Notre Dame girls soccer makes first-half goal hold up, returns to Class 2 final

Notre Dame's Bailey Beussink (16) celebrates with teammates Shelby Bauwens (10) and Mary Dirnberger following a 1-0 win over St. Pius X (KC) in a Class 2 semifinal Wednesday in Kansas City, Missouri.

Matthew Hicks Special to the Southeast Missourian

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Coaches and athletes set aside sizeable portions of their lives training in order to get the most out of the high-school soccer experience. And yet nothing can fully prepare any coach or athlete for when something goes horribly wrong.

Not long after kickoff Wednesday in the Class 2 girls soccer state semifinals in Kansas City, Missouri, Notre Dame had to steady itself after sustaining a huge loss: an apparent knee injury to junior defender Abby Wilson that knocked her out of the game.

That the Bulldogs found the nerve, will and skill to win anyway without their top center back, beating St. Pius X of Kansas City 1-0 to advance to the championship, is a credit to Notre Dame. But the loss of Wilson, an all-state selection the past two seasons, muted any celebratory mood afterward.

Notre Dame's Hannah Miller (left) kicks the ball past KC St. Pius X's Catherine Parrish during a Class 2 state semifinal Wednesday, May 30, 2018 at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri.

Paul Kopsky ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian

Coach Ryan Schweain fears the worst: that Wilson tore her ACL. He wasn't sure of the details of exactly how the injury happened. It was just "two people going for the ball," he said, and Wilson landed wrong.

"That changed everything for us," Schweain said. "We had people moved around playing positions they never had played for us before. So that's a big blow to us."

It's all but certain they'll be without her for the championship match against O'Fallon Christian (17-4) at 2 p.m. today at Swope Soccer Village.

Junior forward Megan Heisserer, who scored Notre Dame's goal in the 35th minute, has hope that Wilson somehow will be out there.

"She is so great back there, she always has our back" Heisserer said. "I hope Abby gets better really quick because we'll need her."

Schweain said Wilson's loss caused a collective shock, and definitely impacted how Notre Dame played St. Pius -- at least for a while.

"We were definitely thinking about it," Schweain said. "It was definitely on their minds. Just because they're so comfortable with Abby in the back. She breaks up so many plays. She does so much for us in that back half. The girls, that was in the back of their minds for sure."

Although she expressed confidence in her other teammates, Heisserer said Wilson falling to the ground and not being able to continue was a jolt.

"When it first happened, it was really scary," Heisserer said. "You just gotta trust the other backs."

Among the adjustments: putting Livia Wunderlic into the center back role, where she helped to mark top scorer Sophia Cissel, who managed just one clean shot.

"Livia really stepped up and played a spot she's never played for us before," Schweain said. "Cissel is a dangerous forward with a lot of speed and skill. We knew we needed to deny her as many chances as possible because she could hurt us."

The Bulldogs trust Heisserer to get it done on the offensive end. She missed her first great chance on a breakaway in the first half, bouncing a shot off the goalkeeper's leg before glancing the right post.

"Ugh, it bugs me," Heisserer said. "It just makes me want to score even more to make up for that. It's always frustrating when you hit the post, because you know that if you hit it over just a little bit, it would have gone in. I just read it all wrong."

Heisserer made good not long after, getting a ball from Kristen Tarno and going to work.

"Tarno crossed it in from the left side, I judged it and it bounced over the defender and I kind of touched it the side, saw the shot and took it," Heisserer said.

Notre Dame celebrates as an official signals a Megan Heisserer goal during the first half of a 1-0 win over St. Pius X (Kansas City) in a Class 2 girls soccer semifinal Wednesday, May 30, 2018, at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri.

Matthew Hicks ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian

With the assist -- her 19th of the season -- Tarno matches the program single-season record.

St. Pius was otherwise stingy on defense, but the makeshift Notre Dame defense was even tougher, allowing just five shots. Goalkeeper Grace Powderly made two saves and broke up several other chances.

Now Notre Dame advances for one final test.

"I hope we can feel happy and celebrate this for a little while," Schweain said. "Down one of our better players, and Christian has been a fantastic team this year. You know, I think it's going to be a tough game. We'll just see how it goes.

"Tonight, we'll celebrate today's win and tomorrow we're going to start thinking about that next challenge.

"All season long, coming off the success of last year, we've really been taking it one game at a time. ... We were just worried about Pius. Tonight, I'll try to do some work and find some information on Christian. All I know is, they're very talented."

Notre Dame is too. The Bulldogs will just have to find a way again, even if they're not at full strength.