Staff photo / Brian Yauger The Niles girls soccer team celebrates a win over Poland on Monday night at Bo Rein Stadium in Niles.

NILES — Sometimes, one is all it takes.

One goal decided Monday’s crucial tilt between Niles and Poland. In a hotly-contested game between Northeast 8 foes, a goal by Red Dragons senior Kherington Stanford pushed Niles over the top in a 1-0 victory.

The win puts the Red Dragons one win away from the team’s first league title since 2015.

“Our community doesn’t get a lot of credit,” Niles coach Scott MacMillan said. “We’ve changed a lot, and for this, it’s a feeling that these kids work hard and they can compete with anybody, and it gives a little bit of pride to our community. I’m hoping that this ride doesn’t end for nearly seven games, that’ll take us into a regional final. And that’s our goal going on. We had a goal set to win the conference and make it to regionals, and we still have that opportunity. We’ll take one game at a time, just a bunch of great kids, and when you’re starting six sophomores and a freshman, it’s a great feat.”

Despite controlling pace for much of the game, it took until just past the halfway mark of the second frame for the Red Dragons to find the back of the net.

Chance after chance went wide of the net, but a Poland gaffe proved to be exactly what Niles needed.

Out of the box, so unable to use her hands, the Bulldogs’ netminder was in a bind.

Stanford took advantage of that, taking the ball away as Poland’s field players guarded the net while their keeper got back into position, by the time she did however, it was too late.

“We built the culture in the last couple years. We’ve been working with the kids, making them play in the summer and against the best teams in the state of Ohio. We take them, we go to camp, we play all Division I schools all summer, we go to Division I tournaments, and we make them play the best, because you got to play the best to be the best. And it’s starting to show,” MacMillan said. “The more they start believing in themselves and their confidence, I believe that they’ll do well. Poland and coach (Neil) Huda and his staff do an amazing job in Poland. It’s a great storied program with a great culture, and their kids are amazing. A battle like this one today, is fitting for us to play.”

Niles (12-2-0) will have its chance to clinch the league by taking down Hubbard on Wednesday in a father-son tilt.

“We’ve got to win. There’s no other way. We just have to go in there and win,” MacMillan said. “Going into Hubbard, and my son’s the coach at Hubbard, so it makes it a lot different. I might have to lock him in his driveway.”

Start time on Wednesday is set for 7 p.m.

As the postseason approaches, Poland (10-2-2) is looking to sharpen up. That starts on Wednesday at home against Struthers.

In practice, expect the Bulldogs to focus on conditioning.

“That’s probably the basic thing, our conditioning,” Huda said. “I think the girls played well, I can’t even say defense (was bad). (Niles) just got one more than us. We made one bad play, and they scored.”