OAKWOOD — Eaton boys soccer coach Matt Money relied on his experience and instincts to help his team pull off a 1-0 victory over the Oakwood Lumberjacks on Monday, Oct. 17, in the first round of the Dayton 1 Sectional Tournament.

“It was a very competitive match, with a lot of emotion and physicality,” said Money. “My instincts felt that we needed to change something up with the front runners, so I took out one and put in a kid, Tyler Earley, who has never played up front before and sure enough, he got the lone goal which won the game for us.

“I told the kids to just play hard and run — he was in the right place in the right time,” Money said.

Earley, a sophomore defensive specialist, made the goal late in the first half to give the Eagles the lead. No other goals were scored the rest of the game, despite a spirited effort by the Lumberjacks. Todd Pietutowski had six saves as the Eaton goalkeeper.

“They came at us with everything they had in the second half, as they realized their season was going to come to an end,” said Money. “But our resilience on defense proved to be the difference and we were able to control the ball with our front runners to deny them chances, and killed the clock for the victory.

“We are 10-7 in the season, and that’s pretty good. We finished eighth in the area in the coaches poll and the guys feel good about themselves,” he added.

The Eagles were scheduled to play again on Thursday, Oct. 20, at No. 4-seed Chaminade Julienne. Earlier in the week, CJ shut out Meadowdale, 9-0.