Notre Dame girls soccer wins another in home showcase, St. Vincent rebounds

After having to muster a second-half rally on Friday night, the Notre Dame girls soccer team rolled out of bed Saturday morning and took the field again, just over 12 hours later.

The quick turnaround didn't seem to slow the Bulldogs, who scored on the first two chances of the game and got past Kelly 5-1 in the Notre Dame Showcase at Notre Dame High School.

Megan Heisserer pushes the Notre Dame attack forward against Kelly in a girls soccer game in the Notre Dame Showcase on Saturday at Notre Dame High School. Heisserer scored a goal in the 4-1 victory.Josh Mlot

Against Kelly, Breanna Westrich notched a brace for Notre Dame (10-4) while Megan Heisserer added a goal.

"Last night was a hard game for all of us in the first half, but we turned it around in the second half and we came out today ready to play," Westrich said.

"It feels really good [to get good results in this event] and makes us look good when we're working hard as a team. That hard work is paying off."

Marrisa Jones scored the lone goal for the Hawks (8-8).

After falling behind the evening before, the morning brought a more even-keeled victory for Notre Dame, which controlled the majority of the game with swift ball movement that allowed the side to let the ball do the work, maintain possession and keep Kelly running.

"Before the game, we talked about possessing the game with limited touches," Notre Dame coach Ryan Schweain said. "We really wanted to go one- or two-touch, max three touches [before passing]. I thought the girls kept to that pretty well today."

The girls clearly took the game plan to heart.

"We don't focus on the goal, we try to possess, and if the opportunity presents itself, then we shoot," Westrich said. "We try to do that every game -- keep the ball moving and stay on our feet."

Westrich opened her account in just the third minute, when Livia Wunderlich took advantage of a failure to clear by the Kelly back line and sent in a cross from just outside the right side of the box. Westrich got to the cross and forced a save by Kelly goalkeeper Torri Duenne but followed her shot and banged home the rebound from the doorstep. The two shots were the first of the game.

The Bulldogs only needed one more to double the lead. Heisserer got on the ball at the top of the 18-yard box, caught Duenne wrong-footed and slid the ball inside the right post for a 2-0 advantage in the 13th minute.

"To start the game we came out real flat. Super flat," Kelly coach Lance Powers said. "And there were times in the first half when we picked it up and played well, like we know how to play, and then there were times we were flat and getting out of position and when you do that against teams like Notre Dame, you're going to have trouble.

"We talk all the time about when you play a Notre Dame or a Saxony [Lutheran], you can't get caught up chasing the ball. Just play your space and play your man. With young soccer players -- young to the sport, which we have a lot of those players -- it can be tough to grasp that. When we can play where we're not chasing the ball as much, we'll be a better team."

Kelly got its first look at goal in the 31st minute when Emmy Bolen got down the left wing and sent the ball in to Savannah Whitten, who put the ball on frame only to see it saved. The Hawks took another crack in the half's final minute when midfielder Lynsey Powers stepped into a shot from about 25 yards out but sent it high.

Otherwise, it was all Notre Dame.

Kelly midfielder Lynsey Powers pushes the ball up the field ahead of Notre Dame's Blake Sparkman. The host Bulldogs defeated the Hawks 4-1 in a game Saturday in the Notre Dame Showcase in Cape Girardeau.Josh Mlot

"The first goal definitely helps," Schweain said. "After we got the second one, we have a tendency to let up a little after we get up by a couple. That's something we're working on because 2-0 is a dangerous lead."

The second half saw a better effort from Kelly, which won the ball higher up the field and was able to string some passing sequences together. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs had already extended their lead by then, scoring on their first shot of the second half when Westrich effortlessly struck home a shot from about 18 yards out at 41:14.

The Hawks responded in the 47th minute, creating enough pressure to generate a corner kick. That opportunity saw the first ball in cleared out, but Lynsey Powers stepped on to the second ball, lofted it into the box and watched Jones clean up the ensuing mess, cutting the score to 3-1.

"We talked at halftime about playing with intensity and competing. They took that to heart and we came out and we were playing fast and being aggressive and winning 50-50s and moving the ball well. We just couldn't continue it the whole game. It's the mindset of the player. These girls can compete every night, and when they figure out they can do that, they'll play well. That's probably our biggest problem right now -- just a little bit of confidence."

Any questions about the lead were erased in the 61st minute when Heisserer continued her prolific season and made things 4-1.

The final score line was secured with just 30 seconds left to play, when a Notre Dame corner kick created chaos in the 6-yard box, and the ball bounced off a Kelly defender and across the goal line.

Notre Dame out-shot Kelly 21-4 in the game.

Duenne made five saves for the Hawks.

"We're still a super young program, and we're just trying to get better," coach Powers said. "I think we've accomplished that so far. We've got more wins than we did last year and are probably 12-plus more goals [scored] this year already. All I can ask these girls is to work hard and keep getting better."

Kelly played with a short bench, with its junior varsity team off participating in a weekend tournament. That bench got even shorter after Hawk stopper Meghan Foley went off with an injury in the 64th minute. Hailey Noon, who normally plays further up in the midfield, stepped into Foley's role and reprised it in the team's second game of the day against St. Vincent.

St. Vincent's Jenna Winkler sends a free kick into the 18-yard box during the first half against Herrin (Ill.) in the Notre Dame Showcase on Saturday, April 23, 2016, in Cape Girardeau. The Indians won 6-0.Josh Mlot

St. Vincent 6, Herrin (Ill.) 0

The Indians successfully shook off a 2-1 loss to Notre Dame Friday night and steadied the ship Saturday morning for a breezy victory over the Tigers from Herrin, Illinois.

Kalli Seabaugh had a pair of assists, and Kaiti Schnurbusch assisted on three goals. St. Vincent (9-5) led from the seventh minute and never looked back.

"I told them last night we've just got to have short-term memory with games like [Friday night]," St. Vincent coach Caitlin Pistorio said. "The most important part of our season is still in front of us, so you learn from the losses and move forward and luckily we've done that so far.

"It was definitely in our offensive end a lot more [this morning]. I think we moved it a lot better defensively to the outside before moving it up the field. That's something we messed up with a couple of times last night, and it cost us."

The Indians out-shot Herrin 20-1 and won the corner-kick battle 7-1.

Seabaugh opened the scoring in the seventh minute. Sara Kapp continued pressure after the goalkeeper smothered a loose ball, and that pressure forced the ball out. Seabaugh was there to put it home for a 1-0 edge.

Kapp then doubled the lead herself when she saw the keeper aggressively out of the net and chipped the ball from 22 yards out for a 2-0 lead.

St. Vincent toyed with the Tigers' high defensive line for much of the game. It didn't always work for the Indians, but it created danger for a good chunk of the first half's final 20 minutes, when they attacked in waves.

That turned into another goal when Schnurbusch attacked down the right wing and found Seabaugh at the far post for a first-time shot into the back of the net in the 27th minute.

Five minutes later, St. Vincent made it 4-0 when Schnurbusch fought through a challenge, maintained possession and pushed it to Corin Carroll inside the penalty area about 16 yards out. She calmly sent it home.

There was no letdown after the break, with St. Vincent putting the ball away on the first shot of the half. Carroll assisted on a well-placed through-ball that let Faith Kapp use her speed to break through the defensive line before slotting the ball into the far post for a 5-0 score.

Two minutes later, Sara Kapp got things started in the midfield, rotating the ball up to Schnurbusch, who slid the ball through to Courtney Brewer. Brewer's first shot was saved but she jumped on the rebound and put it away.