BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – Anna Agboola scored the tying and winning goals, and the Roosevelt women's soccer team held on for a 2-1 win over Saint Xavier at a slippery Toyota Park on Tuesday to clinch the program's first-ever Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament berth.
The win was Roosevelt's fourth consecutive victory and allowed the Lakers to improve to 7-8-0 overall and 5-5-0 in CCAC play. That record gives Roosevelt 15 points, a five-point advantage, head-to-head tiebreakers over St. Francis (Ill.) and Judson, and a current place of seventh in the CCAC table with just one league game remaining on the slate.
The berth is the first in Roosevelt's young six-season lifespan thus far, and it took every second of Tuesday's 90-minute battle in a chilly rain against the Cougars (2-10-4, 2-6-2 CCAC) for the Green and White to seal the win and qualify for the eight-team conference postseason tourney.
SXU struck first without a Cougar putting the ball into the net. A corner kick by Abigail Peppin in the 30th minute was pushed toward the frame, and a failed clearance went the wrong direction for an own goal by the Lakers.
Undeterred, Roosevelt continued to play forward despite the precipitation making possession difficult, and eventually Agboola created a dangerous chance in the box during the 42nd minute before she was taken down and awarded a penalty kick. The senior from Oak Park calmly stepped forward and delivered a vicious ball that befuddled keeper Carly Bledsoe and struck the net for the equalizer.
In the 69th minute, Monica Munoz dribbled on the left flank and delivered a ball inside to a speeding Agboola, who slid with a boot nudging the ball and slipped the sphere just inside the post for a dramatic go-ahead tally.
Roosevelt nursed that one-goal advantage until the very end, as Saint Xavier had a significant threat toward the box in the final 10 seconds that was snuffed out by the Roosevelt defense to force the ball wide of goal amidst the final horn.
Newly-named CCAC Defensive Player of the Week Kara Jones made 10 saves in victory.
The Lakers unleashed 25 shots, 10 more than the Cougars, with a marathon of offensive attempts unfurled at the Cougars' goal. Agboola accounted for 12 of those shots.
Roosevelt closes out the 2017 regular season with Cardinal Stritch at the Toyota Park grass practice field this Saturday, Oct. 28 at a new start time of 11:30 a.m. Senior Day festivities will precede the match.
