Notre Dame soccer team debuts with win over Wildcats

~ Bulldogs senior Ben Parsons netted two goals in the 3-1 victory

Notre Dame senior Ben Parsons found the perfect way to start his final year of high school soccer.

The Bulldogs forward scored two goals to propel Notre Dame to a 3-1 home win in their season opener against Anna-Jonesboro on Wednesday.

"We've been working on finishing," Parsons said. "That was a real problem for us last year. We couldn't put the ball in the back of the net or keep a lead late, so it was nice to see us net three tonight and hold on to that lead."

Notre Dame's season ended on a bad note last year with a 1-0 double-overtime loss to Perryville in the Class 2 District 1 finals.

The Bulldogs’ Ben Parsons dribbles down to score the second goal against Anna-Jonesboro on Wednesday at Notre Dame. (GLENN LANDBERG)

A goal by Perryville's Pablo Mattingly ended Notre Dame's season, but the Bulldogs have put that in the past.

"That was tough to be a part of, but I think we're a better team because of it," Parsons said. "We know what we have to do to get to that point this year, and we're going to execute on it."

Parsons' first goal put Notre Dame ahead 2-0 with five minutes left in the first half and allowed the Bulldogs to finally relax against Anna-Jonesboro, which played tight defense.

"They do a great job of defending and they made it very difficult for us," Notre Dame coach Matt Vollink said. "If we would not have kept our pace, that game would have been a lot closer."

Parsons intercepted a pass at midfield, then beat two Wildcat defenders before rifling a shot into the top left corner, just out of the reach of Wildcat goalkeeper Steven Wells.

Notre Dame's Blake Bauwens works the ball around Anna-Jonesboro's Justin Moore Wednesday night, Aug. 27, 2014 in Cape Girardeau. (GLENN LANDBERG)

"Benjamin [Parsons] is one of the best, if not the best, player in Southeast Missouri right now," Vollink said. "And because of that he has a little air to do what he does best, which is score goals."

After the goal, the Bulldogs maintained focus on possessing the ball for the remainder of the game, something Vollink said they pride themselves on.

"We've talked about that from the start of the season," Vollink said. "You have to have that throughout the whole game and the whole team has to be there. We want everyone there so we can roll the ball out to a guy's feet then carry that possession all the way down the field to create scoring chances."

Notre Dame had plenty of scoring chances and capitalized on several of the Wildcats' mistakes, including on their first goal 15 minutes into the game.

Sophomore Blake Bauwens intercepted a pass from a Wildcat forward at midfield and took the ball down the right side before crossing it to a wide-open Noah Huff.

Huff hit a one-timer that hit a Wildcat defender and rolled to the feet of Wynn Roberds at the six-yard box.

The junior midfielder slid it in the net.

"We came down the field really quickly and I was just sitting back post waiting on it, and it was there," Roberds said about his goal.

Notre Dame had other scoring chances in the first half.

Eight minutes after Roberds scored, Tanner Robert centered a ball to Huff, who had his man beat near the top of the 20-yard box and rifled a shot just wide of the net.

Anna-Jonesboro had its first good chance with just under two minutes before half.

Wildcat forward Noah Fuller got in behind the Bulldogs' defense, but John Fennewald got a foot in front of his shot to deflect it wide.

Notre Dame's defense was strong throughout the contest.

"Overall they did a phenomenal job," Vollink said. "They were trying to put a body in front whenever they could and they were sliding to stop passes. Fennewald in the back was a wall for us; he was unbelievable. They were all fun to watch, they defended so well."

Notre Dame continued to create scoring chances well into the second half.

Parsons' second goal came with 14 minutes left to play.

Parsons played a ball in the air off his head and out of the reach of Wells and the Wildcat defenders.

"I don't normally score with my head so it was pretty exciting," Parsons said. "It was a good ball in and I was lucky enough to be in the area for it."

Marcus Taylor scored the Wildcats' lone goal with just five minutes left when a shot deflected off of a Bulldog defender and found Taylor, who was looking at a wide-open net.

"There are a lot of good things to take away from this game, but also some bad." Vollink said. "We'll work hard to get where we were last year, but right now the focus is taking it one game at a time."