ST. CHARLES — Why not?

That was the last thing that crossed the mind of St. Dominic junior Scott Stiffler before taking the shot with just under 16 minutes to play in the first half Thursday night in the Class 2, District 4 soccer championship game at St. Charles West.

And the first thing he thought after he scored?

"Wow."

"I saw the loose ball and figured I'd put it on goal and maybe create a chance with a rebound or something," he said. "I saw the goalie go for it, but when I saw the net move, I really got excited."

Stiffler's blast, from about 35 yards out, eluded Duchesne keeper Jake Becher and provided the winning margin as St. Dominic, the defending Class 2 state champion, got by its St. Charles County rival 1-0 and advanced to play Westminster (16-4-2) in the quarterfinals next Thursday at Anheuser-Busch Center in Fenton.

Westminster beat host Clayton 4-0 in the District 3 final Thursday afternoon.

"Scott's one of our better shooters and he got all of that one," St. Dominic coach Greg Koeller said. "It was a great game, the kind of game you expect when the two of us get together."

Duchesne coach Dave Thurmer agreed: "Good soccer and good sportsmanship. These are the games that are fun to be a part of. We made a pair of mistakes on the same play and their kid hit a great shot."

Stiffler's goal was his fifth this season and his third in districts.

Duchesne (11-10-2) came on strong over the last 15 or so minutes, applying a lot of pressure. But St. Dominic managed to hold on.

"I guess we did what we needed to do," Koeller said.