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Niles girls soccer stays unbeaten in AAC
Niles beats Poland to stay undefeated in All-American Conference play
By Greg Gulas
NILES
The Niles McKinley girls’ soccer team hasn’t encountered much trouble this season in putting points on the board.
The Red Dragons’ defense, on the other hand, has been downright offensive.
Bethany Rasile scored two goals while Hannah Ward also added a tally as the Red Dragons defeated the Poland Bulldogs, 3-0 Monday in All-American Conference, White Division action at Bo Rein Stadium.
It was the fourth straight win for Niles (8-2-1, 6-0-0 All-American Conference), which remained undefeated atop its division. Niles has outscored league opponents by a 28-1 count.
“We’re a brick wall back there with the defense in front of me trying not to let opponents get off a shot,” Red Dragons keeper Vada Flannery said. “I touch the ball maybe two or three times a game so credit our defense for their solid play. We’re getting better each time out and on a roller coaster right now that only goes up.”
Niles defeated the Bulldogs (3-6-2, 2-3-0) back on Aug. 31, scoring four first-half goals en route to a 5-0 win.
It took the Red Dragons nearly 36 minutes into Monday’s game to register their first score and just 68 seconds more in order to add to their lead.
Rasile notched her first goal of the game — and 13th of the season — at 4:11 of the opening half.
“MacKenzie Johnston passed me a nice through ball and I was able to bury it in the left corner,” Rasile said.
Niles increased the margin to 2-0 when Ward followed with her goal.
“I pulled wide, Bella Reigle passed it through their defense and the kick ended up in the bottom left corner of the net,” Ward said. “It’s a lot easier to play when you have the lead than having to play catchup. There’s pressure not to give up a goal but there’s also pressure to keep scoring.”
Rasile’s second goal at 25:50 of the second half then rounded out the scoring.
“On the second goal, Kameron Delvecchio played the ball up and it was another through ball. I ran up on it and was able to sneak it into the right corner,” Rasile said. “We’re improving each and every game, but not where we want to be quite yet.”
The Red Dragons have outscored opponents 37-10 on the campaign.
“They [Poland] cut the field into parts tonight and that gave us a hard time. We like to play the short game. Also, we didn’t play the switch in transition,” Niles coach Jennifer Mease said. “We’re a work in progress but getting better. We still need to work on the physicality of the game and also the transitions. If we can change the field and change up our game plan then we can be a strong team.”
Mease added that her defense has come up big when they had to.
“Our defense is strong, but wasn’t tonight in the air,” she added. “I thought that they controlled the ball out of the air the majority of the game. Our defense and midfield needs to control that ball in the air.”
Bulldogs head coach John Cavalier said despite the loss, his team is making great strides.
“Two breakdowns tonight were costly. These kids play really hard and our record doesn’t show where we really are right now as a team,” he said. “Niles is a very good team that moves the ball well and tonight we stayed right with them. I feel like we are on the upswing and with everyone making the tournament, anything can happen. Despite the loss, this is still a game that we can build on.”
Niles had 11 shots on goal while the Bulldogs were limited to two — one in each half.