Tigers claim showdown

The friendly, yet fierce rivalry is much like brothers against brothers as all the players have grown up together on the local soccer scene.

As expected, Cape Central and Notre Dame battled to the wire in a 1-0 Tiger victory at Notre Dame's Harry Crisp Field Wednesday night.

The rubber match of the three-game season series between the state-ranked cross-town rivals saw Cape Central improve to 17-3-1, while Notre Dame fell to 14-4-1. Notre Dame is ranked second in Class 1A-3A, while Cape Central is ninth in 4A.

Sophomore midfielder Grant Hengst netted the game-winning goal off a cross from Jon Mark Thompson with only 39 seconds left in the first half.

"I got a beautiful ball from Jon Mark and I was there at the right time and just put it away," said Hengst.

Thompson dribbled the ball down the right wing, beat a defender and found Hengst in the penalty box area with a perfect pass. Hengst deposited the shot in the lower right corner of the goal, just beyond the reach of Notre Dame goalie Travis Siebert.

A prophetic Thompson said, "I knew that (goal) would be enough. I don't know why, I just felt it would."

Cape Central coach Tom Doyle's decision to send Hengst back into the game with about a minute to go in the first half was a bit prophetic, also.

Said a smiling Doyle in jest, "I told the scorekeeper to write down next to the goal, 'great decision by coach Doyle.' "

With an enthusiastic student group cheering them on, the Tigers kept the heat on the Bulldogs in the second half.

Said Doyle, "I warned them at halftime to come out and play our game, rather than their game and we controlled the first 15 to 20 minutes of the second half.

"It was a great soccer game. Both teams played well and both played hard."

About midway through the half, Cape Central took a more defensive stance to protect its slim lead by dropping an additional defender back in coverage.

"We had some chances," said Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn, "but they made the play that was the difference.

"It was a fun game to watch, but we hate to lose to anybody and we hate to lose to Cape Central probably as much as anybody, but they've got a good team and if we keep our heads straight we can still go on from here and finish the season strong."

Cape Central also solidified its hold on the top spot in the SEMO Conference, raising its record to 6-1. Notre Dame dropped to 5-1-1. Both teams have one remaining conference game.

"That tie with Sikeston is really haunting us right now," said Wittenborn.