said. "But we weren't getting him any looks in the first half with the way we started our formation. Our possession was good, our buildup was good, but we didn't get people freed up to get a decent shot. I thought when we moved some people around in the second half, things freed up for us."

The first half featured back-and-forth action. Perryville had several golden chances on net but failed to convert any.

The Pirates nearly got on the board minutes into the game when Bryce Weibrecht beat his man in the box, pulled it back and fired a shot just high and wide.

Weibrecht almost broke through again a little more than 10 minutes into the first half when the Bulldogs mishandled a ball in their box, but Notre Dame keeper James Holloway made the save.

"After the first half, we outshot them 9-2," Fulton said. "I thought we had more opportunities to capitalize, we just couldn't finish, didn't get the breaks."

Weibrecht put pressure on the Bulldogs all morning, making several nice runs and forcing Holloway to work in net.

But the senior goalkeeper and his defense refused to crumble.

"They pressured us hard up top," Holloway said. "And it took us a while to get used to it. But after a while, we got in the swing of things. People started marking tighter and working with each other better and communicating who was coming in."

Notre Dame turned the tables in the second half.

The Bulldogs used a combination of possession and constant substituting to take the legs out of Perryville.

"Their bench, they don't have quite as many people as we do," Holloway said. "And we kept putting fresh legs in and trying to pass it around and get them to chase and wear them down."

Added Wittenborn: "We've gotten to where we try to not play so many long balls. Perryville's got speed and size up front and they like to play pretty direct. And with our depth, I think if they don't get goals early as the game goes on, I think that works to our advantage because we're able to stay a little fresher."

The strategy paid off for Notre Dame because the Pirates lacked the offensive prowess they displayed in the first half.

The Bulldogs had nothing to show for it up until 15 minutes to play.

But a freshman-senior tandem changed that.

Freshman Benjamin Parsons received a ball down the right side, beat his man and lofted a ball into the middle of the box where a streaking Lynch volleyed it past the Pirates' keeper.

"Benjie played a great ball," Lynch said. "We started moving up the field, and he got in and took it and got past one and then played a great ball across and I was fortunate enough to get a foot on it.

"It felt really good. We got chances throughout and we just had to try to put one in the back and get some momentum and break the barrier."

It was all the Bulldogs needed.

"Our guys have done a great job all year," Fulton said about his defense. "Our goal was to stay marked up and keep the ball out. Our keeper is a first-year keeper, and I thought he did a wonderful job. He stopped everything but the one at point-blank range, and there's not much he can do about that.

"We didn't find the back of the net, but at least we put most of them on goal, which is what you want to do. Their keeper made some great saves. ... I really think if you look at the shots on goal, we dominated the shots on goal and just couldn't find the net."