NOTRE DAME SEES SOCCER SEASON END WITH 1-0 LOSS

ST. LOUIS -- Like a deflected goal, fortune took a crazy path for St. Mary's High School Saturday night in a Class 1A-3A sectional soccer game at the Anheuser-Busch Conference & Sports Centre.

The recipients of the ensuing misfortune were the Notre Dame Bulldogs, who saw a stellar season end with a 1-0 loss.

A Ryan Haman goal at the 65-minute mark of the game was enough to spur St. Mary's on to Tuesday's quarterfinals.

Notre Dame finished its season at 18-5-4 while St. Mary's improves to 14-11-6.

The fact Haman was even in the game was a story of bad news turned good for the Dragons. Haman was playing in place of the Dragons' leading scorer, Kevin Simpson, who was sitting out because of a red card he received in the district championship victory over DuBourg.

"We had a void," said St. Mary's coach Tom Fernandez. "We had him on the roster for the tournament and this was his first game with us. He did a nice job all year with the `B' team. He did what he had to do."

What Haman did was re-direct a shot from teammate Joe Barnowski past Notre Dame goalkeeper Colin Vandergraaf.

Barnowski's shot along the ground from the top of the box was not among the most powerful of the game, but found its way through traffic onto the foot of Haman.

"The guy in front of me was unmarked," said Vandergraaf. "He just got a foot on it and turned it into the corner of the goal."

Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn said the goal was the result of a rare defensive lapse by a team that gave up less than a goal a game all season.

"We always mark the more dangerous man," said Wittenborn. "That was definitely a breakdown in our usual philosophy in how we cover that. But we've been so solid defensively."

The play could have been neutralized if any of a number of Notre Dame shots had found their way past St. Mary's goalie Jeff Sackman. The Bulldogs got off more shots than the Dragons in the game, but saw them either stopped by Sackman, just skim above the crossbar or just trickle wide.

"I thought we were a lot more dangerous as far as chances to score," said Wittenborn.

Vandergraaf turned in the best save of the first half when he dove to his right to snare a line shot by the Dragons' Nathan Hallsten that was targeted for the lower corner.

Notre Dame opened the second half with two shots that just went over the crossbar. The Bulldogs' leading scorer, Zach Miller, unloaded one on a free kick and minutes later saw Sackman leap to bat a dangerous free kick over the bar.

"We had a good season," said Miller. "We played good today but the deflection was the difference. I truly felt we had more opportunities to score than them. They made the most of theirs -- that was a good deflection on the goal."

St. Mary's exhibited deft ballhandling skills throughout the game while Notre Dame tried to capitalize on its speed and size.

"They play very direct and try to come right at you," said Fernandez.

Fernandez didn't know a whole lot about Notre Dame before the game but came away impressed.

"They sure didn't embarrass themselves at all," he said. "They gave us all we could handle."

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, are still looking for their first win past the district level.

"We're losing quite a bit and have quite a bit coming back," said Wittenborn. "We will be back. We'll keep coming back until we get it right."