Slick Strategy Lifts Notre Dame : Girls’ soccer: Knights overcome Santa Barbara, 3-1, by keeping the ball in the air on a boggy field.

Finding the ground beneath it treacherous, the Notre Dame High girls’ soccer team took to the air Wednesday, defeating Santa Barbara, 3-1, in a Southern Section Division II wild-card match at Notre Dame.

The Knights, playing host on a field of almost equal parts sodden grass and mud, used three second-half goals by underclassmen and superior midfield play to advance in the playoffs.

Neither team scored in the first half, during which patches of muck in the Santa Barbara end of the field did as much to slow the Notre Dame attack as any of the Dons’ defenders.

“This field slows the game down considerably,” said Notre Dame assistant Jennifer Curiel, who guided the team in Coach Neezer McNab’s absence. “You can’t pass balls on the ground because they stop dead in the mud. You have to take the attack to the air and use lots of crosses.”

The Knights (18-6) found better footing on which to create offensive opportunities after switching goals at halftime, and opened the scoring six minutes after the break. Midfielder Brenna Vincent fired a shot from 25 yards that bounced off the right post to the left side of the net where sophomore forward Bri Hadfield tapped it in.

Seven minutes later, forward Kalli Fernandez ran down a loose ball in the right corner and fired a strong cross that bounced off Santa Barbara sweeper Erin Dart. Notre Dame’s Sarah Morgan controlled the carom in front of the Santa Barbara goal and scored from 15 yards.

“I anticipated that happening as I was coming to the net,” said Morgan, a freshman midfielder. “It was just instinct that I knew it would be coming off (Dart).”

Notre Dame scored again, in the 68th minute, when freshman forward Colleen Levredge tipped in a cross by Megan Quinn.

Santa Barbara (10-11-2) scored in the 72nd minute on a shot by Allison Bagby.

Notre Dame controlled play throughout, the midfield quartet of Morgan, Quinn, Vincent and Melissa Rubey consistently working the ball downfield.

“We know how to make things happen and there’s a lot of talking. People know who’s going where,” Morgan said of the group, which has been together since league play began in early January.

Notre Dame missed the playoffs last season but is now headed for a Saturday match against highly regarded South Pasadena. Morgan is confident in her team’s ability.

“We have so much talent . . . there’s a lot of club players with skills and speed on our team now,” she said. “I knew right from the beginning that we’d be a great team.”