Girls Soccer: Oak Forest Sneaks Away With a 1-0 Win

OAK FOREST—Romeoville’s defense held strong Monday night against Oak Forest, but the Bengals’ got a late goal by sophomore forward Kelly McEathron for edge the Spartans 1-0.

McEathron, who was assisted by senior forward Viktoria Aranowski, rocketed the game-clinching goal with 98 seconds remaining passed Romeoville junior goalkeeper Nicole Ramaglia. McEathron had six shots on goal for the contest.

“That was something that we’ve been trying to do all year, getting crosses off and framing the back post, which we finally did,” Oak Forest coach Stacey Lane said. “Kelly came through with perfect timing and blasted it in the back of the net.”

Despite the late goal, Ramaglia played well enough to win, having 13 saves while staving off Oak Forest’s 32 shots on goal.

“I wanted to get my third shutout, but it didn’t work out that well,” Ramaglia said. “I wanted to play a better game today.”

The game began with sluggishly with no shots on goal the first nine minutes. Oak Forest then had six shots in the next five minutes, but Ramaglia had a couple saves and Romeoville’s defenders challenged the Bengals’ by taking away good shooting angles.

Romeoville’s offense struggled mightily by managing five shots on goal and one in the second half. The Spartans’ first shot on goal came in the 14th minute by senior midfielder Vicky Arriola that was deflected. She had a place kick in the 17th minute that was cleared.

After two more goal attempts in the 20th and 21st minutes, Romeoville did not have another attempt until after McEathron’s score that was wide left. Oak Forest defenders and midfielders made it difficult for Romeoville’s offender to connect passes and push up field.

“I think it mostly came down to we weren’t connecting to our forwards,” Romeoville assistant coach Nick Rausa said. “We just couldn’t carry the ball enough in the midfield, find a good look and make good passes. Our forwards weren’t getting the ball to their feet. It was mainly one forward against two or three defenders the entire game.”

Rausa said the team has had much offensive rotation this year and there were some girls in new positions on Monday. Another element was the Spartans were missing the services of sophomore forward Yasmine Cahue and junior forward Lisa Engelsman.

“We were trying different combinations u there and couldn’t find the right one,” Rausa said.

The Spartans' next matchup will be 4:45 p.m. Tuesday against Glenbard East.