Mojica goal stands up against Naperville Central
Benet moves to sectional with 1-0 win over Redhawks

 

By Eddie Burns
Photos courtesy of Bret Richter

When the season began first-year Benet coach Sean Wesley was extremely optimistic about the chances of the 2010 squad.

Wesley, who had served as Henry Wind’s assistant for the past eight seasons before taking over for Wind, felt this group of Redwings had the chance to be as good as the state championship squad of 2001.

However, things during the regular season didn’t quite go as planned.

The Redwings sustained a series of injuries, which helped lead to a midseason slump and all appeared to be lost.

Benet slowly started to get more players healthy and instead of dwelling on its subpar record, the team adjusted its priorities to the postseason.

Through two postseason matches, the Redwings suddenly have the look of a much different group, after they earned their first regional championship since 2007 with a 1-0 win against Naperville Central on Saturday in a Class 3A regional championship match played at Memorial Stadium.

“Because of injuries and everything else we started questioning all the work that we put into it,” Wesley said. “I think the kids may have done some of that during the middle of the season, but the reality was we just had so many injuries and we knew that we had to build toward the postseason, and that is what we have been doing and thus far our hard work has paid off.”

The Redwings have managed to get key components back into lineup and it has made a different thus far. Ryan Reilly and Ben Kucera were two key components back on the field Saturday.

Benet, which lost 1-0 to Central earlier in the season, received all of the scoring it would need when junior Tom Mojica slipped a shot inside the far post from close to 20 yards out to give the Redwings an early one-goal lead.

Mojica originally attempted a shot, but had it blocked by one of his own teammates before he collected the ball and sent another left-footed shot and it caught Central goalie Mike Pavliga off guard.

“I was looking to cut it back, but I noticed that I had an open lane to shoot with my left foot someone got a foot on the initial shot, but I got the ball back and saw another open lane and put it right through,” Mojica said.

“(Central) wasn’t ready for a shot like that early in the game. (Central) was looking for more of a cross. It is a fantastic feeling and one I won’t likely forget for a long time.”

Wesley said the Redwings (12-8-1) stressed the importance of scoring early because they knew Central’s strength throughout the season is its defense.

“It might be looked upon as unexpected for (Mojica) to score, but he is a fantastic talent,” Wesley said. “He has just been doing a different job for us all year, which did not give him a lot of chances to score, but that goal was super important because we knew if we fell behind they would pack it in.”

Central coach Troy Adams viewed the Benet goal as the product of a rare miscommunication between the Redwings’ defenders.

“It was a lack of communication, and in my mind that is a breakdown when you’re not communicating with your teammates about who has the ball,” Adams said.

The fact Central found itself behind less than 10 minutes into the match was nothing new, considering the Redhawks had issues with falling behind in games near the end of the season.

Central actually came out strong in the opening minutes, but was caught off-guard when the Redwings connected on their goal.

“It is always that time after you get a chance to score that you really have to buckle down because that is when the other team is going to turn around and get one,” Adams said.

“Unfortunately, we had one of the very few defensive breakdowns that we had all game and they capitalized.”

Central senior AJ Seaman said the Redhawks made a concerted effort to score the first goal.

“It hurts real badly, but both teams played their hearts out,” Seaman said. “Once they got that goal – they kept that lead and we couldn’t capitalize on anything. We were hoping to start off strong and we did. We were hoping to score early and put the pressure on them, but we couldn’t capitalize. Their guy got a quick shot off. It was a good, lucky shot, but that’s how soccer is.”

Once Benet had the lead the Redwings were in a position to play more conservatively. The Redwings dropped eight players back on defense and in the midfield during the second half, which allowed Central chances to maintain possession.

But the Redhawks (11-7-1) never really generated many dangerous chances in and around Benet goalie Kyle DalSanto, who helped the Redwings earn their 11th shutout.

Near the end of the match Benet had Brendon Gesior, Joe Mahoney, Sean Mogan and Joe Menconi holding the back in front of DalSanto.

“I felt early in the beginning and late in the match that we had the better scoring chances,” said Seaman, who along with teammates Pat Flynn and Conner Allen helped generate those chances. “The middle was more (Benet’s) game and that’s how they won it. They dominated more of the middle chunk and we got the ends of it, but we couldn’t convert.”

The Redwings, who are the sixth seed in the sectional, advance to the sectional semifinals where they will meet No. 2 seed Naperville North at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Naperville North.

The Redwings and Huskies played to a 1-1 draw during the regular-season match at the Best of the West Tournament. The Huskies won in a shootout, for tournament purposes.

For No. 3 seed Central, it marked the end of Adams’ first season in charge of the program. Adams replaced Jay Konrad, who resigned during the winter.

“It was a very well-played game,” Adams said. “We didn’t get quite as many quality chances. We had our opportunities, but we just couldn’t find a way to put them in and that is the unfortunate side of playing in the state tournament is that you don’t get another day to correct those problems.”