While playing through an injury all season, senior midfielder Diego Rodriguez has been limited to being a distributor for Reavis.
He’s ready to do more now.
“I injured a tendon in my right foot,” Rodriguez said. “I couldn’t get comfortable shooting, so I’m usually the one doing the passing. I haven’t really looked for goals.
“I’ve recovered, though, and I’m starting to get my confidence back shooting.”
Rodriguez showed that Tuesday night, scoring his first goal of the season. He also excelled in his typical role, dishing out a pair of assists as visiting Reavis rolled to a 3-1 win over Oak Forest in a South Suburban crossover.
Rodriguez’s goal, on a low line-drive shot off a pass from Pedro Guzman, capped a three-goal second half for the Rams (7-2-4, 4-0-3 SSC Red) and put them firmly in control up 3-0 with 4 minutes, 34 seconds to go.
“It feels really good to be able to shoot again,” Rodriguez said. “It feels great to get my first goal.”
Reavis coach Mark Gniadek is starting to see Rodriguez round back into form after the injury.
“Diego is finally starting to get healthy and he’s looking like Diego,” Gniadek said. “He’s big and strong and we need that. A couple guys had their best games (Tuesday), him being one of them.”
Oak Forest (7-4-3, 3-2-2 SSC Blue) kept Reavis off the scoreboard in the first half as freshman goalkeeper Adam Jedrzejczyk, who finished with nine saves, came up big.
The Rams, however, broke through just under seven minutes into the second half.
Guzman took a free kick from just outside the box on the left side of the field and played a short pass to Steven Solis, whose shot was saved by Jedrzejczyk.
Rodriguez pounced on the rebound, though, and slipped a quick pass to Carlos Ramos, who scored into the open net.
“We worked a lot on in the last practice on making good runs off set pieces,” Rodriguez said. “I made my run to the back post. I had a chance but I saw (Ramos) open and I passed him the ball and he was there to put it in.”
It was also the first goal of the season for Ramos.
“I normally play winger,” Ramos said. “This was one of my first games playing forward, and it feels nice to score a goal. Usually, I’m making plays to set up other guys, so it’s nice to be the one to score.”
Rodriguez also set up the second goal, sending a cross to Emanuel Montero, who tucked his shot inside the right post for a 2-0 lead with 24:29 to go.
“In the first half, we were just kind of blindly playing the ball into the box and their goalie was picking them off,” Gniadek said. “At halftime, we said to get your head up, find a teammate and pass it to them.
“Diego Rodriguez was the one who said that to the team and then he did it on that second goal, so that was awesome.”
Giovanni Cabrera scored for Oak Forest with 56 seconds left to break the shutout.
“They came out on fire in the second half,” Oak Forest coach Kieran Byrne said. “We just couldn’t live with that tempo and the pressure they put on us. I think they caught us cold coming out after halftime.
“After they score that first one, we’re chasing and we’re going to be a little more open and rushed. We were lacking that composure.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.