Notebook: Rodriguez, Swanson Help St. Dominic Soccer Bounce Back

The girls soccer team defeated Fort Zumwalt West, 1-0, on Saturday at the Parkway Central Classic, which is a round robin tournament. The game was played at St. Dominic, and allowed the Crusaders to snap a three-game losing streak and improve to 16-6. This came on the heels of a stretch where St. Dominic won 14 of 15 games, proving they have legitimate state title aspirations.

The game's lone goal was scored by sophomore midfielder Cristina Rodriguez. She leads the Crusaders with 14 goals this season. Freshman goalkeeper Megan Swanson earned the shutout, her 12th of the season for coach Greg Koeller. That is tops in the Archdiocesan Athletic Association. St. Dominic is 7-0 in the AAA, ahead of second-place Rosati-Kain (6-2).

The Crusaders will host DuBourg at 6:15 p.m. on Monday, and then will play at Trinity on Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. A pair of wins would clinch the regular-season conference crown for St. Dominic, which will host the Class 2 District 8 tournament beginning on Saturday.

Fort Zumwalt West girls soccer fell to 13-5-1 after Saturday’s loss, but coach Jack Baldwin still has the Jaguars in contention in the Greater Athletic Conference South at 3-1. Zumwwalt West, which beat Hazelwood West 3-0 on Friday, trails Troy (4-1) and Howell North (5-1). The Jaguars host Parkway West at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, and play at Incarnate Word at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

Emilee Johnson has been the team’s star this season with nine shutouts and a 0.53 goals-against average, though the entire defensive unit certainly deserves praise in a season featuring five wins by a single goal.

Zumwalt West has already earned the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Class 3 District 8 at Troy. The district tourney begins on May 16.

Fort Zumwalt North baseball lost to Orchard Farm, 13-10, on Friday but the Panthers are still 14-7 overall and have a legitimate chance at the GAC North title. Orchard Farm is 15-5. Zumwalt North is tied for second place at 5-1 with Zumwalt South, behind first-place Zumwalt East (6-1).

Zumwalt North has been led on the mound by Joey Siegler, who has pitched a team-high 41 innings and is 5-2 with a 3.24 earned-run average. Siegler is also batting a team-best .475 with four home runs and 20 runs batted in as a first baseman. Sophomore Dre Gleason has a team-high 30 RBI and six homers while hitting .406.

The Panthers play Francis Howell at C&H Park in St. Peter’s on Tuesday at 4:15. and will host Troy on Wednesday at 4:15 p.m.

Barat Academy girls track qualified one runner for this weekend’s sectionals at Principia. Senior Spice Brown won the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.62 seconds. She also took first place in the 200 with a time of 26.32.

(Have some local sports news, or story ideas? Please email Patch sports editor Brian Doolittle at briandoolittle@hotmail.com)