St. Vincent girls soccer team fends off Notre Dame 2-1

~ The Indians scored the game's first two goals and held on for a 2-1 victory

Sophomore Kaitlin Welter lofted an arcing shot from about 30 yards out that eased between St. Vincent keeper Miranda Unterreiner and the crossbar for a goal just more than midway through the second half Tuesday.

Welter's goal energized Notre Dame on senior night.

But the experienced Indians withstood the Bulldogs' surges to post a 2-1 road win.

"I think they are probably in better shape than us," St. Vincent senior Storm French said. "We just played that big tournament in Iowa, and we're still pretty tired from that. Those last 10 minutes, they definitely wanted it more than us. It's their senior night. They've got a lot more motivation than we do really."

Notre Dame midfielder Abby Boyer makes a pass to Annie Siebert during Tuesday's game against St. Vincent at Notre Dame High School. Kayla Winkler looks on. (ADAM VOGLER)

The Indians (18-2) played three games over the weekend at a tournament in Burlington, Iowa, including one that went to penalty kicks. The St. Vincent players appeared to be a step slow on the warm night Tuesday.

"Honestly I think we were winded. They were motivated," St. Vincent senior Kayla Seabaugh said.

Welter's goal came with 16 minutes, 53 seconds left in the game. The Bulldogs controlled possession for the majority of the remaining minutes, but St. Vincent's defense refused to wilt.

"We had some good runs there where we were getting some secondary balls and they weren't able to get out," Notre Dame coach Jeff Worley said. "A little bit more of a belief that we can do that."

The Bulldogs (9-6) put together charges, but St. Vincent boasts a playoff-tested team. Seniors Abby Lappe, French and Seabaugh all have played in the Class 1 final four for the last three years, so an opponent's offensive surge hardly is a scary proposition.

"I can see the whole field so I can tell people where to go," French said. "I wasn't nervous really."

The Indians' victory looked significantly different from the last time they played Notre Dame when St. Vincent posted a 3-0 victory April 10. The Bulldogs struggled to possess the ball, which is a hallmark of their attack, in their first meeting. They did a much better job in Tuesday's rematch.

"If you can improve on making a cleaner pass, making a cleaner decision, it gives them fewer opportunities to go on the attack," Worley said. "It's tipping the scales, and the more you can make them defend, the less energy they're going to have to be able to take off on you."

French said the Indians tried to adjust to the Bulldogs at halftime.

"They know they can pass around us," she said. "By halftime we realized we have to force them, cut off their passing lanes so they couldn't keep passing in triangles around us."

Notre Dame may have possessed better Tuesday, but the result was the same. The Indians struck first on a play that's served them well for the last four seasons.

French, who will play at Southeast Missouri State next season, sent a corner kick into the box, where Seabaugh, who has signed with Missouri State, plucked it out of the air with a swift kick for the 1-0 lead.

"I knew I couldn't get to it with my head, and I saw that no one else was going for it," Seabaugh said. "It wouldn't have had enough oomph to get in the goal [on a header], so I had to use my foot."

St. Vincent coach Dusty Wengert has enjoyed watching the two Division I recruits hook up on goals off corner kicks.

"Kayla has no fear of using any part of her body as long as that ball goes across the line in between the post," he said. "The thing that makes Storm so dangerous with her corners is she's so consistent. I think what allows Kayla to score a lot off of that is the fact that she has a pretty good idea of within 5 yards of where that ball's going to be, so that makes it easy for Kayla."

Worley said the key to trying to stop the Indians' potent attack on the corner kick is to keep them from getting a clean look at French's volley.

"It's going up and competing," he said. "You may not get it, but if the player you're going up with doesn't get it, then you've got a much better chance of it getting out. The more you can limit the other team to having clean hits improves your chances."

Holly Cissell gave the Indians a 2-0 lead when she took a crossing pass, cut around her defender and knocked a shot into the back of the net with 19:10 left in the game.

Welter's goal cut the Indians' lead in half, but the Bulldogs couldn't punch in the equalizer.

"They've always been competition for us, so beating them is always kind of a confidence boost for us," Seabaugh said. "It's never easy."