Redwings win on senior day, take control in ESCC race

 

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By Matt Le Cren

It was Senior Day at Benet Academy on Wednesday, so the Redwings started an all-senior lineup, which included six players who rarely see much playing time.

The makeshift lineup did nothing to slow Benet’s momentum as the hosts crushed St. Patrick 6-0 in East Suburban Catholic Conference action in Lisle to extend their winning streak to eight games and their unbeaten skein to 10.

The Redwings (11-3-1, 6-0) also stayed unbeaten in league play as they prepare for their Oct. 14 showdown with Saint Viator.

Carmel (5-1 in ESCC) beat Saint Viator (4-1 in ESCC) 1-0 in overtime on Wednesday, thus putting the Redwings alone in first place in the league standings.

“I’m just really proud of the seniors, to not start any of the underclassmen, and for a guy like Dan Crowley to get a goal, he played great today,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said.

“John Hupp played great today. That’s guys stepping up, guys who are sitting on the bench waiting for their turn to play and today they got their chance.”

Crowley, a defender, scored his first goal of the season and it came when the outcome was still in doubt.

He got the ball on the left side of the St. Patrick penalty area, walked in on Shamrocks goalie Christian Brito and lifted a short shot over his head to give Benet a 2-0 lead with 20:17 left in the first half.

“It was a good feeling,” Crowley said. “It was kind of a special day for all of us to be out there after four years. It’s fun. I don’t play that often, maybe a couple minutes a game.”

A couple of minutes was all the Redwings needed to take the lead on the Shamrocks (5-11-1, 2-4-1), who were completely overmatched.

Creighton recruit Benjamin Kucera put Benet ahead 1-0 just 95 seconds into the contest when he beat Brito with an eight-yard shot.

“We didn’t have Kucera when we played in the Best of the West (tournament),” said Wesley, whose team began the year 2-3, with two of the losses coming in that tourney.

“He was on his college visit that weekend, so he makes a huge difference and I just think the team is coming together. We have all kinds of guys who are scoring, and I think we’ve figured it out in back.”

Senior Hunter Miller scored twice on a pair of great individual efforts to double Benet’s lead just before halftime.

First he stole the ball in the St. Patrick box and beat Brito inside the left post with a quick 10-yard shot with 4:19 remaining, then increased the Redwings’ lead to 4-0 when he blasted a left-footed 25-yard shot off the underside of the crossbar with a minute left before intermission.

The Redwings kept up the intensity in the second half, with Hupp scoring on a penalty kick 2:37 after the break before sophomore Sam Knapke tallied the final goal off an assist from junior Brad Bozych at the 26:50 mark.

“We’re a close team. We have a lot of chemistry,” Miller said. “In the beginning we started off pretty strong, but in the past eight or 10 games we’ve really held strong as a team and we just have momentum with us going into each game, so we hope it continues.”

Crowley said better chemistry is the main reason for Benet’s improvement from last year, when the Redwings went 12-9-1 and finished fourth in the ESCC, but that depth also plays a big role.

“We have a lot of depth this year,” Crowley said. “We have a lot of talent and we’ve changed our lineup a lot to try to find the perfect one and right now I think we have a lot of momentum. We have a lot of potential, so if we keep it up we should be able to go far.”

The Redwings want to make a deep postseason run but their first order of business is winning conference. Benet has won eight ESCC championships, but none recently. Wins over Nazareth and Saint Viator will do the trick.

“It’s a huge deal,” Crowley said. “Playoffs are in the future, we’ve got our seed so we’re getting ready for that, but right now we’re just thinking about winning conference.”

Benet has given up only one goal in conference play, thanks to a back line led by seniors Dan Coleman and Brendon Gesior and junior goalie Kyle Dal Santo, who has been superb.

Dal Santo wasn’t needed against St. Patrick as senior backup Thomas Sullivan made two saves to record his first shutout of the season.

“Thomas Sullivan in goal played fantastic,” Wesley said. “Most teams would kill to have him as their starter. [We’re] very fortunate that we have Kyle Dal Santo, but it’s unbelievable to have a guy like that behind him.”

Dal Santo actually played the field in the second half. He scored a goal against Joliet Catholic last month and played defense in this one. He has six shutouts for Benet, which has blanked its last four opponents.