Four wins normally don't equal a successful season on the soccer field.
But the Notre Dame Lady Irish aren't a normal team.
And the schedule assembled by coach Jim Schermerhorn wasn't a normal schedule.
The Lady Irish will go into Tuesday's Region 4-A/AA semifinal against DeKalb County with a 6-7-3 record that included two forfeit wins against Sequatchie County. A tough nondistrict schedule, two state-ranked district opponents in Signal Mountain and Chattanooga Christian and some early-season injuries led to four one-goal losses and a 3-7 season start.
Notre Dame's opponents have won 69 percent of their games, and 13 of the 16 foes are participating in postseason play. Only three Lady Irish players - backs Michelle Spangler and Ashley Henry and goalkeeper Grace Courter - have remained in their same positions, as Schermerhorn was forced to "mix and match" to find the right lineup.
"We didn't know if some of those injured players were going to come back, and we needed to figure out if those players couldn't play, who will play?" Schermerhorn said. "We had to find the right players and positions, keep the level of play up and learn from it.
"We had to learn that against a good team you can make two mistakes and lose 2-0. We had to learn to avoid making those mistakes."
Spangler's contributions have been huge in the back, as the continually changing Notre Dame offense has scored only 15 goals all season.
"No one person can take the credit for the defense's success," she said. "We've been fortunate enough to have a good coach, and we've learned all about shape and team defending."
Not everybody was a fan of the Lady Irish's tough schedule, but the players loved the competition.
"I've liked the tough schedule," forward Kathryn Healy said. "At the end of the day, we're playing teams that are making us better; we know we can hang with tough teams.
"We are controlling these games; the other team would have that one moment of greatness and we would get beat."
Added Spangler: "Our schedule has helped us. You have teams that make it to state that have great records but haven't played tough competition. They don't realize or understand how to play against tough competition, because they haven't done it all year."
REGION TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Tuesday
Region 3-A/AA semifinals
Arts & Sciences at McMinn Central, 1
Boyd-Buchanan vs. East Hamilton at Redoubt, 7
Region 4-A/AA semifinals
Chattanooga Christian at Livingston Academy, 6
DeKalb County at Notre Dame, 7
Region 3-AAA semifinals
Warren County at Soddy-Daisy, 7
Cleveland at Cookeville, 8