St. Louis no longer holds a monopoly in boys soccer

FENTON -- Notre Dame's championship run is over. And Jefferson City Helias will take a crack at joining an exclusive club of teams from outside the St. Louis area that has won a state soccer championship.

The Bulldogs were knocked off in penalty kicks Friday afternoon for a 1-0 loss to Helias, leaving Notre Dame short in its bid for a third consecutive state championship.

"To defend a state title, the expectations are pretty high," Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn said. "Part of that is the people who come and watch you play. I think some of them were looking past the Helias team, and I knew they were going to be good. It's a good school with a rich tradition in sports."

Notre Dame also remains tied with Kansas City Rockhurst for the most state titles by a non-St. Louis school with three. In fact, those are the only two schools from outside St. Louis that have won multiple titles in the 40-year history of the tourney, with both schools winning their titles in the last 10 years. Blue Springs (1996) and Kansas City Pembroke Hill (2005) are the only other outstate teams to win titles.

"I think obviously soccer is getting better around the state," Wittenborn said. "If 10 years ago you would have said Rockhurst will win a couple state titles in the big-school division, people would have thought you were silly."

Helias has some history to overcome in the Class 2 final today against St. Dominic, which has one state title in four final four appearances. The Crusaders' previous best state finish was fourth in Class 1A-3A in 2001, and they were knocked out of the Class 3 playoffs in the first round in 2006. They dropped into Class 2 this year and thought they were getting a lack of respect in Friday's semifinal.

"From the comments I read in the paper, they kind of took us lightly," Helias coach Chuck Register said. "Soccer all over Missouri now is really good. You can't deny it from anywhere. From the time I started 11 years ago to now, you can see the difference in play."

Notre Dame could be considered one of the rising programs of the last 11 years with nine district titles overall and eight of those since 1998. The Bulldogs had not been beaten in three trips to the final four, including titles in 2006 and 2007.

"Losing this year, we've never lost before, so we don't really know how to handle it," Notre Dame senior Joda Holloway said. "It makes us realize how special the last two years were. We've still had a great year this year and we can't take away from it. We didn't have the result that we liked, but we still had a great season.

"We'll have one last game together, and I'm looking forward to playing with these guys one last time."

"Those seniors are a very, very special group," Wittenborn said. "I went out and said something to the center official after regulation, and he said, that No. 17 [Holloway] is probably as hard-nosed as any kid he's seen this year and maybe the politest he's seen. My gosh, it makes a coach feel pretty good to hear something like that."