This game, like the season itself, was a slow start for the Notre Dame Prep girls soccer team, but once the Saints started scoring the goals came in waves. And it was the six seniors on this year’s squad that sparked the offense on Tuesday.

The Saints (7-4-1) capped their Senior Night festivities with a 6-0 victory over the North Canyon Rattlers (3-6-1).

With emotions running high after the pregame on-field recognition of the Saints' six seniors, the first 10 minutes of the game were understandably a little sloppy. But around the 10-minute mark, the Notre Dame Prep midfield started winning the turnover battle and pushing the ball upfield behind a number of dangerous runs from senior Alex Blum.

“We were all just kind of jittery from the ceremony,” Blum said, “but I think we were all really excited to finish the season and play our last game on the home turf.”

The eventual game-winner came from another senior, Marion Rains, in the 11th minute. The Saints had a corner kick from the right side, which they decided to play short. Eventually they got a cross into the box “and it got kind of hectic,” Rains laughed. The ball pinballed around the penalty area, hitting off of a couple of different players, before the ball landed in front of Blum. She then played it back to Rains who tipped the ball into the bottom corner of the goal.

With 15 minutes left in the first half, North Canyon began to get pushes upfield, but it wasn’t enough for the Rattlers to get on the scoreboard. With just a couple minutes left in the first half, Notre Dame added two more goals – one more from Rains and one from Blum.

The second half belonged to the Saints. They added a fourth goal within nine minutes of the restart, this one coming off the head of junior Cameron Ninneman after a cross from the right side from senior Janelle Petruzella.

Near the end of the game, Petruzella got her own goal. The Saints scored their last goal with less than 10 minutes left in the game, when the ball bounced off the goalkeeper’s hands and senior Lacey Roberston was in the right place to slot it home.

“It was really nice to get them on the score sheet,” head coach Tom White said of his seniors. “They worked really hard, and they took care of the opportunities they had.”

It was the third shutout win in a row in region play for the Saints. And that, White said, has a lot to do with one of the youngest players on the field – freshman goalkeeper Harper Schoeneweis.

White said that at the beginning of the season Schoeneweis would barely even play the ball with her feet, but as the season progressed Schoeneweis improved everything from her goal kicks to her ability to come out.

White believes she’ll be a key player for the Saints when the playoffs begin.

The team is finally starting to jell after losing 10 starters and 14 seniors from last year’s state runner-up squad.

“We have a lot of new players this year, so it’s taken a while to get used to playing with each other,” Blum said. “But I think we’re getting better gradually, and we’re getting to our best right about now."

The win gives the Saints momentum heading into the final game of the season and their first play-in game for the state championship.

They will finish regular-season play next Tuesday at Paradise Valley. Then it’s a quick turnaround, with a likely 5A state championship play-in game on Thursday, Feb. 7.