Saxony Lutheran girls soccer rallies past Notre Dame, 4-2

The Notre Dame girls soccer team executed its plan early and landed the first blow, but when Saxony Lutheran found answers, the Bulldogs were left wanting.

The Crusaders rallied from 1-0 down at halftime with a four-goal second half, dropping Notre Dame 4-2 on Wednesday at Saxony High School.

Saxony (9-1) scored twice within the first eight minutes of the second half to go up 2-1 before the Bulldogs (5-3) responded just over two minutes later to tie things at 2.

Saxony Lutheran attacking midfielder Grace Mirly makes a move at the top of the 18-yard box, drawing a foul that led to a free kick that set up the Crusaders game-winning goal in the second half of a 4-2 win over Notre Dame on Wednesday in Jackson.Josh Mlot

But in the 64th minute a Tess Daniel goal put the home side up for good, with an insurance strike coming from Grace Mirly in the 78th minute to seal the final score line.

Mirly -- playing the No. 10 playmaking role in the Crusaders' 3-5-2 formation -- was critical to the second-half rally, playing a part in three of the Crusaders' four goals, including the game winner.

"Tonight she was unbelievable, and she has been all season," Saxony coach Garrett Fritsche said. "She's our key up top to get the ball and distribute it to other players, and obviously she gets her opportunities as well."

It wasn't all Mirly, though, as the entire team came out in the second half with an intent that was missing for the first 40 minutes. Fritsche attributes that to his assistant coach, Chris Crawford.

"Crawford got them going," said Fritsche, referring to his assistant's halftime speech. "We struggle coming out in the first 20 minutes of games and that's something we need to fix. It's just our mentality -- we came out ready to play in the second half.

"I don't know if in the first half they thought, 'Hey, we're going to win this game,' I mean, you never know what they're thinking. In the second half we came out, 'OK, if we don't turn it up, we're going to lose this one.'"

The Saxony Lutheran girls soccer team talks things over at halftime of a game against Notre Dame on Wednesday at Saxony Lutheran High School in Jackson. The Crusaders trailed 1-0 at the break but rallied for a 4-2 win.Josh Mlot

Center back Cassidee Wunderlich got things going for Saxony in the 44th minute, as the Crusaders took advantage of a second ball in after Notre Dame failed to clear a corner kick. Wunderlich stepped into a shot from just outside the box and sailed it into the left side of the goal for a 1-1 tie.

Just four minutes later, Mirly pushed the ball out wide to Maddie Brune, who crossed it in to Laurel Mueller, who volleyed it home first time on the near post for a 2-1 edge.

Notre Dame didn't trail for long, as it attacked on the right wing in the 51st minute. Breanna Westrich sent the ball in to the far post, where striker Megan Heisserer simply pushed the ball across the goal line for a 2-2 game.

Moments later, the Bulldogs had another prime opportunity. Westrich, who finished with a goal and an assist to lead the visitors, ripped an attempt on frame that Saxony goalkeeper Raegan Wieser could only tip over the crossbar.

The home side largely controlled the game from that point, winning possession back farther up the field than it had in the first half and maintaining a greater bulk of possession.

That led to the game winner when Mirly pushed the ball into space above the area, took on a defender and drew a foul about 25 yards out from goal. Logan Welker took the free kick and swung it on net, where Notre Dame keeper Claire Landewee made the initial save but couldn't control the rebound. Daniel then poached the ball into the back of the net to go ahead for good, 3-2.

"After they went up 3-2, we panicked," Notre Dame coach Ryan Schweain said. "We got away from our game plan; we got away from possession and started to play a little bit more direct, and that style of play just doesn't work out that well for us."

Mirly iced things in the 78th minute, turning toward goal, taking a touch and then ripping a shot far post while falling away above the top right corner of the 18-yard box.

"There's a lot of off-ball movement. When I have the ball I need my teammates there, and off-the-ball movement from everyone opened up shots for them and for me as well," Mirly said. "As long as we're not just stagnant and standing there, we'll get the shots off we need.

"After the first half we kind of re-evaluated the way we played at the beginning and we weren't happy with [it]. We decided we needed to settle down. We knew it was going to be a big game -- we like this, it's fun -- and we knew we needed to settle down and keep possession. ... Just playing a little smarter in that second."

Saxony Lutheran defender Cassiddee Wunderlich steps in front of a pass from Notre Dame's Breanna Westrich during a game at Saxony Lutheran High School in Jackson on Wednesday. Both Wunderlich and Westrich scored as the host Crusaders prevailed 4-2.Josh Mlot

Saxony ultimately out-shot Notre Dame 17-7, but the gap opened thanks to a 10-2 advantage in the second half. The added pressure resulted in a 4-1 corner-kick advantage in the final 40 minutes as well.

Landewee finished with eight saves for the Bulldogs. Wieser had three for the Crusaders.

While Saxony was sluggish to open the game, Notre Dame clearly came to play. It served notice by jumping out to an early lead when Westrich pounced in the eighth minute, taking a pass out of midfield from Maddie Urhahn and beating a charging Wieser for a 1-0 advantage.

The Bulldogs continued to push the defending Class 1 state champions, maintaining a fair share of possession and moving the ball in to the attacking third on the wings.

"The first half the game plan was possession, which we'd been struggling with lately," Schweain said. "Come in, try to possess, move the ball around and make the ball do the work. The first half I thought we had an excellent half.

"We have to hold our heads up high after this game. They're a good team. They have a lot of scoring threats. We knew they were going to have a lot of different girls looking at goal and possibly putting it in. Overall, myself and the other coaches are pleased with this game, mainly just because of the improvement from our previous games. As long as we're seeing improvement, we're happy."

Saxony will travel Friday to Moberly, Missouri, taking on Father Tolton in a rematch of last year's Class 1 state championship in the Spartan Invitational Tournament.

Notre Dame is back on the field Friday in the 18th Annual Fralish Cup in Carbondale, Illinois.