Notre Dame girls soccer team has season ended by Rosati-Kain

By SCOTT ROSCOVIUS

Special to the Southeast Missourian

The game was tighter, but the result was the same.

And for a third consecutive year, the Notre Dame girls soccer season came to a crushing close in the Class 2 state quarterfinals, again at the hands of Rosati-Kain of St. Louis.

The host Bulldogs fell to the Kougars 2-0 on Saturday to finish 19-2-1 on the season.

Notre Dame’s Halle Lynch heads the ball past Rosati-Kain goalkeeper Nicole Kelly during the second half of the Bulldogs’ Class 2 quarterfinal against the Kougars.

"It's been a fantastic season," Notre Dame coach Jeff Worley said. "We're one of the best teams in this class in the state. You'd just like to see them get over that next step. It just didn't happen for us today."

Notre Dame actually outplayed the Kougars (14-13) for much of the first half, possessing the ball a majority of the time but having little to show for its efforts. The Bulldogs failed to put a shot on goal until midway through the first half when senior Abby Boyer launched a shot wide from the right side. Moments later, senior Madeline Rosenquist latched onto a ball out front, turned and a fired a shot just wide from 18 yards out.

Rosati-Kain, meanwhile, was having some success freeing midfielder Sarah Schott down the left side. Twice she got free and centered passes that were one-timed just over the crossbar. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they proved to be a harbinger of things to come.

Late in the first half the Bulldogs' defense failed to clear another of Schott's crosses from the right side. This one skipped past a Notre Dame defender then a Kougars player before finding Tessa Killingsworth, who had a clear shot and scored from about 15 yards out with 5 minutes, 27 seconds left in the half.

"We were back to make the play, and had an opportunity to clear the ball out and just missed on it," Worley said. "They did a good job following the play. It looked a lot more open than they really were."

Notre Dame’s Kaitlin Welter congratulates Rosati-Kain players and coaches on on their Class 2 quarterfinal vicory.

For all of Notre Dame's possession time, quality shots were few and far between. The Bulldogs finished the first half with just three shots on goal.

"[Rosati-Kain] did a really good job of stepping into some passing lanes," Worley said. "Some looks that we were used to getting, they were dropping, especially in the first half. We would try to play a ball into a lane, and they would step in. We made some adjustments.

"We got better runs on them in the second half, being a little bit more aggressive off the dribble, but just didn't get that little extra to get the full look we needed."

"Our defense did an outstanding job of picking up any open players that looked to create a threat," Rosati-Kain coach Bill Taylor said. "We did a great job of limiting their chances."

The Bulldogs opened the second half determined to even the score and had plenty of chances. Junior forward Jordan Nelson, working the middle of the field, got past two defenders, but her shot from the right side found only the side of the net. Moments later, Nelson drew a foul just outside the penalty box. Senior defender Annie Siebert's kick from the right corner of the box curled toward the goal, where Nelson went for a header only to have Kougars goalkeeper Nicole Kelly tip the ball away at the last second.

Notre Dame players react to their 2-0 loss to Rosati-Kain in the Class 2 quarterfinals Saturday at Notre Dame Regional High School. (Laura Simon)

Nelson put the resulting corner kick in front of the goal where both Halle Lynch and Shelby Beussink went for a header that deflected just wide.

"We saw the openings. Sometimes it just didn't happen," said Lynch. "But props to their defense. It was really good tonight. And their keeper did really, really well. She stopped all our shots. She was really, really good."

Moments later, Schott curled a corner kick from the right side that bent toward the Notre Dame goal. Bulldogs goalkeeper Madison Buelow jumped to deflect the ball over the crossbar, but it only brushed her fingers before settling into the upper corner of the net for a 2-0 Rosati-Kain lead.

That score seemed to take the wind out of the Bulldogs.

"It really did," said Taylor, whose squad finished last season tied for third in Class 2. "It came at a crucial moment. Notre Dame had just missed a couple really close chances, and if they had knotted it up, we were going to be here for a couple more hours probably. I feel bad for their goalie. She made the right play on it. Probably nine times out of 10 that goes over the bar for her, and this time it just snuck under for us. We feel very fortunate to be moving on today."

Notre Dame's last gasp came late in the second half when Nelson again drew a foul just outside the penalty box. Her penalty kick was tipped by Kelly over the crossbar, resulting in a corner kick. Again, Nelson's boot was tipped by Kelly over the crossbar. Nelson's resulting corner kick found Mackenzie McDaniel in front of the net, but McDaniel's header was smothered by Kelly.

Just like that, another promising Notre Dame season ended one win shy of the final four.

"Every single one of these girls are special," said a misty-eyed Beussink, one of 11 Notre Dame seniors who played their final game for the Bulldogs. "We have something special. We have a special bond. We get along. We're just ... we're great."

For Nelson, a junior, playing up to the standards set by those 11 seniors will be difficult.

"I don't know if any team in the future will be able to set as good an example as our seniors this year," she said as tears flowed freely down her face. "We had 11 girls on this team that showed nothing but leadership, and we couldn't have asked for anyone better. They set the bar so high for us. The only thing we can do is try to get close to it. These girls are amazing, and they just set it so high. It's going to be hard, but I'm sure the seniors next year will set that example for them."