The Notre Dame Girls Varsity Soccer team used early goals in both halves to earn a 2-1 win over Fenton and advance to the MHSAA state semifinal round. It did not take long for the Irish to get on the board as Rosella LoChirco sent a cross through to Celia Gaynor, who put the ball towards the back post where Mariana McPartlin would beat the Tiger goalkeeper to put Notre Dame up 1-0. “We talked in the locker room about coming out and, to use a boxing term, making sure we give the first punch, and the first solid shot of the game, and we definitely did that,” Notre Dame head coach Jim Stachura said. The score would remain that until early in the second half, when after a corner kick Olivia Mears would find Gaynor in front of the net to put Notre Dame up 2-0. Fenton made things interesting with a goal with just over six minutes remaining, but the Irish would run out the clock and preserve the 2-1 margin as Nadia Burbank, Payton Williams, Eileen Haig, and Cassidy Wiest shut down the Fenton attack. With the win Notre Dame moves to 19-1-3 on the season and advances to the MHSAA semifinal for the first time since 2013. The Irish will take on Marian on Wednesday at Novi High School looking to avenge their only loss of the season, a 1-0 loss on April 21. “Erika (Wiest) and I were on the team our freshman year when we were going to states, so it’s really special for us to finish our career here,” senior co-captain Rosella LoChirco said. “I think it just says a lot to how deep our team is with talent to pull this together, fight hard battles every game, and make it all the way,”