Notre Dame settles for fourth place after loss

FENTON, Mo. -- Last year, the Notre Dame girls soccer team met O'Hara in the Class 1 state semifinals with a berth in the title game awaiting the winner.

While the stakes were not as high in Saturday's third-place game at the Anheuser-Busch Center, both teams again played a tight, one-goal ballgame with the result favoring O'Hara this time, 2-1.

Notre Dame won last year's affair 1-0.

Bulldogs coach Jeff Worley said even though his team may have been disappointed to play for third place, they wanted to go out winners.

"It really wasn't hard to get these girls fired up," Worley said. "They love to play, and they love to succeed. They were ready to play."

Notre Dame dominated play from the opening whistle. The Bulldogs worked the ball well using one-touch passes down the sideline, creating several close scoring chances. After a few missed opportunities, Notre Dame got on the board eight minutes into the game when Amanda Dirnberger took a shot from about 10 yards outside the box that deflected off a defender and into the net.

The Bulldogs (19-6-2) continued to control the play through the majority of the first half, but they had no goals to show for it. Sierra Ellis had an opportunity with less than 20 minutes left in the half, but O'Hara goalie Alissa Anderson made a save to keep score 1-0. Ellis' near-goal represented a turning point, as O'Hara started to generate more scoring chances after Anderson's save.

O'Hara's first good scoring chance came two minutes after Anderson's save. Notre Dame goalie Katie Palmer was forced to make a point-blank save.

The Celtics (26-5) had another strong chance after a foul was called deep inside Bulldogs territory with less than two minutes remaining in the half. O'Hara freshman Michaella Fulmer placed the free kick in the upper left hand corner for her 49th goal of the season.

Worley said Notre Dame's missed opportunities gave the momentum to the Celtics heading into the half.

"I thought that might have been a bad sign when we couldn't get a couple of goals in when we had them on the ropes," he said.

The second half was the opposite of the first, as O'Hara controlled the play early. Notre Dame escaped the Celtics' first good chance, with a corner kick rolling harmlessly through the goal box five minutes in. The Celtics threatened again 15 minutes into the half, but a breakaway chance rolled wide past the left post.

Dirnberger continued to stay active in the second half, creating Notre Dame's best chances. She shot high on the Bulldog's first chance 13 minutes in, and nearly five minutes later she hit the post on what would be Notre Dame's best chance of the second half.

After the Celtics missed on several free-kick opportunities, Fulmer again came up with a big blow. O'Hara forward Marcy Gans, the Celtics' leading scorer with 51 goals, broke free down the sideline and fed a cross to Fulmer, who beat Palmer to the ball and forced a header through Palmer and into the net for a 2-1 lead with 14 minutes remaining.

"At any point they can take it in," Worley said of O'Hara. "O'Hara can really affect you off the dribble. They're probably one of the most effective teams off the dribble."

Notre Dame went on the attack with time running out, but nearly every attempt ended up in an offside call. The Bulldogs did get a few shots on goal late, but none tested Anderson.

"They pulled out hard on us," Worley said of O'Hara's defense. "We were trying to get in so bad we were a step or two off."

The Bulldogs still brought home a state trophy for the second straight season following last year's runner-up performance. Before last year, the Bulldogs had never even been to the sectional round in girls soccer, let alone the final four.

"I couldn't be prouder of them and the way we played," Worley said.

If the Bulldogs are going to make it three straight, they will have to do it without seven starters who will graduate, including two of their three leading scorers and their top goalie. Notre Dame will lose nine seniors in all.

"We have nine seniors that took us to a new level," Worley said. "They left high expectations for the players that follow."