Notre Dame girls poised in DeSoto rout, blast into district semifinal

In a battle between the first-and-worst-seeded teams in the district, Notre Dame girls soccer put the hurt on DeSoto in the opening round of Class 3 District 1 play, winning 8-0 to kick off postseason play in style.

With an all-around dominant offensive performance, not any one player really stood out as the Bulldogs maintained possession for the grand majority of the match.

The game, lasting just a few minutes past the half when Notre Dame walked it off via mercy rule, wasn’t exactly anticipated to be pretty, but it’s a nice confidence booster for the ‘Dawgs as they open the playoffs.

“Today, we just continued to try to get some rhythm within the team,” Bulldogs coach Ryan Schweain said.

“Move the ball around and try to get good goals, working as a team to create opportunities.”

Notre Dame's Kate Clippard shifts her momentum during a May 11, 2024 MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 quarterfinal between the Notre Dame Bulldogs and the DeSoto Dragons at Cape Central High School in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Notre Dame defeated DeSoto, 8-0.Cole Lee ~ clee@semoball.com

DeSoto, recipient of the No. 8 seed in the district after a winless regular season, actually managed to put together a strong first 10 minutes defensively, not maintaining the ball but keeping Notre Dame away from the crease.

But as that opening phase started to wear in, so too did the Bulldogs start to look comfortable.

With two goals in a minute-long span, and adding another five over the rest of the first half, Notre Dame piled on the scoreboard as DeSoto’s season came closer and closer to an end.

Tied for their largest goal output of the year, Notre Dame came around and put together a stellar offensive performance as it dominated the 10 a.m. opener at Cape Central to move into Tuesday’s district semis.

“The next couple of games will be on the more difficult side,” Schweain said.

Up next, the Sikeston Bulldogs, boasting a 12-11 season record and now over the .500 mark following a 4-1 Saturday win against Hillsboro.

Notre Dame defeated Sikeston, 8-0, back in the early phases of the season, but the fourth-seeded Bulldogs are riding the highs of a big district quarterfinal win and look to carry that momentum to the semis.

Having competed with some of the best teams in the area, Notre Dame knows it has the potential to make a deep run.

The real challenge is learning how to put all the pieces together, certainly not excluding keeping the roster healthy for the long haul.

“This season has been a challenging time,” Schweain said. “We've had a lot of injuries this year.

“So really, we’re trying to just maintain it. Keep everybody healthy going into the next game.”