Arriola brothers propel Romeoville

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:24PM

Making a spot-start in goal, freshman Danny Arriola wasn't about to let his older brother down.

Arriola made six saves, including five in the second half, to ensure his brother Andy's two first-half goals stood up as Romeoville held on for a 2-1 victory Tuesday over Eisenhower in Bridgeview.

"Danny was a freshman stepping into a big game, it was fun to see," Romeoville coach Nick Cirrincione said. "He's a tough kid, we play him everywhere and he stood tall for us today."

Arriola, who normally plays forward alongside his brother Andy, was pressed into service as starting goalie Luis Castillo served a one-game suspension for a red card. The brothers are used to giving each other advice during games, and Andy, a junior, was quick to step in and help steady his younger brother after Danny surrendered Eisenhower's only goal of the game.

"On the goal they scored, he was like, ‘It's alright, you just got to get that next time,' " Danny Arriola said. "He doesn't yell, he just tells me what I need to hear. I wanted to make sure his goals got us the win."

Andy Arriola gave the Spartans (8-10) a 2-0 lead inside the first 10 minutes of the game on a pair of 25-yard strikes.

"Coach is always on me about shooting," Andy Arriola said. "On the first one I dribbled through a couple players and placed the shot and on the second goal I was able to sneak it past the goalie on the ground."

Rogelio Orozco scored with 18:39 left in the second half for Eisenhower (14-5), which rested most of its starters for the first half ahead of a pivotal South Suburban Red game with Argo Wednesday.

"As you could see the second half was a little different game," said Eisenhower coach Dylan Shaughnessy, whose team outshot Romeoville 11-0 after halftime. "We're trying to play smart right now. If we beat Argo, we win our conference. We definitely are focusing on that first before we start looking ahead to the playoffs or anything else."

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