MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Liz Ciabattone and the other eight Notre Dame senior soccer players will play the final match of their high school careers this afternoon.
Entering the TSSAA Class A/AA state final against top-ranked Knoxville Catholic, they're clicking at the right time.
The Notre Dame Lady Irish have scored 26 goals in seven postseason matches, all wins. That output tops the 23 goals they scored in their 14 regular-season games. They can add to their totals when they face the other Lady Irish at 2:30 p.m. EDT at the Richard Siegel complex.
Girls Preparatory School, which defeated Brentwood Academy in the Division II-AA state semifinals Friday night, will play Briarcrest following the Notre Dame match.
"Around tournament time, things just started to fall into place and we started to get better opportunities because of our work rate," Ciabattone said Friday night by phone. "We're excited about this opportunity to play in the state championship; I can't think of a better way to end my career."
Coach Jim Schermerhorn attributed the increased scoring to the return of some key players on offense, and how those players have meshed. Junior Emma Higgins was one of those, and she has three goals in the state tournament. Sofia Olenchek has scored twice in the two tournament matches and has nine goals in the postseason.
This is Notre Dame's first state final since 2010. It won that year, but the current senior class has had two seasons end in semifinals and another in the quarterfinal round.
Catholic defeated Notre Dame in the final game of the Bearden tournament in Knoxville in September.
"I'm happy for the girls. They've worked so hard to get here," Schermerhorn said. "These seniors are a really committed group, and they've worked hard to get to this point and I hope for the best for them.
"Things are falling into place for us. It'll be a tough game tomorrow, but we're clicking better offensively and hopefully it'll carry into tomorrow."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.