Staff Photo by Shane McMillan Head coach of the Notre Dame girls soccer program Jim Schermerhorn talks to his team while player Danielle Ciabattone looks on during practice at the Redoubt Soccer Complex on Monday afternoon. The team is making its final preparations for the state soccer tournament, which is in Chattanooga this week.

Tough. Upsetting. Frustrating. Heartbreaking.

All of the above describe the last three trips to the Class A/AA state semifinals for the Notre Dame girls’ soccer team. And the Lady Irish plan on doing everything they can to avoid repeating those feelings this week.

Top-ranked Notre Dame opens state-tournament play tonight against Jackson Christian, with the winner advancing to Thursday’s semifinal at Chattanooga Christian, the site of three consecutive season-ending losses for the Lady Irish.

“It’s definitely been upsetting,” senior Danielle Ciabattone said. “The biggest thing is that our semifinal game has pretty much always been the top two teams. This year’s tournament is going to be hard, too, but if everyone plays hard, we can hopefully finish it the way we want to.”

Last season the Lady Irish came up against Franklin Road Academy in the final four, and after 110 scoreless minutes they fell 5-4 in a shootout. In 2006 it was a 3-2 semifinal defeat at the hands of Christian Academy of Knoxville. The previous season, a 2-0 loss to Knoxville Catholic kept Notre Dame out of the championship match.

FRA and CAK went on to earn state titles, and the Lady Irish believe it could just as easily have been them collecting trophies.

“It’s always going to be frustrating, because that’s always your team’s goal, to try and win the state tournament,” Notre Dame coach Jim Schermerhorn said. “And those teams have been good enough to win championships. But it’s always tough to win games in that tournament, with the pressure and the level of competition.”

With eight seniors returning for this season, the Lady Irish began the year confident they could contend for a state title once again. But after season-ending injuries to defenders Shannon Kelly, Caitlin Kelley and Chloe Lynskey, it took some time for them to come together as a team.

“It was really tough, but we had girls who could get back there and play as well as anybody,” senior defender Casey Finnell said. “We just had to work on our defense and start talking and playing together as a team.”

Notre Dame got defensive help from sophomores Michelle Spangler and Megan Phipps, and with co-captains Ciabattone and Kris Cambron providing plenty of offense, the Lady Irish (16-4-1) have overcome their slow start. Schermerhorn said a combination of leadership, work ethic and every player knowing her role has his team prepared to achieve its goal of playing for a state championship Saturday.

“I think they know what it’s going to take to get to that game,” Schermerhorn said. “From point A to Z, you have to work your butt off, and I think they understand that. They know how to win big games.”

The Lady Irish have spent the past year thinking about one particular big game, and they can’t wait to take the field tonight for a match they hope will lead them to it.

“Every sprint, everything we’ve done for fitness, everything we do, we know it’s to prepare us for state,” Cambron said. “This is what we work for all year. I definitely feel like we’re ready.”

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