2008 Individual Honors

Team Awards

Newcomer of the Year = Haley Fritzlen

Most Improved = Madde Adkins

Leadership = Alli Dandurand

MVP = Melissa Pacheco

Final 4 MVP = Kathryn Robards

All District

Honorable Mention = Rachael Brennan, Caroline Roth

2nd Team = Madde Adkins, Haley Fritzlen

1st Team = Alli Dandurand, Katie Murphy, Melissa Pacheco, Kathryn Robards

All-Western Region Missouri

2nd Team = Caroline Roth

1st Team = Madde Adkins, Alli Dandurand, Haley Fritzlen, Katie Murphy, Melissa Pacheco, Kathryn Robards

Defender of the Year = Katie Murphy

Goalkeeper of the Year = Melissa Pacheco

Player of the Year = Alli Dandurand

Coach of the Year = Matt Darby

All-State

Honorable Mention = Madde Adkins

2nd Team = Haley Fritzlen, Kathryn Robards

1st Team = Alli Dandurand, Katie Murphy, Melissa Pacheco

Defender of the Year = Katie Murphy

Goalkeeper of the Year = Melissa Pacheco

Coach of the Year = Matt Darby

All-Metro

2nd Team = Alli Dandurand

1st Team = Katie Murphy, Melissa Pacheco

All-Midwest

Melissa Pacheco

Artricles

The Sion Soccer team is hoping to have another historic season. After earning a birth in the state final four last year for the first time in school history and capturing the 2nd place trophy, the 16 returning Varsity Letter-winners look to make a return trip to St. Louis in late May. The team is loaded with talent and dedication, starting with 10 seniors returning to make their final season of Sion Soccer something to remember. Make sure to check out the team’s schedule and join us for as many games as possible—don’t forget to come out and see the beautiful new Sion Soccer/Field Hockey field!

2008 Girls Missouri State Soccer Poll

April 4, 2008

Class 1

Rank Team

1 Duchesne

2 St. Dominic

3 Visitation

3 Cape Notre Dame

5 Notre Dame de Sion

6 Westminster

7 Notre Dame (STL)

8 Springfield Catholic

9 Moberly

10 Platte County

10. Smithville

Articles

Original article

Notre Dame de Sion wins Class 1 state championship

By CANDACE BUCKNER

The Kansas City Star

Posted on Sat, May. 31, 2008 10:15 PM

FENTON, Mo. | Like most Notre Dame de Sion freshmen, midfielder Mary Clare Gibson was nervous on Saturday before the team’s Class 1 state title game.

With these rookies, coach Matt Darby has come to understand, you don’t know what you’ll get. Nervous though she might have been, Gibson did not show it. And given a golden opportunity, Gibson showed poise beyond her years, scoring the championship-winning goal in a 1-0 game against Notre Dame of St. Louis. Sion earned its first state title in program history, finishing the season 16-7-1.

“It’s no surprise that Mary Clare scored the goal,” senior forward Kate Vignatelli said. “She never came in and was timid. She’s just a real fighter.”

Locked in a scoreless contest for nearly 67 minutes, Sion got active deep inside Notre Dame’s box. Gibson emerged from the scramble and knocked the loose ball into the back of the Notre Dame net.

It wasn’t some masterful game plan. The freshman simply knew she had to kick the ball.

“I just swung in a split second,” Gibson explained. “I didn’t really think about it.”

Sion made the scrappy goal stand up in the final 13 minutes, deterring a dangerous surge that kept the defense busy.

Surprisingly, Notre Dame de Sion accomplished its feat within 80 minutes.

The queens of overtime have endured their fair share of extended games — five such playoff matches within the past two years — and on a muggy afternoon with storm clouds looming, the team wanted to get off the field early as champions.

“My goal was to finish in regulation,” Gibson said. “And last year, we finished second, and we didn’t want to do that again. … They described (the feeling of defeat) to me, and we weren’t going there.”

Gibson, of course, was in middle school when Sion lost last year’s championship after four overtimes and penalty kicks.

“Some of the freshmen were nervous going into this weekend,” Darby said. “(Gibson) had that in the back of her mind. … But she’s such a free spirit, nothing really gets to her.”

Original article

Sion moves into Class 1 finals with overtime victory

By CANDACE BUCKNER

The Kansas City Star

Posted on Fri, May. 30, 2008 10:15 PM

FENTON, Mo. | When Notre Dame de Sion played here last season in the Class 1 state championship soccer tournament, midfielder Kathryn Robarbs was overseas on a class trip. She was somewhere in Europe when her parents called with the bad news: Sion had lost a four-overtime championship heartbreaker to St. Dominic.

“I was pretty upset,” Robarbs said. “I wanted to be there for them. I thought I might have made a difference.”

On Friday night at the Anheuser-Busch Center, Robarbs made all the difference.

She scored the overtime, game-winning goal against St. Dominic, giving the Storm a 1-0 victory in the semifinals.

Sion will face Notre Dame of St. Louis at 4:30 p.m. today for the state title.

“I’m just like: ‘I’m going to score,’ ” Robarbs said she thought as Madde Adkins set her up 10 yards away from the goal. “I’m going to make it.”

From taking the trip of a lifetime to scoring the goal of her career, Robarb’s game-winner in the sixth minute ended the fifth overtime playoff match in the last two seasons.

Thankfully for the Storm, their players remained stateside this spring.

Last year, three other Sion players made that European trip. But all stayed home for this playoff run. According to coach Matt Darby, the Storm, 15-7-1, had six players that St. Dominic had never seen before.

“I’m not sure if that was the best game we’ve played, but it was one of the best,” Darby said. “They deserved to win.”

Sion has won four of the five overtime playoff games. Of course, last year’s St. Dominic game is the exception.

“Maybe we should just start in overtime,” Darby joked. “I’ve got that overtime speech down pat.”

Dating to last postseason, and excluding district play, Sion’s defense has shut out six consecutive opponents.

Original article

Notre Dame de Sion out for revenge in soccer semifinals

By COLE YOUNG

The Kansas City Star

Posted on Thu, May. 29, 2008 10:15 PM

The Notre Dame de Sion soccer team is trying its hardest to downplay the revenge factor in its Missouri Class 1 state semifinal tonight in Fenton.

The Storm faces St. Dominic at 7 p.m. at the Anheuser-Busch Center. St. Dominic is the same squad that defeated Sion last year in the state title match, leaving Sion with a second-place-trophy and that empty feeling.

St. Dominic won 1-0 on penalty kicks, so there is plenty of revenge to downplay.

“We’ll use it (as motivation),” Sion coach Matt Darby said. “We will as far as this is the team that took the trophy from us. At this point, though, they are all highly skilled and competitive teams.”

The sting of losing on penalty kicks is still fresh because only one of Sion’s players graduated. Now, after replaying the final shots over and over in their heads for 12 months, there’s a chance to fashion a new ending.

“I’ve waited a year to play this over again,” Sion senior captain Alli Dandurand said. “Losing like that just (stinks), especially in the state championship. We all want to win this year.”

There aren’t many teams entering the state tournament on a hotter streak than Sion. Despite its 14-7-1 record, the Storm has won 14 of its last 16 matches. Early on this season, Sion had to battle injuries and a brutal schedule.

Now the team is at full strength and in position to win its first state soccer championship.

“Everyone knew we were a good team. We just weren’t getting the results,” Darby said of the season’s slow start. “They knew they were good enough that it would start clicking eventually. I’d rather lose my first five than my last five.”

On Saturday, Sion will either play for third place at 3:30 p.m. or for first place at 4:30 p.m.

•GIRLS SOCCER: Smithville at Notre Dame de Sion, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday — This could be a preview a Missouri Class 1 soccer playoff game. Smithville is off to a fast start, while Sion is around .500 and playing one of the toughest schedules around.”

-KC Star 4/25/2008

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Divine Savior Holy Angels.

“The No. 1 Dashers scored in the final seconds against highly regarded Notre Dame de Sion of Kansas City, Mo., on Friday to beat the Storm, 2-1. Sion is ranked No. 2 among Class 1 schools in the latest Missouri state poll, and finished second at the state tournament last season. The two Midwestern private schools have created quite a rivalry in the last three seasons. In 2006, DSHA won, 1-0, scoring in the last 5 minutes. Last year, the teams played a double overtime, 0-0 match.” Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 4/15/08