RU's Valiant Effort Comes Up Just Short Against No. 18 ONU

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – A late equalizer was cruelly denied as Roosevelt battled No. 18 Olivet Nazarene for 90 minutes in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference before suffering a 1-0 loss on Homecoming at Morris Field.

Although the Tigers had most of the possession, they struggled to create scoring opportunities against a stellar Lakers defensive effort. Olivet Nazarene had an early shot ring off the crossbar, but otherwise it was a quiet half for the offenses as both teams had just three attempts in the first half. The Tigers did strike with five minutes left in the half to take a lead into the intermission, but the Lakers had their share of chances as well.

The Lakers (4-6-0, 2-4-0 CCAC) put up seven attempts in the second half to finish with a 10-8 edge in shots, and forced three saves from the Tigers goalie. Roosevelt came out buzzing to start the second half with Daisy Hernandez-Loya's bid near the goal blocked before Mayte Gongora sent a shot that was collected by the Olivet Nazarene keeper. Hernandez-Loya forced another save from the Tigers in the 71^st minute, but it was Paola Macias, who nearly saved the day for the Lakers.

As Roosevelt upped its pressure on the Olivet Nazarene net, it was able to win a corner kick in the final two minutes of the match. Hernandez-Loya sent the kick into the penalty area and it pinballed around before falling to Macias. The captain drove the ball back toward the goal, forcing an acrobatic stop from the Tigers to preserve their victory.

Roxana Herrera secured three saves, none bigger than her stop in the 63^rd minute when the Tigers threaded a couple of nice passes together to find an open attacker 8 yards from goal. Herrera was up to the task and the sophomore calmly dove to her left and pushed the ball out for a corner kick to keep the deficit at 1. That proved to be the final shot Olivet Nazarene had that reached the goal area as it tried to wind down the clock.

Roosevelt will try to build off the performance Wednesday evening when it welcomes St. Ambrose to Morris Field for a 7 p.m. kickoff.