A four-year varsity regular at Oak Forest, Rebecca Yerkes spent her first three seasons playing forward and was one of the team’s top offensive players last spring.
But this season, the Bengals were in need of a goalkeeper. Yerkes, who is a three-sport athlete, thought she was capable of making the switch.
“I just felt like I was one of the better options because I’ve played basketball and volleyball,” Yerkes said. “I figured it’d be an easier transition for me.
“I’d rather help our team win than play forward and see us not win, so that made it a pretty easy decision.”
The move has been a marvelous one so far. Yerkes recorded her eighth shutout of the season, making four saves Thursday night to help visiting Oak Forest emerge with a 3-0 win over Reavis in a South Suburban Conference crossover in Burbank.
Freshman forward Brie Dowling scored two goals for the Bengals (8-3, 3-1 SSC Blue). Sophomore midfielder Riley Carone added a goal and junior midfielder Betty Redican had an assist.
Zdenka Majercak, Emma Everitt, Samantha Walsh and Isabella Lisenko led the defense in front of Yerkes, who Oak Forest coach Mike DaLuga is sure glad to have in the net.
“Our keeper from last year transferred and ‘Becca’ was awesome,” DaLuga said. “She volunteered. I was going to try to trick her into doing it because she’s a great athlete, a three-sport athlete. But she came up to me and said, ‘Coach, I’ll play goalie.’
“She’s a great kid. She’s a top 10 student in her class. She takes every AP class. And she’s been killing it as a goalkeeper.”
Kaylamine Flores made three saves for Reavis (6-3-1, 2-2 SSC Red). Isabella Lopez had two shots on goal.
Yerkes, meanwhile, was confident her wide array of athletic experiences would help her succeed as a goalkeeper. In addition to basketball and volleyball, she’s also a former hockey player.
“All the different perspectives help,” Yerkes said. “Playing goalie, I’m just adding another new perspective and it’s easier to adapt to things because all my other sports have helped me.”
Dowling is certainly a fan of what Yerkes has done in goal. The freshman has also leaned on Yerkes — a senior captain on a young team — for guidance.
“She’s definitely a really good leader,” Dowling said. “Even if I miss a shot or just completely whiff on the ball, she’s there to pick my head up and make sure I’m OK.
“She’s very impressive as a goalie. She saved a PK this year. It’s definitely better than I could do.”
Dowling, though, is certainly doing her own thing. She scored in the 14th minute Thursday to put the Bengals in front 1-0 and added a goal in the second half to stretch the lead to 3-0.
She’s already up to 13 goals this season.
“I was not at all expecting this as a freshman,” Dowling said. “There have been some mental battles but I feel like I’m getting smarter as a player, making better runs and better passes.”
DaLuga knows Yerkes can relate when it comes to the mental battles.
“She’s a perfectionist on the soccer field, just like she is in the classroom,” DaLuga said. “She’s hard on herself. If she has a bad practice, you know she’s going to work twice as hard the next day.”
Yerkes acknowledged the hardest part about her new position has been not beating herself up too much when she gives up a goal.
But she’s only allowed seven all season, and she’s learned how to move on when it does happen.
“The toughest thing was realizing that it’s not all on me but it feels like it so I had to learn how to shake it off,” Yerkes said. “Everyone around me helps, especially my defense.
“Everyone picks me up.”
