Girls soccer: Streator gets fast start on new pitch; Lisle ultimately gets 3-1 victory

STREATOR – For the first half of the first half Thursday, the host Streator Bulldogs controlled play during their Illinois Central Eight Conference match with the visitors from Lisle.

A pair of Jordan Rodriguez goals nine minutes apart in the second half of that first half – both off Jacklyn Roper assists – changed all that in the Lions’ hard-fought, 3-1 victory in the first game played at the Bulldogs’ permanent pitch at their James Street facility.

“An hour-and-a-half bus ride is never fun,” Lisle coach Patrick Graff said with a chuckle. “It doesn’t help out very much, but I also think we weren’t playing our style. We tried playing over the top, and it wasn’t working. Once we found our connection in the middle of the field, ... that was kind of the turning point toward that one-touch soccer that we like to play, getting the ball to the outsides and up the field. ...

“Credit to [Streator], they hung in there the entire time and gave us a battle the entire game. But once we felt that one [goal] and got back to a 0-0 game, that made all the difference.”

Rodriguez’s first strike was an equalizer, coming about 22 minutes after emerging Streator freshman Audrey Arambula scored less than two minutes after the opening kickoff with a rocket off a Kaelyn Shuster assist. Rodriguez’s answer came after a lengthy segment where the ball pinballed around in front of the Bulldogs net before finally finding Roper’s foot, then Rodriguez’s foot and quickly the net.

The Lions’ junior added what proved to be the game-winner 7:01 before halftime,coming off a nice feeding pass from Roper to put Lisle (9-4 overall, 4-1 ICE) ahead of Streator (7-9-2, 2-3) to stay.

“Everybody got more into the game, realized how [Streator] played and adjusted to it,” Rodriguez said. “Then we all started working together and communicating better, and that just switched it all around for us.

“Jacklyn and I talk a lot, and I feel like we have really good give-and-gos, and she sends me really good through-balls. She always just seems to know where I am.”

The score would remain 2-1 until the Lions, on an Emma Ryan strike off a Rodriguez assist with 4:25 remaining, found some breathing room against a Streator team that had come in winners of four straight and ended up Thursday with a 17-14 deficit in shots on goal against the ICE’s second-place team.

“All positive,” Streator coach J.T. Huey said. “It was good soccer. We had some good touches. We had some good wins in the middle. We just had to finish the soccer ball. We had a couple good shots that just didn’t finish, and I thought the possession difference was like 60-40, 50-50 a lot of the game. ...

“Here’s the message: The tempo was there. Lisle just had a couple finishes that we didn’t. To take a quality program to a 3-1 game just ahead of regionals, that’s exactly what we needed.”

Streator keeper Charli McMullen and her 14 saves – a handful of them spectacular – was a big part of the Bulldogs’ hanging in there after the Lions stole the initiative with Rodriguez’s two strikes. She was aided by strong defensive-half play from Joey Puetz, Josie Goerne and Ophelia Orozco.

Her Lisle counterpart, Kiley Ebert, was excellent, as well, recording 13 straight saves after Arambula’s ice-breaking goal in the opening minutes, with Abigail Gavigan also shining in Lisle’s defensive half.