Lady Irish meet CCS in final

Michelle Spangler was all smiles, the little kid in the Notre Dame High School soccer player out there for all to see. She had just joined a few teammates in using the mudpit that was the Camp Jordan soccer field as a slip-'n'-slide moments after the Lady Irish completed an 8-1 rout of visiting DeKalb County in the Region 4-A/AA playoffs.

Notre Dame (12-2-3), which will host Chattanooga Christian on Thursday, scored early and often Tuesday night during a constant rain against the outmanned visitors.

"It was a rough field, but I think we played our best considering the conditions," Spangler said, the mud caked on her once-white jersey. "It was fun; I liked it a lot. We always want to come out and play our hardest the first five miniutes, and I think we did tonight. That's when your opponent is at its weakest."

The match was barely two minutes old when forward Carey Leiper waltzed through the DeKalb defense and easily beat keeper Nikki Bass for a 1-0 lead. It began a first-half barrage in which Leiper scored again, Kathryn Healy got two goals and Danielle Ciabattone and Kaitlyn Rado scored one each.

The Lady Irish outshot DeKalb 23-0. Notre Dame starting keeper Grace Courter was actually cheered when she tracked down a loose ball and kicked it away.

"We just wanted to get this game in tonight, so we could rest tomorrow and play Thursday instead of playing back to back," Notre Dame coach Jim Schermerhorn said. "The playing conditions were horrible. We wanted to get off to a quick start, so we picked the good end to attack on first, and it helped. We were able to get through them quickly, and that was it really. With our speed, we were able to get behind them."

With the game won, Schermerhorn was able to empty the bench in the second half. The quick and intense start, though, was still on the team's mind afterward.

"We came out hard and we played well from the start," said Ciabattone, who added an assist in the first half. "We kept up the pressure the whole game, so I think it was a good performance overall. I think we've played some of our best games recently, but the best is yet to come. We have one goal, to reach the state finals."

n CCS 3, Livingston Academy 0: In Livingston, Chauncey Simmons scored twice off Jennifer Fortmiller corner kicks as the Class A/AA fifth-ranked Lady Chargers advanced to the Region 4 final.

"Our girls did a good job of adjusting to the bad conditions," CCS coach Cal Sneller said.

Anna Hoffman provided the other goal on an assist by Alex Bosgraf.

Region 4-A/AA

NOTRE DAME 8, DEKALB COUNTY 1

Halftime score: Notre Dame, 6-0. Goals: Carey Leiper 2, Kathryn Healy 2, Danielle Ciabattone, Kaitlyn Rado, Aiden Gailyard, Jenny Dearing (ND); Jody Curtis (DC). Assists: Healy, Michelle Spangler, Rado, Ciabattane, Lacey Mahoney, Gany Gurolla, Jackie Freye, Erin Freeman (ND). Shots: Notre Dame, 34-2. Saves: Natalie Graham 1 (ND); Nikki Bass 21 (DC). Records: Notre Dame 12-2-3; Dekalb County 6-6-2.

CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN 3, LIVINGSTON ACADEMY 0

Halftime score: 2-0. Goals: Chauncey Simmons 2, Anna Hoffman. Assists: Jennifer Fortmiller 2, Alex Bosgraf. Shots: CCS, 14-3. Saves: Taylor Thurman 3 (CCS). Records: CCS 13-4-3; Livingston 13-6.