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ALTON – Alaina Nasello scored in the fourth minute, and the Alton defense made the goal stand up as the Redbirds won a key Southwestern Conference match over O’Fallon 1-0 Tuesday afternoon at Piasa Motor Fuels Field.
It was the first win of the season in three meetings with the Panthers, and it kept Alton in the thick of the conference race.
“It was huge for us to pick up this conference win,” said Alton head coach Gwen Sabo. “This is our third time playing O’Fallon this season – we lost once in a tournament, and once in a conference game earlier this season. The girls came out fired up and scored within the first five minutes.”
It was a bit of an unseasonably warm day, with temperatures in the lower 80s, but the Redbirds fought off the obstacles to gain a vital three points in the SWC standings.
“The heat definitely played a factor in our performance today,” Sabo said, “but the girls pushed through and got the result. As always, our defense played solid for 80 minutes, which helped us pick up our eighth shutout of the season.”
Nasello’s strike came off her own corner kick, which was deflected but came right back to her, as Nasello put the ball straight into the lower right corner of the net to give Alton the lead at 1-0.
The Redbirds had several chances to increase its lead, especially in the 25th minute, when Calista Cox’s attempt from distance was tipped over the bar by the O’Fallon goalie, then in the 32nd minute, when Maggie Evans tried from outside the box, but her shot went over the top.
O’Fallon had several chances in the second half, but Addison Miller and the Redbird defense came up with the stops, as Miller recorded five save in getting the clean sheet for the Alton win.
The Redbirds are now 9-6-0 for the season, 5-2-0 in the conference, and hosts Hazelwood West on Wednesday in a 4:30 p.m. kickoff. The Alton homestand continues on Apr. 22 against Granite City and Apr. 23 against Breese Mater Dei, with both games starting also at 4:30 p.m.
Colin Feeney also contributed to this story.
