Lions rally late against Redwings, earn share of ESCC title

Saint Viator hands Benet Academy first league loss, squads join Carmel as co-champions

 

 

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By Mike Garofola

Perhaps it was the inspiration provided by former returning players on the touchline - or maybe the perfect storm was blowing in the right direction.

Whatever the reason, Saint Viator found magic in the final 10 minutes of regulation on a blustery Friday afternoon to stun visiting Benet Academy with a pair of late strikes to claim a 2-1 victory.

That earned the Lions a share of the East Suburban Catholic Conference title along with Carmel, marking just the third time in league history a trio of sides would get a piece of the big trophy.

"It was kind of a perfect storm," began Saint Viator coach Mike Taylor with a big smile. "We told the guys beforehand that (there) was a great opportunity set up for them today.

"Not only was it the final regular season game, and final conferece game of (their) year, but it was also Homecoming weekend, and a bunch of guys from our championship team from two years ago would be around.

"Hey, it wasn't a pretty game by any stretch of the imagination, but sometimes winning ugly is the only (way) - and we somehow found a way to get those (two) late goals, and away we go."

"Now it's time to concentrate on the tournament," said Taylor, whose squad improved to 13-4-4 overall and 7-1 in the ESCC.

On the long bus ride over to Celtic Park, and the turf pitch in Palatine, Benet coach Sean Wesley knew their longtime rivals would await and give them a battle.

Wesley also knew that at the very least, a draw would send his club up and over both Carmel and Saint Viator, and allow his lads to lift the championship trophy, the first since 2006.

"We had a great start, and played very well in the first 15-20 minutes, but what it came down to was the fact that we didn't manage our lead very well, and basically gave away two goals and the outright title," said a disappointed Wesley.

"This would have been a terrible way to see our season end, and fortunately, all it did was make us share the title.

So for me and the boys, I hope we all learned a valuable lesson from what happened to us in the final 10 minutes (or so) and (now) make sure it doesn't happen again in the postseason."

Benet (13-4-2, 7-1) signaled their intent by making an early mark on the game by using width, and quick, smart touches through its midfield.

The duo of Benjamin Kucera and Thomas Mojica in the middle of the park fueled one attack after another, with the home side finding a high, tight line seemed to be the only way to stop the visitors in the first quarter hour.

"Benet put a lot of early pressure on us, and with our inability to possess and hang onto the ball, it was if they were in our end almost all of the time," said Adam Fetter, whose recent move to the backline to join veteran Troy Wheeler has helped make the Lions' defense water-tight.

"It didn't look very good from where I was playing either," chimed Lion keeper Stefan Miller, who had a birds-eye view of what was going on, and would be strong in his box throughout.

That was espcially the case in the air, when a strong crosswind played havoc with several serves sent into the area in Miller's end, as well as counterpart Kyle Dal Santo, who managed things just as well during his 80 minutes of work.

Hunter Miller and Sam Knapke, who was rampant at times along the outside in both halves, gave the Redwings the desired pace and energy to help keep the ball in the Saint Viator end, and on the brink.

But even with their work, as well as the aforementioed Kucera and Mojica, the visitors were not able to find the back of the net.

"That might have been our undoing today," admitted Wesley.

"We got the goal from Alex (Senak) and created plenty of opportunities before the half, and in the second half, and I have a feeling if we could have finished just one of those, then maybe we get another one or two more, and the result ends up in our favor, and not the other way."

Senak was on target from outside the box with a brilliant right-footed cracker that nestled high into the back of the net, and far enough away from Miller to even come close to in the 30th minute.

Then moments later, a looping ball sent in from Senak found Knapke, but Miller went high into the air to pull a potential dangerous ball away from the ever-present Knapke.

"I was a little worried after (Benet) scored, because we haven't played well from behind this season," said Miller, who appears to be the man Taylor and his staff will go with between the sticks from here on out.

Miller would watch Knapke, whose work rate was terrific whenever he was on the pitch, get to the endline and serve a quality ball to Senak, whose shot was sprayed wide of the post at 51 minutes.

Then minutes later, the junior was forced to save a left-footed strike from John Hupp on the tail-end of a Benet counter.

This 15-minute stretch where the visitors enjoyed the run of play after intermission would slowly subside.

As Wheeler, Fetter, Mike Decker and Andrew Ferrante began to win more balls along the back, while keeping nearly everything in front of them, Benet's attack slowly stalled.

That allowed Taylor to move both Wheeler and Fetter into the center of the park, and bringing on Kevin McMahon to handle things, along with Decker as central defenders.

"We had to try something different, and hopefully get something going with our move of Andrew and Troy (forward) and their physical presence, and ability to create and distribute obviously proved to be exactly what we needed," said Taylor.

Some careless defending, and a wonderful ball from Wheeler found an unmarked Spencer Moore just inside the 6-yard box - and it was almost too easy for the sophomore who headed in the equalizer at 73 minutes.

"We had (five) midfielders at that point, and four of them were just standing around, and that is why they had such an easy route into the box to score," said Wesley.

"Spencer's goal was just what we needed, and suddenly all of us felt the shift in momemtum to our favor," added Fetter.

Brimming with confidence, the Lions would need just a few minutes to find the game-winner to stun the visitors.

It all started when Kevin Patzke's angled shot from the right side flashed through the box and off of the back post - then bounced around as if it were a ball in a pin-ball machine.

Fetter was the closest to the wayward ball - and his calm touch past a diving Dal Santo all but assured victory with just less than three minutes left before time.

"That first goal for us was big," admitted Taylor, but our effort before (then) was maybe our best of the ballgame.

"Our ability to go after the game-winner is what we've been lacking recently, and maybe it's the type of thing we needed to put some life back into the way we play from here on out."

The Lions open up tournament play next Wednesday evening at the Stevenson Regional as the No. 10 seed against the host Patriots, the eight-seed.

A victory likely sends them into the final against MSL champion Prospect, who is undefeated in 19 matches thus far.

Benet, who earned the No. 7 seed at the rugged Naperville North Regional, meets No. 10 Waubonsie Valley on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

"There is just a couple of days for us to regroup and to sort some things out before next Tuesday," began Wesley.

"We've been playing very well of late, and a game like this can be exactly what a team needs to remind everyone how fast things can go.

"But I am confident of our team and players, and I know everyone will be anxious to get back to training in preparation for our regional opener."