NOTRE DAME PLACES THREE ON ALL-STATE SOCCER TEAM

Notre Dame's soccer team may have not won its state sectional game against St. Mary's.

But the Bulldogs' 1-0 loss earned Notre Dame enough respect from St. Mary's coach Steve Schad to lobby for three Bulldogs to be voted to the All-State team.

Senior Notre Dame soccer players Oliver Sanders, Wesley Steele and Michael Gosche were recently named Missouri Class 1A-3A First-Team All-State while Cape Central junior midfielder Brett McNabb was given honorable mention on the Class 4A team.

"The St. Mary's coach helped us out," said Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn. "He spoke very highly of our team. They won the state tournament and we played very well against them and had several chances to score late in the game." Sanders was the biggest playmaker on the team, recording 14 goals and 21 assists for the Bulldogs, which ended their season at 21-5-1 and ranked fifth in the Class1A-3A coaches poll.

Steele was an aggressive, physical defender who scored one goal and added three assists.

"Oliver and Wesley had very solid years and careers here," Wittenborn said. "Michael Gosche kind of came out of nowhere. But you can't argue with his results." Gosche, who didn't play soccer until his freshman year of high school, recorded 15 shutouts and had only 12 goals scored against him in 25 games played.

"That's a real credit to Jeff Worley -- who works with our goalkeepers -- and to our defenders. He (Gosche) didn't get those numbers on his own and it's kind of a team award," said Wittenborn. "I'm extremely proud of all our guys." Notre Dame's No. 5 ranking was the highest in school history.