St. Vincent rolls past Notre Dame

~ The Indians struck early and cruised to a 3-0 win against Notre Dame

The St. Vincent girls soccer team wasted little time setting the tone against Notre Dame on Tuesday.

The Indians struck for a goal less than four minutes into the game on their way to a 3-0 victory and their second win over the Bulldogs this season.

"It helps us a lot because you don't have to worry so much," St. Vincent sophomore Abby Lappe said of the early goal. "It slows down their momentum. It just shows that we're here to win."

Liz Brueckner sent a cross into the middle, where Storm French streaked down the middle of the field and was wide open when she took the pass and deposited it into the goal just 3 minutes, 12 seconds into the contest.

KRISTIN EBERTS keberts@ semissourian.com (St. Vincent's Emily Cissell and Notre Dame's Meghan Dohogne, right, battle for the ball during the first half Tuesday at Notre Dame Regional High School.)

"It deflates you," Notre Dame coach Jeff Worley said. "It's hard to get energy back on an early goal like that."

St. Vincent coach Dustin Wengert preaches the importance of getting off to a hot start. It's been a key to his team's success this season, and it worked again on the road Tuesday.

"If you can set a tone early in the first five or 10 minutes, you're not on your heels," he said. "I think we caught Notre Dame on their heels today. Them being a very good, quality soccer team, that's always what you want. Coming off the bus ride, you never know what that's going to be."

St. Vincent added some insurance later in the first half when Rachel Sutterer worked the ball down the right sideline. She sent a cross into the middle of the box, where Lappe had enough time to settle the ball and get off a shot into the upper right corner for a 2-0 lead.

"You can't always feel the people around you and they can just come out of nowhere sometimes, so I was a little scared," Lappe said of the goal.

Lappe added a goal on a penalty kick late in the second half.

St. Vincent's speed proved the difference in Tuesday's game. The Indians created their best opportunities by running away from the Bulldogs (8-8).

"It's how we get most of our goals," Lappe said of the Indians' speed. "Without our speed, it would be tougher. I think we could still handle it, but it makes it a lot easier to score goals with our speed."

St. Vincent's speed also was felt on the defensive end. The Indians rarely let the Bulldogs work with room, instead closing quickly to force Notre Dame to move the ball.

"We played [Kennett on Monday] and we were able to move the ball very methodically," Worley said. "You can't do that against St. Vincent. They're just going to shut it down immediately, so we have to play faster. The faster you play, the more likely mistakes will happen."

Notre Dame's best scoring chance came early in the first half when Anna Wren drilled the crossbar with a shot. But St. Vincent's defense, led by Kristin Mattingly, snuffed out most of the Bulldogs' other attacks.

"We have Kristin in back and I usually don't have many doubts with her," St. Vincent sophomore Kayla Seabaugh said. "If she gets beat, I still have Megan Sutterer on my right and I can bust my butt to get back."

The Indians improved to 15-2, and Wengert said the two teams that beat his squad -- Alton, Ill., and Jackson -- were the two with the most speed.

"I was telling the girls it's honestly the one thing that you can game plan, you can strategize against, but you can't defend," Wengert said. "It's one of those things you can't control. We've been blessed. We have five or six girls that can just flat-out hit it. I really enjoy watching them run."

The Indians split their two games against Notre Dame last season. St. Vincent dropped the first game 6-1 then recovered to beat the Bulldogs 2-1 in overtime. The players said that overtime win helped bolster their confidence during their run to the Class 1 state title. The players hope the momentum from this year's sweep of the Bulldogs will fuel the Indians for another title run.

"You've got to play every team like it's the state championship game," Sutterer said. "You've got to go out there and you want it and prove to everyone else you're still that same team and you're going to win state again."