Windy Scrimmage Day: Cape Central, Sikeston, and Notre Dame Girls Soccer Teams Gear Up for New Season

A windy Tuesday saw three local girls soccer teams take the pitch for 35-minute scrimmages against each other at Cape Central High School.

Cape Central, Sikeston and Notre Dame got looks at their squads since the Class 3 District 1 tournament last season.

The Tigers and Bulldogs took the field first where Cape head coach Duncan McKinley said he wanted to get his team used to being back out there.

“We’re looking today more than anything to do the basics. Play forward with confidence and that's something that I thought we did really well,” McKinley said. “It's really difficult when you're playing into the wind, but we did the things that we talked about before the game. We chased the ball down quickly and tried to play forward when we could and take girls on.”

Sikeston took on Notre Dame in their second matchup, a team who defeated the Bulldogs in red 8-0 last season. Sikeston head coach Gabe Dement said his team knew the competition would be tough but commended them on how they played and learned.

“We knew we were going to play two tough teams and we wanted to get tested. Cape asked us to be in their jamboree and we knew that if we came to play we would learn a lot. What I liked most about our team was probably our hustle, because we're still learning some understanding and positioning,” Dement said. “We have a lot of new girls and a lot of new spots. We're trying to run a slightly new formation only a few of the girls have played. I would say that their hustle was the main thing, and their coachability, just listening and learning. I think we got better, we came out of it healthy and we learned.”

To close the jamboree Cape and Notre Dame squared off for a District Championship rematch from the Bulldogs defeating the Tigers. Notre Dame head coach Ryan Schweain believes his team is poised to run it back after losing just two seniors.

“We graduated two senior leaders from last year, but the majority of the squad is back,” Schweain said. “The starting lineup, other than those two, is essentially the same. So that's a positive heading into the season.”

Cape Central begins their season at Jackson on Friday at 6:30 p.m., while Sikeston starts at Anna (IL) on Monday at 7:30 p.m. and Notre Dame starts at Parkway South next Wednesday at 6 p.m.