Notre Dame Falls to St. Francis 2-1 in Soccer

Despite being a young team made up mostly of underclassmen, Notre Dame High held its own against Mission League force St. Francis on Friday, only to suffer a heartbreaking defeat when St. Francis senior midfielder Connor Snashall scored in the 77^th minute.

“It's sad when you lose 2-1 when you were up 1-0, but I was definitely pleased with the progress that we're making as a team,” said Notre Dame coach Patrick Thomsen. 

Notre Dame controlled the match during the first half, taking the lead in the 38^th minute with a goal scored by Kaivon Razavi on a penalty kick. The center midfielders did a terrific job stepping up during the first half when Devin Davis left the field with an injury, Thomsen said. 

“Freshman Lucas Alfonso and senior Chris Drachkovitch realized they had to step up when Devin Davis went down, and I thought they did a terrific job of doing that,” he said. “There were a lot of rotations--people playing out of position--but they know our system and they go into these positions and know what they should do and they do it. I felt everyone performed well.” 

St. Francis came out strong in the second half, tying Notre Dame with a goal in the 56^th minute by sophomore forward Mark Verso, who was assisted by junior midfielder Derek Bell. The game remained tied until the 77^th minute when Snashall's winning shot skipped along the top of the goal post before dramatically dropping into the net. 

This was Snashall's second game-winning shot this season. It was a play the team practices all the time that set up the winning goal, Snashall said. 

“We did everything wrong and still got the win,” he said. 

Notre Dame freshman goalkeeper Mathew Marcelino kept busy throughout the match, and his 10 saves kept the score from being more lopsided. 

“Our goalkeeper is another one of the freshman who are on our team, and he played very well,” Thomsen said. “I mean, he's a 14 year old playing against a lot of 18 year olds, so we're always impressed with him and what he gives us in the back.” 

Nine of Notre Dame's 11 starting players are underclassmen, Thomsen said. 

“We're a very young team, so sometimes we make small mistakes in the back. Maybe it has something to do with their age, but we just keep trying to move forward,” he said. 

Thomsen was impressed with his young team's performance against St. Francis. The Golden Knights are undefeated this season in league play, and are led by Head Coach Glen Appels, who is in his 23^rd season with the team. 

“St. Francis is a great team. They've been a great team in our league for a very long time, so for us to be competitive against them shows that there's light at the end of the tunnel for us,” Thomsen said. 

St. Francis' victory improves their standing to 8-7-0, while Notre Dame now stands at 3-9-2. 

BOYS SOCCER

 St. Francis 2, Notre Dame 1

 St. Francis 0 2 - 2

 Notre Dame 1 0 - 1

 ND - 38 Razavi

 SF - 56 Verso (Bell assist)

 SF - 77  Snashall