Redwings battle to the end vs. Naperville North
Benet falls 2-1 in sectional semifinal

 

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS COURTESY OF SCOTT BUTLER

By Eddie Burns

It is hard enough to mount a comeback in the postseason after allowing the first goal, let alone the two corner kicks that Benet watched Naperville North convert in the first 30 minutes of their Class 3A sectional semifinal match on Thursday night.

Instead of quitting, the Redwings made a game of it before falling by a 2-1 margin to end the season at 12-9-1.

“We felt that we were on a roll coming into the sectionals,” first year coach Sean Wesley said. “We had momentum and guys were getting healthy. We came into this game very keen on getting a result.

“But the two penalty kicks were brutal to dig out of. If you get two PKs called on you in the first 30 minutes of a soccer game, you are digging out of a hole that is so deep that I think the (officials)  really took the game away in that respect.”

North’s Evan Trychta converted on both penalty kick attempts after he was fouled in the penalty area by two different Benet defenders.

Benet senior co-captain Ryan Reilly, who was practically playing on one leg because of a left ankle injury, felt the Redwings played the style of soccer that they wanted to impose against North.

“There were some questionable calls and it was a frustrating night,” Reilly said. “We knew we were a bigger team (physically speaking than North) and we didn’t want to foul them, but we did get called for a lot of stupid fouls. We came out too hard and we didn’t feel there was anything wrong with that, but the officials did.”

Wesley said the Redwings needed to be a bit smarter about recognizing the way the game was being officiated.

“The man we had tonight was calling it very tight. Well, as an adult and a varsity soccer player, you need to adjust to that,” Wesley said. “I don’t think we were too aggressive, but I don’t think we adjusted to the soft fouls that were being called. We were playing at one speed and the referee was saying that it wasn’t going to fly.”

Benet had a golden opportunity to cut North’s momentum when the Redwings were granted a restart from approximately 25 yards out. Restart specialist Sean Mogan ripped a left-footed shot past the wall, but it banged off the crossbar and back out into the field of play where it was cleared away by the Huskies’ defense.

“Mogan gets that -- it is a completely different game,” Reilly said. “It could have been a big deal.”

The second half saw North continue to look aggressive while putting up a strong line of defense. The Redwings had issues sustaining pressure.

“We just didn’t make it dangerous and that has been our story all year,” Wesley said. “They were all over Mogan every time he touched the ball. When you are up 2-0, you can pretty much create a wall and that is what North did.”

The Redwings received some life when they were awarded a penalty kick of their own in the 73rd minute. Mogan converted on the attempt, which cut North’s lead in half.

However, it was too little too late.

“That gave us a chance, but we spent too much of the second half kicking the ball way too much up the field instead of possessing it like we needed to do,” Reilly said. “We got away from our game a bit because we were scrambling to score.”

Benet did create one last chance in the closing seconds when it was awarded a restart from just outside North’s penalty area, but Mogan’s attempt was blocked by North defender Jimmy Butler.

For Reilly and all of the players and coaches, the reality that the season had come to an end was difficult to take.

“There are things you wish you could do over,” Reilly said. “When we have everyone healthy we are a great team. It is regrettable that everyone was never healthy, but that is the way things went for us this season.”

Wesley said he learned a lot from everything he experienced throughout his first full season as a varsity head coach.

“I think reflecting upon the year and the program is that we’re building to win games like this – not to just be in games like this and I think the kids bought into that,” Wesley said.

“It was a transitional year. It is a difficult concept to buy into believing that we are built for a certain type of style of play. We’re getting close. We had kids who could play. We had character. We won games that we probably shouldn’t have won and we lost games that we shouldn’t have lost.”

Wesley said he gained a lot of respect for his boys when he addressed them at halftime and saw the way they came out and played the second half.

“They could have quit, but instead they really came out and fought,” Wesley said. “Three weeks ago we had no fight and no character.  I challenged the guys – what kind of character does this team have? Sure, winning a regional title is fantastic, but what I’m really proud of about this group is the character they showed.

“To go down 2-0 on two PKs and to have a bunch of hot-heads on our team who do actually bite their tongue for the most part and to come out of halftime thinking we’re going to win. We played that way going into the wind – we felt we were going to win. We were going to figure this out.”