Late rally keeps Lions alive
Oaks Christian beats rival Oak Park, 2-1
By Stephen Dorman sdorman@theacorn.com

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers REASON TO CELEBRATE- Oaks Christian's Kelsea Smith, left, and Melissa Dahl helped lift OCHS to its fifth CIF-SS Division V championship appearance in six years with a win over Oak Park.

The first goal lifted their spirits.

The second goal sent the Oaks Christian girls' soccer team to the CIF-Southern Section Division V championship match for the fifth time in six years.

Playing on the road Tuesday against crosstown rival Oak Park High in the CIF-SS semifinals, and down 1-0 with a little more than 20 minutes remaining on the scoreboard clock, Oaks Christian's Kelly Johnson lofted a free kick toward the Oak Park goal.

"I was like, 'Oh, it's in," Johnson said.

Oak Park goalkeeper Alison James deflected the near-perfect shot, but the ball bounced directly to a wide-open Alexandra Courtnall, who knocked home the equalizer for OCHS.

"I was shocked when she blocked it, but then I saw (Courtnall) there, and I knew she would finish it," Johnson said. "It was intense but really cool."

Courtnall, a speedy freshman forward, seemed to double her luck near the end of regulation when she found herself oneonone with James for what looked to be a sure-fire go-ahead score for the Lions.

"Oh, man," Courtnall said, in anguish. "I (stopped the ball) and then lined it up- I was aiming for the top corner- but it deflected off the crossbar. That was really disappointing."

But not devastating.

With less than two minutes in regulation and the score still tied, Johnson connected with Kristen Clark on a long throw-in pass in the Oak Park zone. Clark won the ensuing header, and was rewarded for her effort when the gamewinning goal ripped the back of the Eagles' net.

Johnson "made a great throwin, and I just headed it in," Clark said. "We had lots of opportunities- lots of corners, lots of throw-ins- but we just ended making the one at the very end."

Oak Christian (2132), a fourtime CIF co-champion, advances to Saturday's Division V title match at Warren High, where the Lions will be pitted against Downey High. Game time is set for 4 p.m.

OCHS has finished with a tie in each of its four CIF title game appearances. There are no shootouts in CIF championship matches.

In defeat, the Eagles had nothing to hang their collective heads about.

Oak Park (14-7-6) beat a pair of league champions to advance to the semifinals. Because of injuries, the Eagles were without the services of several key players for much of the season, including standouts Ashley Umann, Kelsea Shorten and Tayler Johnson.

Yet still, behind solid ball control, nine saves by James and a brilliant assisttogoal combination from Stephanie Gilbert to Melanie Gaball in the 24th minute, Oak Park was in control for the first 3/4 of the match until Oaks Christian's late scoring surge.

For that, and for his young team's accomplishments this season- Oak Park had only three seniors on its roster- head coach Mark Zeolla walked off the pitch a proud man.

"We had a great run," Zeolla said. "I'm very proud of the team, very proud of its heart. We had some great kids on this team, and we've got a great future ahead of us, too."