Notre Dame, Jackson reach state soccer semifinals

Notre Dame posted its second straight playoff shutout and advanced to the Class 1 semifinals with a 3-0 victory Tuesday night over Lutheran South at the Anheuser-Busch Conference & Soccer Centre in Fenton, Mo.

The victory vaulted Notre Dame (22-2-1) into Friday's 6 p.m. semifinal game against Kansas City O'Hara (21-8), a 5-0 winner over St. Pius X of Kansas City.

The Bulldogs' victory made a perfect evening for Southeast Missouri teams after Jackson won its Class 2 sectional showdown with a 3-2 quadruple overtime victory over Francis Howell Central of suburban St. Louis.

Notre Dame had an easier time, scoring three first-half goals against Lutheran South (13-10-1), another suburban St. Louis squad that advanced with an 8-0 victory over St. Elizabeth Academy in the sectional round.

"We were a little worried cause they had won 8-0," junior forward Sierra Ellis said. "But we just went in and played our game and came out on top."

The Bulldogs dominated as junior goalie Katie Palmer, who faced seven shots, recorded her 16th shutout of the season.

"Right from the kickoff we were able to spread them out and make them chase us around the field," Notre Dame coach Jeff Worley said. "I felt comfortable the first few minutes of the game that it was just going to be a matter of time before we scored."

The Bulldogs needed just eight minutes to find the back of the net. Ellis extended her single-season school goal record to 24 after depositing a pass from Kristen Boos.

"She just gave me a perfect pass and I was able to put it right past the goalie," Ellis said.

Brittney Little extended the lead to 2-0 in the 28th minute off a pass from Ellis.

Amanda Dirnberger closed the scoring with an unassisted goal, her 10th of the season in the 32nd minute.

The Bulldogs had 12 shots on goal.

"That probably doesn't indicate the amount of opportunities we had," Worley said. "We were on their end of the field the better part of the game. The 12 shots we had were really good opportunities to score."

Jackson 3, Francis Howell Central 2

Jackson sophomore Molly Hartmann assisted on two goals in regulation and scored the game-winner with two minutes left in the fourth and final overtime to lift the Indians to a sectional victory over Francis Howell Central.

Hartmann scored off a pass from Whitney Dietl to put Jackson (22-2) into Saturday's 7 p.m. quarterfinal game against Lafayette (19-1-3). It was the first time the Indians were ahead in the 118-minute game and avoided a game-deciding shootout.

"We were really tired by the fourth overtime," Hartmann said. "We didn't do very well in the last shootout, and we didn't want it to get to that."

Hartmann was referring to a shootout loss to Lafayette earlier this season in a tournament in Springfield, Mo.

Jackson goalkeeper Whitney Werner helped send the game into overtime when she made a diving save on a shot from close range in the final seconds to preserve a 2-2 deadlock.

"Whitney Werner made a huge save," Jackson coach Zack Walton said. "Had they scored, that would have won the game."

Francis Howell (16-7-3) took a 1-0 lead off a corner kick midway through the first half and carried the edge into halftime.

"We had lot of really good scoring opportunities in the first half and they only had a few," Walton said. "I think our girls still were pretty confident going into the second half that they could come back and get this."

Jackson needed less than five minutes to tie the score before Lucy Hartmann put in a feed from her sister, Molly.

But the deadlock was momentary as Francis Howell scored 30 seconds later for a 2-1 lead. Jackson's Leslie Gordon forced the second deadlock midway through the half, scoring off as pass from Molly Hartmann.

The stalemate lasted nearly 60 minutes. After three scoreless 10-minute overtimes, Molly Hartmann scored the game-winner from 18 yards out. She took a pass from Dietl on the right side of the box and drove a shot to the right of the goalie, just inside the left post.

Lafayette advanced with a 3-2 double-overtime victory over Cor Jesu.