Notre Dame soccer bounces back with win over Jackson

JACKSON, Mo. -- After a sluggish start in a loss to Perryville on Monday, Notre Dame's Benjamin Parsons took it upon himself to jump start the Bulldogs' offense against Jackson.

The senior standout provided all the offense for the Bulldogs, scoring his first career hat trick in a 3-1 win over the Indians on Wednesday at Jackson Junior High School.

"Perryville was a good wake up call for us," Parsons said. "It was a reminder that we can't come out soft in any game, so we decided to take that experience and use it here to our advantage. We came out stronger than ever, I thought, and the hat trick was just the icing on the cake."

Notre Dame (10-3-2) outshot Jackson (6-6-1) 9-3 in the first half and built an early 2-0 lead.

Twelve minutes into the half Jake Powderly intercepted a pass near the Notre Dame endline. Powderly dribbled the ball down the left side of the Bulldogs' half of the field before finding Parsons five feet in front of the box. Parsons fielded the pass cleanly, dribbled for three steps then rocketted a low shot that skipped off of the grass and under the gloves of Jackson goalie Brayden Emmons.

Parsons said Powderly deserved all the credit on the goal.

"I just looked up and noticed I had space. We were switching fields, so I knew the pass was going to be there," Parsons said. "Jake put up a good ball to me, and even though it wasn't the cleanest shot I could tell it was going in."

Less than two minutes later Powderly picked off another pass, ran down the middle of the field and found Parsons again. Parsons had to beat two players to the ball, but as soon as he did Parsons turned on a burst of speed leaving the two Jackson defenders behind. Parsons finishded his run with a shot into the upper right corner of the Jackson goal.

Notre Dame's Benjamin Parsons works the ball downfield against Jackson's Hunter Kelpe in the first half Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014 in Jackson. (GLENN LANDBERG)

Notre Dame coach Matt Vollink said he's seen Powderly and Parsons work on similar runs in practice.

"Powderly is one to win balls and steal balls at any given time," Vollink said. "He's got that great vision to be able to see where Benji (Parsons) is and deliver a nice pass to him. I think they like to work together, and they do a great job for this team."

Jackson cut into Notre Dame's lead with 25 minutes to play in the first half on a corner kick.

Hunter Crowden delivered a perfect cross to the middle of the box where he found Liam Gray on the other end. Gray, in traffic, headed the ball in past Notre Dame goalie Thomas Himmelberg, who had no chance to save the shot.

Jackson's Kameron Christensen kicks during the game against Notre Dame in the first half Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014 in Jackson. (GLENN LANDBERG)

In the second half Jackson outshot Notre Dame 8-3 but failed to score.

Indians' forward Josh Scholl stole the ball from a Bulldog defender early in the half and dribbled into Notre Dame terrritory untouched. Scholl took a shot, but it was right at Himmelberg, who made the easy save.

Scholl had two more shots on goal that were saved, and one that went wide in the final 10 minutes of the game.

The Indians last chance to score came with nine minutes to play when Crowden intercepted a pass near the Notre Dame goal. Crowden took a shot that sailed wide of the goal.

Jackson coach Zack Walton said his team has struggled to score goals when trailing all season.

Notre Dame's Noah Huff and Jackson's Seth Carr battle for possession in the first half Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014 in Jackson. (GLENN LANDBERG)

"We had our opportunities that came down to the second half, and we just couldn't do it," Walton said about the Indians missed opportunities. "Josh (Scholl) created some chances and about four or five others did, too. It just didn't go our way, it didn't happen for us tonight. That's an ongoing problem that we'll continue to try and fix."

Parsons put an end to Jackson's scoring threats and hopes of tying the game with eight minutes left. Senior Will Popp intercepted a pass and found Parsons wide open in the middle of the field. Parsons just had Emmons to beat, but a quick fake to the left allowed him to get past the goalie and score on an open net. Parsons leads Notre Dame with 12 goals this season.

Vollink said he was not only impressed with Parsons but the team as a whole.

"This is the time where we have to look at ourselves and say, 'Do we really want it? Can we really compete?" Vollink said. "And I think we do, I can tell theses guys do. We took a step in the right direction tonight to get to the level where we can compete for a district title. It will be fun to see where we go with it."

JV -- Jackson defeated Notre Dame 1-0.