Offensive potential providing high hopes for Notre Dame soccer

If you like goal scoring, then Tuesday’s night contest between Notre Dame and Sikeston was for you.

In Notre Dame’s 8-0 win over Sikeston, the Bulldogs had five different goal scorers.

Maya Thebeau, Mya Shaffar, Cora Burford, Skylar Craft and Eloisa West all scored, led by Thebeau who had a hat trick in the dominating victory.

“I think tonight unselfishness came into play quite a bit,” Notre Dame coach Ryan Schweain said. “I think teammates were setting up other teammates which resulted in great opportunities.”

Maya Thebeau said unselfishness is a no-brainer when you have teammates like hers.

“When you have a team like the one here at Notre Dame, it makes it so much easier to pass the ball,” Thebeau said. “You just want to see your other teammates have success.”

When speaking about her hat trick following the game, Thebeau was quick to give credit to her teammates.

“I think it was really just our team altogether,” Thebeau said. “We pursued with communication and that brought us together.”

“She was in the right spots,” Schweain said. “Her teammates were setting her up and she had a couple of nice finishes.”

The variety of goal scorers is something that is sure to benefit Notre Dame (2-1) as the season continues to progress.

“We have our hopes high for this season,” Schweain said. “We’re only three games in and we have 16 or 17 more before districts and then we will see where we’re at at that point.”

The amount of firepower Notre Dame has offensively makes it easier on every attacking player the Bulldogs have.

“It’s so fun,” Thebeau said. “I love being a forward on this team. Everyone scores, it’s not just me so it’s really fun that we all get to work together to finish these games.”

While districts are still far in the future, games like the one on Tuesday are big for the Bulldogs to get where they want to go.

“We started off slow in the first two games,” Thebeau said. “We weren’t scoring that many goals but a game like this really boosts our confidence and gives us that hope for the rest of the season.”

Notre Dame (2-1) has some time off before returning to action at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2, when the Bulldogs travel to take on Carbondale.