Notre Dame denied a title sweep

FENTON, Mo. -- His and her state soccer titles weren't in the cards for Notre Dame.

John Burroughs, led by a talented combo of Jamie Greenwald and Erin Lingle, saw to that in the Class 1 state championship game Saturday at the Anheuser Busch Conference & Soccer Centre.

The Bombers scored all three of their goals in the first half to defeat Notre Dame 3-0. The loss kept the Bulldogs from matching the accomplishments of the boys team, which won the Class 1 title in its first championship appearance in the fall.

"It was like a challenge to try live up to," Notre Dame junior Kristen Boos said. "We succeeded considering we never made it anywhere."

Notre Dame concluded its best soccer season at 23-3-1, a far cry better than an 0-14 record in its first season in 1996.

The Bulldogs made the most of their first district title game appearance, first by winning the District 1 title and then by posting three consecutive shutouts to reach the title showdown. A 1-0 victory over O'Hara on Friday in the semifinals put the Bulldogs on the brink of an unlikely accomplishment.

"It was obviously disappointing to lose this game, but when you see what we've accomplished, it's beyond anything I could have imagined," said Notre Dame senior Sara Berkbigler. "It's been awesome."

Burroughs came in with a less glamorous 18-6 record but controlled the game throughout. The Bombers outshot the Bulldogs 13-6, but Notre Dame didn't create a good scoring opportunity until late in the game against a packed-in Burroughs defense.

The Bombers were able to play six and seven players deep virtually the entire game and still create dangerous scoring chances through the skill and speed of Greenwald and Lingle up front.

"That's the best team we've played all season," Notre Dame coach Jeff Worley said. "They certainly deserved to be state champions. Greenwald and Lingle were fantastic players. That one-two combination was the best we've seen."

It was that combination that provided the first goal 24 minutes into the first half. Greenwald controlled the ball near the Notre Dame end line and centered it out top to Lingle, who put a shot off a Notre Dame defender's leg and past goalie Katie Palmer.

"After that we knew we were going to keep scoring," Greenwald said. "I think that helped us relax."

Burrough's scoring chances got even better while Notre Dame struggled to mount any offense.

Greenwald came into the game with 40 goals after scoring two times in the Bombers' 4-1 semifinal victory over Springfield Catholic. Just two minutes after Palmer stopped Greenwald with a diving save, the junior forward made it 2-0 when she intercepted a Notre Dame pass and went in alone on Palmer and scored at the 28-minute mark.

Ten minutes later Greenwald carried into the Notre Dame end and pushed the ball ahead to Laura Lieberman, who put a shot past Palmer from about 10 yards out.

Burroughs goalie Alexandra Blake made only three routine saves in the first half and saw even less action in the second half behind a sagging defense that looked more and more like a fortress around her.

"Each goal they got they dropped another player back, it seemed like," Worley said.

Notre Dame spent much of the second half in the Bomber end but rarely penetrated deep. Burroughs still had most of the better scoring chances on quick counter plays.

The Bulldogs' best chances came when Boos put a shot over the top of the goal with 10 minutes left, and Blake later made a diving save on a Sierra Ellis shot with three minutes left.

The Bulldogs managed to earn the respect of Burroughs coach Scott McDoniel, whose team won its first state title after losing in the 2001 championship game in double overtime.

"They have a very good program," McDoniel said. "I'm sure we're going to be hearing a lot from them over the next few years."

The shutout was Burrough's 13th of the season.

"It didn't go the way we wanted today," Worley said, " but we've got a lot to be proud of. We certainly belong here. We're going to expect to be back again next year."

jbreer@semissourian.com

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