Notre Dame girls soccer team hands first loss to Saxony Lutheran

The Notre Dame girls soccer team did something Tuesday no other opponent had done against Saxony Lutheran this season: take a lead.

And when the game was over, the Bulldogs did something else no team had done all year: beat the Crusaders.

Annie Siebert's goal five minutes into the second half was all Notre Dame needed as the visiting Bulldogs blanked Saxony 1-0 on a windy, blustery day in a game dominated by defense.

"I'm very, very pleased," said Notre Dame coach Jeff Worley as the Bulldogs evened their season record at 7-7. "We spent a lot of time making improvements on (defense). Today we got the result out of that."

The Bulldogs were coming off a 2-0 loss at powerful Jackson the previous evening, a game that seemed to energize the Bulldogs. Notre Dame came out aggressively on offense, forcing Saxony (16-1) to expend a lot of energy defensively and nullifying the Crusaders' speed on the outside.

Notre Dame’s Kaitlin Welter, left, and Saxony Lutheran’s Maci Daniel battle for the ball during the Bulldogs’ 1-0 win over the Crusaders on Tuesday. (ADAM VOGLER)

"It was really frustrating," said Saxony freshman forward Tess Daniel, who spent most of the game bottled up on the sidelines by a determined Notre Dame defense and unable to find open teammates with crossing passes. "Every time we tried to do something, it didn't work. We had some close shots, but unluckily, they were just barely off."

Saxony's defense, meanwhile, was doing much the same thing to the Bulldogs, who also struggled to find openings on the offensive end and managed just four shots in 40 minutes of play. In a game like that, the team taking advantage of a single break can quickly gain the upper hand.

Notre Dame did just that.

Early in the second half, Siebert, a junior midfielder, came up with a steal at midfield. Finding an opening, Siebert pushed the ball down the right side, then passed inside where senior Miranda Fowler attracted a Saxony double-team. Fowler pushed the ball back to Siebert, whose shot through a narrow opening beat Saxony goalkeeper Abby Goeckeler to the far corner of the net,

Siebert said the hard part was not rushing to make the pass but, instead, waiting for her teammates to be in position offensively.

"We just needed to calm down and take it one pass at a time," she said. "Then when I saw an opening, I just took my shot, and it went in."

Worley said the key was winning the ball at the midfield.

"Once the ball came across, we had a couple of opportunities," he said. "[Siebert] put a quality hit on it, low and into the corner.

"I'm very happy for her. She played a quality game for us."

The Bulldogs, though, had more work to do. Saxony's Abby Hadler made a nice run down the left side and crossed inside to freshman forward Ashlynn Collier, who turned and hit a shot that went just wide of the net. Moments later, Daniel outraced a Bulldog defender to a deep ball on the left side and crossed inside to Collier, who passed it ahead to fellow freshman Brianna Mueller. Mueller aimed for the right corner, but Notre Dame goalkeeper Madison Buelow made a sprawling save, diving to her left and flicking the ball just wide.

"I knew what I needed to do: Save it and get it away from the goal, don't let them have a chance to score," the junior goalkeeper said. "I was ready. I was on my toes and ready for it, either high or low in the corner."

That shot turned out to be Saxony's lone shot on goal, though the Crusaders managed six more that were just off-target.

Worley credited his defense, specifically Kaitlin Welter and Sarah Lawrence.

"In the second half, with the wind coming at us and the caliber of the team we were playing, I thought they closed down so many opportunities," he said.

Saxony coach Ryan Schweain didn't take long to find a silver lining in the loss.

"I'm pleased with how we played," Schweain said. "We had a couple collapses, and on one of them we paid for it. You have to clear the ball out of the box, and we didn't."

Schweain liked how his team responded to playing from behind for the first time all season.

"That was a good thing for us," he said. "I thought that we played with a lot of heart after we went down. We didn't shut down at all."

Saxony junior Courtney Bergman could see the frustration mounting from her position on defense.

"Our girls were frustrated," she said. "Their defense was good. You could tell they were strong. That's probably the best team we've played all year."