Girls Soccer: Hall’s header sends R-B past Morton

BERWYN – Ten minutes had elapsed since the final whistle sounded and Riverside-Brookfield junior forward Hazel Hall still couldn’t believe what had happened.

“I’m so in shock right now,” she said.

So was everybody else.

Hall was the one who delivered the shocking, decisive blow, heading home a corner kick from Niahm Larson with 2:31 remaining in the second half to give the visiting Bulldogs a stunning 2-1 upset of Morton on Monday night.

It was Hall’s 10th goal of the season, but it didn’t come in the usual fashion. The power header came from almost 15 yards out.

“I’m going to be perfectly honest,” Hall said. “That was my first header goal, so I was proud of that one.

“I saw Niamh cross it, and we were obviously tied at that point, so I was kind of like, ‘I’m just going to drive this one home.’ Sometimes I get a little afraid of the ball, but I was like, ‘You know what, just hit it.’ Good things happen when you aren’t afraid.”

The Bulldogs (10-4-1) weren’t afraid despite going down 1-0 just 1:48 into the game when Morton star Carisma Rosales fired a 20-yard shot off the underside of the crossbar and into the net.

The Mustangs (10-4-1) controlled most of the first half, but missed several other golden scoring chances, giving the Bulldogs some hope.

“Morton, you hear, is a big soccer school, and it’s really intimidating,” Hall said. “So I think coming into this and proving that we can compete with anyone is really important.”

Larson never had a doubt the Bulldogs could compete.

“From the beginning, I thought we were in it,” Larson said. “Right off the bat, we had some shots on goal.

“That one goal kind of put us down a little bit. But I think we all kind of made sure our heads stayed up because one goal is not that hard to come back from.”

The Bulldogs proved that to be true, and Larson played a big role in the comeback. Her free kick from just outside the box on the left end line led to the tying goal, which sophomore Raleigh Jesswein scored with 15:06 left on a shot through traffic after the Mustangs failed to clear the ball out of the box.

R-B started controlling possession after the goal. Two shots were saved and another went over the crossbar before Hall’s game-winner.

The Bulldogs’ goalkeeper had no chance on Hall’s wide-open header.

“I saw Hazel [at the] front post,” Larson said. “I knew exactly where I was going to kick it. I knew I was finding her, and she got it in.”

The result snapped a five-game unbeaten streak for the Mustangs.

“I give them all the credit. They deserve it,” Morton coach Jim Bageanis said. “They battled the whole game. We weren’t marking on the corner kick. We left the girl free. It’s easy to put it in when no one is on you.”

It wasn’t easy for Hall to understand what she had just done when her shot went into the net.

“It was surreal,” Hall said. “I was standing there with my mouth open. I’ve never experienced anything like that. That was pure joy.”