By MATT SCHUCKMAN

Herald-Whig Sports Writer

Lydia Disseler could see the Quincy High School girls soccer team's comeback fading along with the setting sun.

"To be honest, I was getting a little scared," she said.

For 75 minutes Tuesday night, the Blue Devils battled just to keep the crosstown showdown with Quincy Notre Dame a one-goal affair. Although they accomplished that, there was little time left to punch in an equalizer.

Little, but just enough.

Freshman forward Hayley Womack's header off a corner kick with 3 minutes, 31 seconds left in regulation found the back of the net, enabling QHS to salvage a 1-1 tie and walk away with a jolt of confidence.

"Mentally, it's one of those things that is huge," said QHS coach Bill Sanders, whose fourth-seeded Blue Devils (14-3-2) are in the same regional as the top-seeded Lady Raiders (15-2-3) and could meet in the May 16 title game. "Psychologically, it has to give us a big boost to know that we can come back."

Not that the Blue Devils ever doubted that.

"We're big battlers, and we'll fight until the end," Womack said.

However, they still haven't figured out how to beat QND.

The tie gives QND an 18-0-3 record in regular-season meetings with QHS since 1999 and ensures the Class of 2008 will be the Lady Raiders' sixth straight class to graduate without a regular-season loss to QHS.

"That's exciting," said QND senior forward Erin Thomas, who scored the game-winning goal in Lady Raiders' 3-2 victory at Flinn Stadium in April. "All four years, that's been our one goal."

Rarely, though, is a topic of conversation.

"We don't ever really talk about it until the day that we play them," Thomas said. "Then we're like, 'We have to keep it going. We can't lose. If we tie, we tie, but we can't lose.' That would be disappointing for us and for everyone who has played against them and never lost."

Thomas made that improbable just 10 minutes into the game.

After Kaleena Giesing was taken down about 25 yards from the goal, Thomas curled her direct kick around a wall of five QHS defenders and into the left side of the net for a 1-0 lead.

"I wasn't meaning to do that," admitted Thomas, who intended to shoot inside the right post. "But it worked out well."

The only problem was QND let QHS hang around. The Lady Raiders dominated the boxscore, outshooting the Blue Devils 16-4, attempting five more corner kicks and playing more physical with five more fouls.

"QND won the battle of loose balls and 50-50 balls in the first half pretty handily," Sanders said. "In the first half, they played smarter and harder than us. In the second half, we played better. Not where I want to see it, but yet better."

It was enough to limit QND to one goal.

"The thing we need to work on is we need to put people away," QND coach Mark Longo said. "It's been a constant theme that's not happening. We seem to be content with a good shot on goal and everybody yelling, 'Good shot, good shot.' In reality, it's not because it's not going in.

"We had opportunities, we just didn't do it."

Part of the reason was QHS keeper Brittany Senator, who made eight saves. She stonewalled Lauren Stuckman on a point-blank shot inside the penalty box and Alex Reis on a blast from 20 yards out.

"She came up real big," Sanders said.

So did Womack.

With less than four minutes remaining in regulation, Disseler sent a corner kick from the right end to the far post. QHS's Katie Runyon won the ball in the air and headed to the near post where Womack drove it home.

"Right when I kicked it, I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, somebody hit it in. Please,'" Disseler said.

Somebody did, and it completely changed QHS's demeanor.

"We believe we can overcome anything," Disseler said.

-- mschuckman@whig.com/221-3366