Notre Dame girls soccer enters C3D1 tournament as top seed

Notre Dame's Maya Thebeau plays a ball during a game against Sikeston this season at Notre Dame Regional High School.

Clay Herrell ~ cherrell@semoball.com

The Notre Dame Bulldogs are looking to win a district title for the first time since 2019.

The quest for another title begins on Saturday as the Bulldogs enter the Class 3 District 1 tournament as the No. 1 seed after finishing the regular season 12-5.

For Notre Dame to accomplish that goal, Bulldogs coach Ryan Schweain said it requires a good beginning to each match.

“We need to start off strong,” Schweain said. “Quite a few of our games this season we’ve started off a bit slow and sometimes have fallen behind early and then we’re playing catchup.”

Schweain saw a flash of that on Tuesday as his Bulldogs were set to do battle with the Cape Central Tigers.

Just three minutes into the contest, Maya Thebeau put Notre Dame up 1-0 in the regular season finale.

The only issue, just mere seconds after the goal, a weather delay eventually postponed the contest, resulting in a no contest.

“We want to start exactly the way we started tonight,” Schweain said. “We talked before the game about how we can’t have these slow starts. Once we get to districts that can be the end of your season.”

As Notre Dame looks to overcome their slow starts, they also have the pressures of being the top seed in the district tournament.

“The targets on our back,” Schweain said. “You’re the team to beat with that number one next to your name, so we’re going to have to fight to stay on top.”

The Bulldogs open the Class 3 District 1 tournament at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 11, when they battle No. 8 DeSoto at Cape Central High School.

However, Schweain emphasized the importance of good preparation in both the days and hours before kickoff on Saturday.

“We just talked about that,” Schweain said. “It’s now time to get ready for Saturday and hopefully beyond.”

Schweain feels in order for the Bulldogs to emerge with a district title, the success lies in the details.

“We need to communicate and work together,” Schweain said. “We just need to look for that rhythm as a team that I’ve seen at points this year.”