BOYS' SOCCER: MAKING IT LOOK ALMOST TOO EASY NO. 1 ST. FRANCIS ROUTS NOTRE DAME ST. FRANCIS 4, NOTRE DAME 1.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

LA CANADA - It was the kind of game where St. Francis High seniors Robby Dow, Jeff Buddenbohn and Luke Postlewaite could grab side-by-side seats on the bench with eight minutes left, run down the Mission League standings and cheer a freshman reserve's breakaway down the left sideline.

That was how dominant the Knights of La Canada were Thursday night at home.

Led by two goals from Postlewaite, top-ranked St. Francis crushed No. 5 Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks 4-1 to claim sole possession of second place in the league. St. Francis scored all four goals off set pieces (either corner kicks or free kicks) in perhaps its most dominant performance this season.

``Going in, we knew they were a tough team, but I think we were a little surprised,'' said Dow, who had two assists. ``We haven't scored that many goals as a team. But we did everything we worked on in practice - free kicks and making runs - and as a result, you see 4-1.''

St. Francis (17-3, 4-1) shook off any after-effects from last week's 3-2 overtime loss to first-place Loyola of Los Angeles. The Knights scored only nine minutes in as Buddenbohn collected Dow's corner kick, fanned on his first shot, then put his second try off the left post and in.

During the week, St. Francis spent 30 minutes on set pieces every day in practice, and the results were evident. Postlewaite scored his first goal by hammering in a free kick at the back post seven minutes after halftime. He then added another three minutes later by heading in a Daniel Caldwell free kick to make it 3-1.

St. Francis followed with its final goal in the 69th minute as Steve Ullom, making his return from a winter break knee injury, scored on a breakaway that started with another free kick. The Knights also succeeded at pushing up their defenders, catching Notre Dame offside four times.

``We made just about every mistake you could make,'' Notre Dame coach Rene Velado said. ``But say this about St. Francis: They played disciplined and they played smart and they just beat us.''

Dow made a number of nice runs up the right side, and senior sweeper Jeff Fawcett anchored a defense that succeeded in containing Notre Dame standout strikers Greg Folk and Dione Scott. Folk scored immediately after Postlewaite's first goal but otherwise struggled to get the ball up front.

``With Dione and Greg together, they probably have the two most lethal guys on one team in the league,'' St. Francis coach Glen Appels said. ``We wanted to get some balls in their box and make them defend us, rather than us have to defend them.''

St. Francis could have added at least two more goals. Postlewaite missed a hat trick by inches in the second half, volleying a corner kick wide. Then, with less than two minutes left, freshman Jared Izumi took off down the left side and narrowly missed what would have been his first varsity goal.

St. Francis will complete its first round of league play Saturday afternoon at Harvard-Westlake of Studio City. Meanwhile, Notre Dame (5-2-2, 3-2) will be facing a must-win against Loyola after dropping its past two league games.

``We just have to remember it's not over after two losses,'' Velado said.

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Notre Dame's Greg Folk goes up to head the ball in the No. 5 Knights' 4-1 loss to top-ranked St. Francis on Thursday in a Mission League game.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News