Soccer – Girl’s
QUINCY — Several Quincy Notre Dame and Quincy High School girls soccer players earned postseason awards from the Illinois HIgh School Soccer Coaches Association. The Raiders, who won a Class 1A sectional championship this spring, had three players receive all-sectional honors — senior forward Makayla Patton, senior midfielder Sage Stratton and sophomore center back Sierra…
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VIRDEN, Ill. — Makayla Patton, Sage Stratton and the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team’s state dreams were dashed one victory shy of the final four on Saturday, but the sting of a 6-1 loss to Columbia in the Class 1A North Mac Super-Sectional did not hurt as bad as it could have, thanks in…
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GREENVILLE, Ill. — For how much beating Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin means to the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team, look no further than Sierra and Alena Thomas’ thoughts on that subject. “Sometimes I feel like our team wants to beat them more than we want to beat (Quincy High School), honestly,” said Sierra Thomas, a…
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GREENVILLE, Ill. — Sierra Thomas’ goal in the 12th minute stood up as the only goal in the Raiders’ 1-0 victory over Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin in Tuesday’s Class 1A Greenville Sectional championship game. This was the Raiders’ first victory over the Cyclones since beating them 3-2 in the 2022 sectional title game on their way…
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GREENVILLE, Ill. — Abby Miller’s reaction was equal parts shock and excitement. Given just a handful of minutes in the second half of Friday’s Class 1A Greenville Sectional semifinal game, the Quincy Notre Dame freshman forward made the most of her opportunity in the 51st minute. With QND and Alton Marquette tied at one, Miller…
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GREENVILLE, Ill. — The Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team scored three unanswered goals in the second half to beat Alton Marquette 3-1 in Friday’s Class 1A Greenville Sectional semifinal. Muddy River Sports Writer Shane Hulsey captured these images at Don Stout Field.
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QUINCY – Members of the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team were all smiles as they took turns posing for pictures with the regional championship plaque in front of the north goal at Advance Physical Therapy Field. Earning another piece of hardware for the school’s already bulging trophy case was worth celebrating, especially for the…
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Addie Flesch and Makayla Patton both scored three goals in Quincy Notre Dame’s 9-0 victory over Hillsboro in the Class 1A regional championship game on Tuesday afternoon at Advance Physical Therapy Field. QND advances to face Alton Marquette – a 6-0 winner Tuesday over Carlinville – at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals of the…
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QUINCY — Mark Thomas hopes a difficult regular season schedule has prepared his girls soccer team at Quincy Notre Dame for a potentially successful postseason run. However, he knew that getting his team to forget Monday’s 5-0 loss to Pleasant Plains in the regular-season finale would still be difficult — especially when the Raiders and…
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QUINCY — The record will show that Quincy Notre Dame swept the girls soccer season series against crosstown rival Quincy High School. But after shutting out the Blue Devils in the first meeting last month and holding them scoreless through the opening 72 minutes of the rematch Friday night, the Raiders had to sweat it out. Staked to a…
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QUINCY — Two goals scored within 40 seconds of each other put the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team in front in the game’s first nine minutes, and the Raiders went on to enjoy senior night with a 6-0 victory over Jacksonville on Wednesday night at Advance Physical Therapy Field. Mia Vranjes got the first…
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QUINCY — Ellison Barnes practiced what Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer coach Mark Thomas has preached, and it gave the Raiders a chance against Springfield on Monday at Advance Physical Therapy Field. With the Raiders trailing the Senators 2-0 and five minutes left in the second half, Barnes, a junior forward and midfielder, made a…
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BURLINGTON, Iowa — Makayla Patton recorded a hat trick, and Sage Stratton tallied two goals and three assists as the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team trounced Burlington Notre Dame 8-2 on Tuesday. Patton got the scoring started three minutes into the game and netted two goals five minutes apart in the second half, the…
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QUINCY — Losing still stinks, but Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer coach Mark Thomas was pleased with his team’s play Friday night in a 2-0 loss to undefeated Peoria Notre Dame. “We worked hard,” Thomas said after the game, played at Advance Physical Therapy Field. “(Peoria Notre Dame has) got a good team, and that’ll…
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QUINCY — Makayla Patton’s goal for Quincy Notre Dame 11 minutes into Thursday night’s game at Advance Physical Therapy Field broke a scoreless tie. It was like a slap in the face to the Hannibal girls soccer team. “We didn’t have the first goal, but if anything, it made us just come back harder and…
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QUINCY – Quincy High School swept crosstown rival Quincy Notre Dame in each of the previous two seasons, the only times the Blue Devils had accomplished that in the first 34 years of the girls soccer series. The Raiders were intent on flipping the script on Friday night when the teams met for the first…
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Adde Flesch gave the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team, which had managed just one goal combined in back-to-back losses to Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin and Hannibal (Mo.), the lead with just 3 minutes, 9 seconds elapsed during Friday night’s game against Quincy High School at Flinn Stadium. Sage Stratton scored the Raiders’ second goal in…
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QUINCY — What took place on the backend of each of the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team’s scoring opportunities is what gets remembered. It’s the build-up to those opportunities that Raiders coach Mark Thomas likes to see. The off-the-ball movement of forwards Makayla Patton and Addie Flesch and the control of midfielders Sage Stratton…
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QUINCY — The Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team got a taste of what the Class 1A postseason path may look like, and it was no April fool’s joke. The Raiders played Alton Marquette to a scoreless tie Monday night at Advance Physical Therapy Field, finding the Explorers’ defense difficult to generate an attack against…
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QUINCY — A mix of young talent and veteran leadership will shape the success of Quincy Notre Dame’s collection of teams this spring. Baseball A young, speedy QND baseball team will take the field for the first time at the QHS Slam on Saturday against Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin and Quincy High School at QU Stadium.…
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QUINCY — With the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team playing high-caliber opponents seemingly every night during a three-week January stretch, Sierra Thomas knew what she’d be missing as she stepped away. “It’s so hard to not be there,” the sophomore guard said. Yet, her reason for taking a midseason hiatus came from an opportunity…
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QUINCY — The stability and strength of the Quincy High School and Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer teams — their spines — received a plethora of postseason accolades. Three Blue Devils and two Raiders were named to the all-sectional team by the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association, to go along with each team picking…
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'I just hit it': Patton's OT goal after lightning delay sends Raiders to sectional championship game
RIVERTON, Ill. — Lightning strikes delayed the game, but Makayla Patton’s strike decided it. At the end of a scoreless regulation, lightning near Riverton Middle School forced a 30-minute delay in Friday’s Class 1A Riverton Sectional semifinal between the Quincy Notre Dame and Alton Marquette girls soccer teams. Seven and a half minutes after the…
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QUINCY — If the postseason is supposed to feel like a series of final exams — Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer coach Mark Thomas described it as such — then Wednesday night’s Class 1A regional championship must have felt like a multi-choice test. How goals were the second-seeded Raiders going to score against third-seeded Auburn?…
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QUINCY — Mark Thomas has never concerned himself with which side of the ledger the higher number exists, but he understands the preoccupation with wins and losses. In the postseason, wins are all that matter. Leading up to the postseason, they aren’t always the measure of progress. “Sometimes when you look at a bigger perspective,…
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QUINCY — Just how much the Quincy High School girls soccer players fully embrace the “do hard better” mantra will become obvious by the time their team bus departs East Moline sometime Saturday afternoon. Nothing the Blue Devils have faced this regular season will be as hard as playing two emotionally charged games in the…
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QUINCY — The frustration showed in their eyes, never in their effort. The Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer players refused to give up their pursuit of a game-tying goal over the final 40 minutes of Friday night’s crosstown showdown with Quincy High School even when the equalizer never came. “All the girls worked their butts…
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QUINCY — For the second year in a row, the Quincy High School girls soccer team has swept the city series, winning 2-1 Friday night at Flinn Stadium behind two goals from senior midfielder Bri Lannerd. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman spent the evening at the venerable facility and put together this photo gallery:
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QUINCY — Whew. That was the collective reaction from the Quincy Notre Dame soccer team when freshman Sierra Thomas scored in the 58th minute to break a scoreless draw in QND’s 3-1 win over Burlington Notre Dame on Tuesday at Advance Physical Therapy Field. “You could feel the air come out of the balloon a…
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QUINCY — Playing side by side on the Quincy Notre Dame campus Tuesday evening, the QND girls soccer and baseball teams came away with mixed results. The soccer team scored three second-half goals in a 3-1 victory over Burlington (Iowa) Notre Dame, while the baseball team left 12 runners on base during a 4-0 loss…
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HANNIBAL, Mo. — The Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team pushed its winning streak to five consecutive games after sweeping the weekend at the Lady Pirate Invitational at the Veterans Sports Complex. The Raiders beat St. Charles West 6-1 and Perryville 4-1 on Saturday to improve to 7-4. Hannibal, which played to a 3-3 draw…
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HANNIBAL, Mo. — The Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team played its best half of the season on Friday in the eyes of coach Mark Thomas. The Raiders scored six goals in the opening 40 minutes and defeated Southern Boone 7-2 in their first game of the Lady Pirate Invitational at the Veterans Sports Complex.…
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HANNIBAL, Mo. — The Hannibal and Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer teams opened play Friday night in the Lady Pirate Invitational at the Veterans Sports Complex with the Pirates rallying for a 3-3 tie with Parkway Central, while QND blasted Southern Boone 7-2. Muddy River Sports Writer Shane Hulsey spent the evening in America’s hometown…
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QUINCY — Maybe the presence of three decades of alumni gave the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team a boost. Trailing Burlington (Iowa) 2-1 in the second half Saturday afternoon at Advance Physical Therapy Field, the Raiders responded with a three-goal rally for a 4-2 victory. Sophomore forward Addie Flesch scored three goals, including the…
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QUINCY — Eight days without a game was one of the reasons why the Quincy High School girls players conceded they struggled to get in a groove in the first half Friday night. Hope Lenz pinpointed the other issue. “There’s obviously a lot of emotion that goes into this game,” the senior defender said. That…
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QUINCY — Having a 6-foot, athletic, talkative and charismatic goalkeeper is kind of like having a warm, cozy blanket the Quincy High School girls soccer team can find comfort in. The Blue Devils don’t take that for granted. “Taylor is a badass,” senior defender Hope Lenz said of her teammate, Taylor Fohey. “Obviously, I’m going…
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QUINCY — The sun came out Friday just in time to make the weather more pleasant for the first of two meetings this spring between the Quincy High School and Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer teams. The Blue Devils used a goal late in the first half and early in the second half to post…
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QUINCY — A goal with four minutes remaining in regulation Tuesday night gave the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team a glimmer of hope. Abbie Martin snuffed that out in a blink. Roughly a minute after the Raiders trimmed their two-goal deficit in half, Martin burst free on a counterattack and finished with a deft…
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QUINCY — The temperature dipped below 40 degrees and the wind blew across the field with gusts up to 25 mph, creating challenges for both the Hannibal and Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer teams to maintain possession and control. Ultimately, the Pirates used the wind to their advantage and scored a 3-1 victory at Advance…
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QUINCY — Friday night felt more like November football weather than the spring soccer season at Flinn Stadium with temperatures dipping close to the freezing mark and wind chills falling below 30 degrees. It didn’t put a chill on the fervor of a cross-river rivalry. The Quincy High School girls soccer team built a one-goal…
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QUINCY — The Quincy High School and Hannibal girls soccer teams played to a 2-2 draw Friday night at Flinn Stadium, while Quincy Notre Dame beat West Plains (Mo.) 6-0 on the opening night of the QHS Kickoff Showcase. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman spent time at Flinn Stadium and put together this photo…
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QUINCY — Perfecting set pieces became a point of emphasis during the lead-up to the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team’s season opener. “For the past three days, we’ve worked on them every day,” junior midfielder Lilly Schuette said. “Even in walk-throughs.” The reason why became obvious 12 minutes into Saturday’s game against Jefferson City…
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QUINCY — Lilly Schuette’s second-half penalty kick and a stout defensive effort over the final 40 minutes enabled the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team to open its season Saturday with a 3-2 victory over Jefferson City (Mo.) Helias at Advance Physical Therapy Field. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman spent the afternoon next to…
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QUINCY — Aubrey Sparrow wasn’t naive enough to think the tempo and tenor of Mark Thomas-led practices would be similar to those run by former Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer Mark Longo. “I knew the style would change, just how it does with every coach,” the senior defender said. But she remained confident the Raiders…
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QUINCY — Mark Thomas’ biggest challenge as the new Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer head coach won’t come from replacing a legend on the sidelines or developing the right system of play for a youthful, talented team. It will be finding time to hunt during the Illinois spring turkey season. “I might have to figure…
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QUINCY — The winningest girls soccer coach in Illinois High School Association history impacted the lives of those he coached far beyond the white lines. That became abundantly clear with the reaction three decades worth of Quincy Notre Dame players had Tuesday when Mark Longo announced he was retiring following 34 years at the helm.…
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QUINCY — Mark Longo was asked to coach the inaugural Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team with no expectations and no preconceived notions of success. The next coach won’t be so lucky. From 1990 until now — 33 seasons total — Longo has been the only head coach the Raiders have had, and with him…
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QUINCY — The final sentence in a small paragraph next to the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team photo in the school’s yearbook in 1990 may have been the ultimate foreshadowing. “Another tradition of Raider soccer, at its best, had begun!!” it read. It became a tradition no other program can match. The architect of…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The reign is over, undone by the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team’s inability to find a consistent rhythm or flow to its season. Injuries curtailed that. Inconsistency did, too. Unable to create their own lucky bounces or breaks, the Raiders played catch-up too often, just like they did Friday during a…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Weather and scheduling conflicts forced the regular-season matchup between the Quincy Notre Dame and Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin girls soccer teams to first be postponed and then shelved. Nothing will stop them from going head-to-head now. QND began the defense of its Class 1A state championship by hammering Riverton 8-0 Tuesday night in…
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QUINCY — In nearly a quarter century as part of the Quincy High School girls soccer program — the first eight as an assistant coach and the past 15 as the head coach — Travis Dinkheller had never witnessed the Blue Devils sweep the season series from their crosstown rivals. Not a single person had.…
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QUINCY — The Quincy High School girls soccer team limited Quincy Notre Dame’s opportunities Thursday night and took advantage of Taylor Routh’s goal with 17 minutes remaining in regulation to earn a 1-0 victory at Advance Physical Therapy Field and sweep the season series for the first time ever. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman…
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QUINCY — If home is indeed where the heart is, the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team is using its longest stretch of home games to find out how much heart it truly has. Wednesday’s effort gave the Raiders hope they have the heart of a champion. Three second-half goals led to a 4-0 victory…
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QUINCY — The shutout was a boost of confidence for the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team’s defense. The victory over Jacksonville was a shot in the arm for everyone. The Raiders beat the Crimsons 4-0 Wednesday at Advance Physical Therapy Field to create some needed momentum with the postseason looming. Muddy River Sports Editor…
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QUINCY — In need of building momentum before the postseason begins, the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team had ample chances in the second half Monday against Springfield to snare the lead and pull out a victory. Instead, the Raiders got burned on a counterattack. The Senators scored with 2 minutes, 43 seconds remaining in…
Read Full Article BURLINGTON, Iowa — Having played at home only once in the past three weeks and coming off six consecutive road games, the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team finally will return to Advance Physical Therapy Field next week. Maybe some good mojo will follow. The Raiders ended their road journey Thursday with a 4-1 victory…
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QUINCY — Caitlin Bunte didn’t expect a blustery wind blowing straight out to center field Monday afternoon to alter anything she needed to do in the pitcher’s circle. “If I’m hitting my spots, even with the wind blowing, I knew we’d be fine,” she said. Then the Quincy Notre Dame softball team’s left-handed hurler saw…
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QUINCY — The Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team scored five goals in the first 10 minutes of Wednesday’s game against Macomb at Advance Physical Therapy Field and rolled to a 10-0 victory. Sage Stratton recorded a hat trick and Jaden Tchapda scored her first varsity goal for the Raiders. Stratton finished a Lilly Schuette…
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BURLINGTON, Iowa — Sage Stratton’s remarkable start to her prep career — three seasons, three state trophies — now includes a prestigious individual honor. The sophomore tied a Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer program single-half record. Saturday, during an 7-1 victory over Burlington, Stratton assisted on four first-half goals, while scoring one herself. The midfielder…
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HANNIBAL, Mo. — Mark Longo is confident the best is yet to come for Quincy Notre Dame’s girls soccer team. “We’re still a long way from where we need to be, but we’ll be OK,” said Longo, now in his 33rd season as Raiders coach. Longo had just watched QND down Hannibal 5-2, erupting for…
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HANNIBAL, Mo. — The physical play of the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team and the second-half intensity of the attack brought about by senior forward Lia Quintero and sophomore forward Makalya Patton led to a 5-2 victory over Hannibal on Wednesday at Veterans Field. Photographer Mathew Kirby put together this photo gallery from the…
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QUINCY — Perched at first base, Addi Zanger gets a daily bird’s-eye view of Caitlin Bunte in the pitcher’s circle. Most games, it can be a little monotonous, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. “I don’t really do anything,” Zanger said with a chuckle. “She rolls us a lot of ground balls which is…
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QUINCY — Travis Dinkheller is saving his fire-and-brimstone speech for another day, but the passionate plea the Quincy High School girls soccer coach made at halftime Monday night resonated with his players. “His message was very clear,” junior midfielder Bri Lannerd said. “We needed to show up in the second half.” The Blue Devils did…
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QUINCY — For the first time in a quarter century, the Quincy High School girls soccer team will have the chance to sweep its crosstown rival, beating Quincy Notre Dame 4-1 in Monday night’s matchup at Flinn Stadium. The teams square off again next Monday at Advance Physical Therapy Field. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt…
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QUINCY — Noticeably irked after allowing a goal in the final two minutes Friday night against Hannibal, the Quincy High School girls soccer team’s defenders vowed it wouldn’t happen again. A spirited effort Saturday ensured it didn’t. The Blue Devils withstood a late push from Ladue Horton Watkins to finish off the second of two…
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QUINCY — Ahead of the first crosstown showdown of the season coming Monday at Flinn Stadium, the Quincy High School and Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer teams wrapped up play in the QHS Tournament on Saturday with both battling to a tie in their final games. QHS and Ladue Horton Watkins held each other scoreless…
Read Full Article QUINCY — Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer coach Mark Longo decided to give his players an opportunity to recharge Thursday, holding a meeting instead of a light practice after playing back-to-back days. “Even at that meeting, I could tell they were tired,” he said. Friday, little changed. The Raiders were outhustled and outplayed in a…
Read Full Article JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — After playing 90 scoreless minutes, the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team needed just 30 seconds to end the drought. Lia Quintero scored off a rebound a half-minute into the second overtime Wednesday, lifting the Raiders to a 1-0 victory over Jefferson City Helias at the Crusader Athletic Complex. It is…
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QUINCY — Makayla Patton believes passing, persistence and patience are going to lead to scoring opportunities for the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team. “It’s what we’re doing really well so far this season,” the sophomore forward said. Tuesday, in the home opener at Advance Physical Therapy Field, the Raiders also added precision to mix.…
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RIVERTON, Ill. — Welcome back, Gearshift. Lia Quintero, the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team’s senior forward who has said her gameday hairstyle resembles a gearshift, is showing no signs of being slowed by the knee injury she suffered in the final minutes of last season’s Class 1A state semifinal victory. After scoring twice in…
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HILLSBORO, Ill. — The title defense began somewhat slow. In 32-degree weather, what else would you expect? The Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team, the reigning Class 1A state champion, led 1-0 at halftime of Monday’s season opener with sophomore Lilly Schuette scoring her first goal with the Raiders six minutes before the break. In…
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QUINCY — Watching the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team fall short of its goal of defending its Class 2A state championship made the QND girls soccer players realize a very important fact. Repeating isn’t easy. So as the Raiders embark on their own title defense — the reigning Class 1A state champions who went…
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QUINCY — The front-to-back, middle-of-the-field trio that carried the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team to a state championship earned some worthy postseason honors. So did Quincy High School’s dangerous sophomore connection. Raiders forward Lia Quintero, midfielder Avery Keck and sweeper Eva Dickerman — they are all juniors — received all-sectional plaudits from the Illinois…
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QUINCY — Mark McDowell did his best Avery Keck impersonation Sunday afternoon. When opportunity struck, he delivered. The Quincy Notre Dame principal took advantage of the recent addition of a large video board on the west wall of The Pit by having a picture loaded and ready to loom large over everyone during the welcome…
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Muddy River Sports sets a record for most people in the bed of Matt Schuckman’s truck as Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer coach Mark Longo and the whole team join in following the sixth state title in program history.
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NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Annie Eaton’s tear-filled eyes and ear-to-ear smile told the same story. Her elation over helping the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team win the Class 1A state championship Saturday night was all-encompassing. “It’s every emotion you can think of,” Eaton said while standing in the courtyard outside North Central College’s Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium…
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NAPERVILLE, Ill. — The Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team won the sixth state championship in program history Saturday night, beating Richmond-Burton 1-0 on Avery Keck’s goal with 2 minutes, 8 seconds remaining in regulation of the Class 1A state title game at North Central College’s Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium. Photographer Randy Dickerman captured the action and…
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NAPERVILLE, Ill. — The resolve of the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team continues to be put to the test. The biggest challenge awaits. The Raiders will play for a state championship without their leading scorer and all-state candidate. “We try to come in with a good mindset and try to control the emotions,” sophomore…
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NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Sophie Gramke never figured out why. So she concentrated on the how. How does she get better? How does she regain her knack for scoring? How does she find the spark that seemed to be missing? The rest of the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer players showed her how Friday night. “Coming…
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NAPERVILLE, Ill. — The Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team advanced to the Class 1A state championship game with a 1-0 victory over Normal U-High in Friday’s semifinals at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on the North Central College campus. Photographer Randy Dickerman captured images throughout the contest. Check out his work in this photo gallery:
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QUINCY — Lying on the turf with athletic trainer Kyle Leapley tending to her right knee, Anna Keck could have had the “oh, no, not again” scenario running through her head. Instead, she focused on “get me back out there” thoughts. “I didn’t want to let my team down,” said Keck, a junior defensive midfielder…
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QUINCY — The newness of the state tournament experience wore off when the youthful Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team didn’t get the opportunity to play in the title game a year ago. “Disappointing,” junior forward Lia Quintero said. “I’d say it was disappointing.” So this time, it’s all business. The Raiders head back to…
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COLUMBIA, Ill. — The Illinois girls state soccer championships are returning to North Central College’s Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville this weekend for the first time in three years. It’s only fitting Quincy Notre Dame returns, too. As QND coach Mark Longo put it, it is the Raiders’ “home away from home.” Figuring out how to…
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QUINCY — Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer coach Mark Longo readily admitted Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin controlled the bulk of play Friday. “It was probably 60/40 in their favor,” he said. “It may have been 62/38 or something like that.” Even so, Longo never fully fretted. His stout defense is why. Raiders sophomore goalkeeper Aly Young…
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QUINCY — This time, it wasn’t so easy, even if it seemed so in the end. After scoring in the first 10 minutes of both regional matches and outscoring those two opponents 13-0, the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team discovered scoring on Piasa Southwestern in Tuesday’s Class 1A QND Sectional semifinal wasn’t going to…
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QUINCY — Hope floats, right? Not if you’re a regional opponent of the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team. Friday afternoon, the Raiders snared the lead 10 minutes into the Class 1A QND Regional championship game and Beardstown and never allowed the Tigers to mount any sort of counterattack, ultimately posting a 5-0 victory at…
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QUINCY — The Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team’s postseason plan is quite simple. Score early. Score often. Score as much as possible. Lia Quintero’s first two goals came just 40 seconds apart Tuesday and gave the top-seeded Raiders a two-goal lead just four minutes into the Class 1A QND Regional semifinal against eighth-seeded Springfield…
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QUINCY — The Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team is primed for the postseason. The Raiders picked up their third straight victory in their regular-season finale Friday at Advance Physical Therapy, using two early goals from Lia Quintero to kickstart a 6-0 victory over Burlington Notre Dame. QND (16-3-3) opens the postseason at 4 p.m.…
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QUINCY — Avery Keck senses it. So do her Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer teammates. Confidence is rising as the Raiders’ cohesiveness grows. “We’re just really working as a team together and we’re all working hard,” said Keck, the junior midfielder who scored two goals in Tuesday’s 8-1 whitewashing of previously undefeated Burlington (Iowa). “We’re…
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QUINCY — Shellshocked, but resilient. Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer coach Mark Longo appreciates the second part of that statement. Not so much the first. The Raiders moseyed through the start of Thursday’s matchup with Decatur St. Teresa at Advance Physical Therapy Field, falling behind 2-0 in the first 14 minutes as the Bulldogs scored…
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QUINCY — The thought of playing to another draw became increasingly aggravating. “We just knew we couldn’t tie again, not after tying in each of our past three games,” said Grace Bertram, a junior defender on the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team. “We just couldn’t.” Yet, through 73 minutes of Monday night’s crosstown showdown…
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QUINCY — The Quincy High School girls soccer team capitalized when it had the opportunities. Quincy Notre Dame and Hannibal did not. Thus, the Blue Devils exited the weekend with a pair of shutout victories, having taken a couple of significant steps in their journey to be a postseason contender. In the final game of…
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QUINCY — The suggestion that having her long blonde hair pulled into a bulb atop her head was reminiscent of the Flintstones’ character Pebbles gave Lia Quintero the opening to explain what the hairstyle actually is. “It’s the gearshift,” she said. Varying levels of power come with it. “It’s good for speed, too,” said Quintero,…
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