SOCCERFEST TURNS GOLDEN FOR NOTRE DAME

It was a golden day for Notre Dame's soccer team Saturday.

With the hot, golden sun shining down upon their bright, golden hair, the Bulldogs earned a shiny, golden first-place trophy.

Notre Dame took the top honors in its own Soccerfest Saturday by dethroning the Carbondale (Ill.) Terriers 3-1.

The Terriers (2-1) had won the last three Soccerfests, but it was evident that the Southern Illinois team didn't have much of a chance this time.

"We've lost this a few years in a row," said Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn. "But some of those years I thought we outplayed them, but we lost."

Not this time.

The Bulldogs, sporting bleach-blonde hairdos to signify team unity, dominated the entire game, though they were trailing 1-0 at halftime as the result of a successful Terrier penalty kick at the 11-minute mark.

Other than that, it was clear Notre Dame was the better team Saturday.

It was also clear that Oliver Sanders was the best player on the field.

Sanders scored a goal and provided two assists.

Sanders' goal was Notre Dame's first of the day. At about the 10-minute mark of the second half, Sanders headed in a well-placed corner kick by Cory Elfrink.

Two minutes later on a two-on-one opportunity, Chris Dirnberger punched home a pass from Oliver to put the Bulldogs up to stay.

The Bulldogs tacked on an insurance goal with about 6:30 to go in the contest when Scott Wittenborn punched in a goal on Sanders' second assist.

Carbondale's goal in the first half seemed to deflate the Bulldogs somewhat, but Notre Dame picked up its intensity right at the end of the first half where it had three prime opportunities to score in the final three minutes.

"We experimented some today," Brad Wittenborn said. "Oliver Sanders has been in the midfield for us for a long time now. But when we slowed down there in the first half, I put him up front and he made some magical things happen."

A not-so-magical thing happened to the Bulldogs, though.

On the day where Notre Dame got its senior goalkeeper Michael Gosche back in goal, Tommy Wencewicz injured his knee.

"They'll have to wait a few days to do a test on it," said Brad Wittenborn. "Hopefully, it's just a strain because he's a good player."

Notre Dame will get Wesley Steele back next week. Steele injured his MCL about a month ago.

With key players out and the heat topping out in the mid-90s, Wittenborn was pleasantly surprised with his bench.

"We had some young guys come in and give us some quality minutes," he said. "I thought we played pretty strong."

Likewise, Carbondale coach Dan Frazier was pleased with his team's effort.

"Our team played great," Frazier said. "It's a great bunch of guys and I'm real proud of them. Notre Dame is a very good team and very disciplined. They played better than we did today and congratulations to them."

Jackson 2, Cape Central 1, OT

The Indians avenged a 1-0 loss to the Tigers on Tuesday with an overtime win to take third place Saturday.

Patrick Kohm, a sophomore, scored the game-winning goal.

Jackson took a 1-0 lead in the first half, but Central's Brett McNabb -- who scored the goal on Tuesday -- tied it at 1-1.

Central dropped to 2-2.