The OPRF girls soccer team never gave up despite being down 3-0 to Maine South on Saturday, but the Huskies’ rally came too late.
OPRF (10-6-1) ended falling 3-2 to the Hawks at Oak Park Stadium. After a scoreless first half, Maine South senior forward Allison Curry notched three consecutive goals. With 2:38 left in the game, OPRF senior midfielder/forward Mogbaola Ana Agboola was awarded a penalty kick after being hit from behind by a Maine South defender, and she was determined to capitalize.
“I was mad when I got hit from the back,” she said. “So I used all that energy (on the penalty kick), and I knew my team would come back hard too. I really trust the team.”
Agboola’s goal on the penalty kick put the Huskies on the board, but they still weren’t done. With 17 seconds left in the game, sophomore midfielder/forward Ruby Gonzalez scored on a pass from junior midfielder Meredith Blatner to put the team within one and show their home crowd that they wouldn’t give up no matter how much time was left in the game.
“I didn’t want to lose three to nothing,” Gonzalez said. “That’s not acceptable, especially because it’s a home game. We just had to give it our all, especially in those last couple of minutes. In my mind I just didn’t want to stop and win every ball I could get. I’m really glad I got that goal.”
The Hawks’ first goal was scored by Curry on a play after a penalty kick from junior defender Christina Kiotis 10 minutes into the second half. Curry did it again eight minutes later as she got hold of the ball when Huskies senior goalkeeper Katy Oldach went out of the crease to try to stop a shot. Her third goal came on a breakaway with 5:52 left in the game.
After the Hawks took that commanding 3-0 lead, Huskies head coach Ignacio Ponce knew he had to switch things up. Ponce moved one midfielder to the forward position and one midfielder to the defender position to try to get the offense going.
“The girls were a little fatigued,” said Ponce. “All of (Maine South’s) goals were from midfield; and I figured being down by three, it wouldn’t hurt to have an extra forward.”
OPRF’s fatigue may have been due to Friday night’s late game against the Lane Tech Indians at home, in which the two teams finished in a 1-1 tie.
“We played late Friday night and we were back on the field 16 hours later,” Ponce said. “It’s not an excuse, but I could sense that they were tired.”
With the state playoffs just around the corner, a resilient effort like Saturday’s is a good sign of things to come for the Huskies. In spite of the loss, Agboola still saw some great things from her team.
“We were really connecting our passes, but we just couldn’t finish it in the final third,” she said. “Our defense was playing great; it was just (Curry) that kept getting around us. It got really tough in the back at the end because of playing with the three forwards and three defenders, so it got a little confusing back there. Other than that, our team did great and we never let down.”
