WALES — The difference in Heal Points that determines whether the Oak Hill girls’ soccer team makes the playoffs is traditionally pretty slim.

There have been many seasons in which the Raiders have just missed the tournament, where a win here or there — or even a tie — in the regular season might have produced a different outcome.

With this in mind, Oak Hill went into Wednesday’s game knowing points were there for the taking, and how badly the team needed them.

“It was very important,” senior forward Brittaney Marquis said. “We knew it was going to be a hard game, and we played our hardest.”

Marquis and Sydney Drew each scored goals and the Raiders’ defense was solid as Oak Hill beat Hall-Dale 2-1 for a valuable victory. It was the third straight win for the Raiders.

“Being in Class B, we need to get as many points as we can,” said Oak Hill coach Nicole Camire, whose 5-2 team jumped up to third in Class B South. “So beating Hall-Dale is a big one for us. Sometimes there aren’t enough points for us to squeeze into the B tournament.”

Though the Raiders play point-worthy teams like Madison and Mountain Valley, the rest of the Oak Hill’s schedule doesn’t feature teams worth an abundance of points. That made Wednesday’s win that much more crucial. Hall-Dale is 4-2-1 and ranked sixth in Class C South.

“The last couple of seasons, we’ve had a tough fight against Hall-Dale,” Camire said. “So we’re really pleased to come out and play well.”

Winning at home was also a positive step for the Raiders. Oak Hill is 2-1 at home but hadn’t played its best on its home turf. One of those games was a 2-0 loss against unbeaten Monmouth.

“That’s been a big challenge for us, to play well on our home field,” Camire said. “Mentally, they have a hard time getting pumped up for the game. They have a hard time focusing on the game. I think maybe the bus ride is the piece where they have that time to think about it and focus on it a little bit more.”

Oak Hill took an early lead when Jamie Prue won the ball in the left corner and put it in front toward Marquis. She got by a defender for the shot with 22:31 left in the first half.

“It brought our heads up,” Marquis said. “We kept positive and kept working hard.”

Hall-Dale had its chances. Oak Hill keeper Anna Dodge saved and Emily Drappeau shot, and followed that with a diving stop on Signe Lynch. The sophomore keeper finished with nine saves. 

The defense in front of her did a nice job of breaking up plays and blocking shots. Though Hall-Dale moved the ball, the Bulldogs couldn’t produce many shots to test Dodge.

“Our defense is awesome,” Marquis said. “They work well. “They rotate well. They push the ball up and do a great job back there.”

The Bulldogs had another bid by Drappeau early in the second half but defender Julia Ahlberg broke it up. Hannah Nadeau shut down another Drappeau rush while Meghan Desjardins made some standout plays on defense as well.

“Our defense has been holding us in games so far this season,” Camire said. “I can’t speak highly enough about Hannah Nadeau at sweeper. She’s just phenomenal. Her speed is great. She comes out of nowhere. Her ball skills, she’s calm in the back of the defense, and it makes a big difference for the rest of the defense.”

The Raiders got some breathing room with 27:46 left. Kierra Rolston sent a nice pass ahead for Drew on the right side. She was fouled on the rush, drawing a penalty shot. 

She looked left but shot right for the goal and 2-0 lead.

“We felt like a huge weight was lifted,” Drew said. “We got a lot of hope from it. I think it was great for us. It really lifted us up and kept us going.”

Hall-Dale made things interesting when Dani Sweet scored with 3:31 to play. The Bulldogs continued to pressure in the final minutes. Isabella Marino had a shot go wide while Dodge secured a last-second offering and the win.

“We were all really nervous when they scored that goal with about four minutes left, but we ended up getting through, which is really good,” Drew said. “We stayed calm.”

kmills@sunjournal.com