~ The Indians posted a 3-0 victory to improve to 9-0

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- St. Vincent's first goal came about exactly the way Indians coach Dusty Wengert drew up the play.

Yeah right.

Senior Storm French sent a free kick from about 35 yards out screaming toward the Notre Dame goal. The arcing shot hit the crossbar, and sophomore Holly Blandford headed the rebound into the goal about 15 minutes into the contest.

"Storm makes me look good a lot of times," Wengert said.

The Indians scored another goal off a French free kick deflection on their way to a 3-0 victory over the visiting Bulldogs in girls soccer action Tuesday.

"It's a great weapon," Blandford said about French's precision on free kicks. "It helped a lot during this game and hopefully in future games."

French's second assist came with just more than four minutes left in the first half. She lined up a free kick and sent a low shot toward the left corner, where Notre Dame keeper Madison Buelow deflected it into the air. This time freshman Kayla Winkler headed in the loose ball for a 2-0 lead.

"I was aiming kind of low into the corner because I knew if I would just kick it straight, the goalie would get it," French said. "I had a better chance of kicking it low."

Notre Dame coach Jeff Worley credited the Indians with capitalizing on the chances French's kicks created.

"They did a good job of being in position where they were able to shield us off and get a play on the ball," he said. "You have to be as clean as you can because they're going to make you pay for it if it's not."

French, who already signed to continue her career at Southeast Missouri State, doesn't give any indication to her teammates where she's planning to kick the ball. Her teammates read the play on free kicks based on French's distance from the goal.

"Instead of reacting, we anticipate," Wengert said. "You have to anticipate there's going to be a bad ball, a wacky hop. In any sport, the ball seems to bounce a funny way every once in a while. That's something we really preach. That's something we call hustle goals. They just out-hustled Notre Dame right there, getting to the ball and beating them to the loose ball."

French admitted the first free kick that turned into a goal was more luck than skill.

"I was just aiming for the goal in general," she said. "We got pretty lucky today on our free kicks. But hitting the post is pretty much the story of my life."

French, who has seven assists this season, doesn't mind being the one helping on the goals instead of scoring them.

"I'm happy with a goal either way," she said. "I mean, yeah it's nice to add up all your stats and stuff, but at the end of the day, you're just glad you won."

Veronica Moore, who replaced Buelow in goal for the second half, kept the Bulldogs close with four saves at point-blank range. The first two came in the opening three minutes when the Indians pinballed a pair of shots off Moore.

The Indians finally broke through when senior Abby Lappe scored from a bad angle right of the goal for her seventh tally of the season and a 3-0 advantage.

St. Vincent limited Notre Dame's offense by disrupting the Bulldogs' short passes. Notre Dame barely tested Indians keeper Abby Ruessler.

"We knew they were going to try to run circles around us," St. Vincent defender Kayla Seabaugh said. "They're a very good ball handling team, so we go aggressive all the time."

The Indians improved to 9-0, while the Bulldogs dropped to 4-3.

"There's a reason their record is what it is," Worley said. "The little passes have to be more precise than they are against other teams that you play. They're not going to let you have the runs you get against some teams."