Preston Schlichting's goal pushes Cape Central past Notre Dame 2-1

The Cape Central boys' soccer returned to .500 on the season with a 2-1 win over district rival Notre Dame on Tuesday, Oct. 10, at Cape Central High School.

Both teams went into halftime tied 1-1. Tigers senior Preston Schlichting scored the go-ahead goal in the second half to secure the victory.

"I just had to get a good body faint to get enough space," Schlichting said. "Then I faked out the keeper, just tucked it away for a little space to put us ahead."

Notre Dame (9-9) entered the game having won four of its previous five games.

"We knew Notre Dame's always been good. Schlichting said. "I saw that our effort was there tonight. In some games, we don't have the best effort. Tonight we brought it and it showed."

Even though the Tigers (6-6-1) have been alternating between wins and losses since beating Sikeston on Sept. 12, the one constant has been Schlichting. The senior caption most recently scored a hat trick during the Tigers' 3-0 win over Saxony Lutheran on Oct. 2.

The leadership from both Schlichting and fellow senior captain Max Cairns has been vital to Cape Central's chances at making a run in the district tournament this season.

"Starting the season we lost a lot of seniors and we had to call a lot of younger players up," Schlichting said. "Towards the beginning, we were having a little trouble finding game flow but the more we've played, we've gotten team chemistry and we can beat any team we want."

The Tigers travel to Eureka (11-4) on Thursday, Oct. 12, which will be their toughest test remaining in the regular season. Cape Central will then host Fredericktown (Oct. 18), travel to Perryville (Oct. 19), and finally host DeSoto on senior night (Oct. 26).

Notre Dame will travel to Priory (Oct. 14), then host Sikeston (Oct. 16) and Jackson (Oct. 18) before finishing the season at De Smet Jesuit (Oct. 26).