Notre Dame’s boys soccer season end in state quarterfinals

Notre Dame sophomore John Stovall plays the ball during the Bulldogs 4-0 loss to Webster Groves in the Class 3 state quarterfinals on Saturday at Webster Groves High School.

Clay Herrell ~ cherrell@semoball.com

WEBSTER GROVES, Mo. — Notre Dame fell to Webster Groves 4-0 in the MSHSAA Class 3 state quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at Webster Groves High School.

The first 40 minutes of action saw both teams play solid defensively, sending the game to halftime tied 0-0.

“In the first half we did a really good job of defending and a really good job of communicating,” Bulldogs coach Matt Vollink said. “We had one or two chances that could have changed the game but soccer is sometimes a cruel sport.”

Junior goalkeeper Thomas Southard made multiple key saves in the first half to keep the game scoreless.

“He gets down and sees plays and sees where the shot is going,” Vollink said. “He did a great job of keeping us in the first half.”

Notre Dame senior Will Dodson takes a shot during the Bulldogs 4-0 loss to Webster Groves in the Class 3 state quarterfinals on Saturday at Webster Groves High School.

Clay Herrell ~ cherrell@semoball.com

The second half was much different for the Bulldogs as the Statesmen struck just over two minutes into the second half when senior Habtamu Baker scored to make it 1-0.

Shortly after, freshman Jake Clifton scored to make it 2-0, senior John Lewis II scored to make it 3-0 and senior Jamieson Peplow put the finishing touches on giving the Statesmen a 4-0 lead.

Vollink gave credit to the way Webster Groves attacked offensively.

“They’re the No. 1 team in the state for a reason,” Vollink said. “They bring so many extra guys in the attack that it’s hard to defend.”

The Bulldogs finished the season 17-7-1including a Class 3 District 1 Championship.

“It’s an honor to be able to coach young men like this,” Vollink said. “These guys were a special group.”

Notre Dame will graduate six seniors in Cole Bruenderman, Will Dodson, Davis Dow, Hayes Evans, Michael Huston and Eli Youngblood.

“Their leadership on and off the field is what I was most impressed with with these seniors,” Vollink said. “You always want to have those leaders that come in and show the underclassmen what to expect and how to behave on and off the field. I have so much respect and the underclassmen have so much respect for those guys and they are great role models for those younger guys.”

Despite the loss of six seniors on this season’s team, Vollink is excited for the future of the program.

“These underclassmen have great potential to do really good things,” Vollink said. “I think they’ll just keep feeding into that and good things will happen.”