Short-handed Redwings can't connect against Red Devils

By Matt Le Cren



As Hinsdale Central’s players prepared to take the field Thursday for their Senior Day match against Benet, one of the officials asked them if they were ready.

“I’m always ready,” forward Jenn Jarmy replied.

Indeed she is. She proved it by pocketing her team-leading ninth goal in the ninth minute to get the scoring started in an eventual 4-0 victory for the Red Devils at Centennial Field in Hinsdale.

Jarmy was one of nine seniors honored in post-game ceremonies. Four of them scored points and three found the back of the net in a possible preview of a sectional semifinal.

“I think a lot of it had to do [with the way] we came out as hard as we could,” Jarmy said. “We just wanted to make it a good game for all of us seniors and win with a bang.

“Hopefully it will carry on to Saturday’s game [against Wheaton Warrenville South] and we’ll finish the [regular] season with 13 wins.”

It became apparent early on that the Red Devils (12-3-2) would have little trouble securing their 12th win against a banged-up Benet squad that came in riding a seven-game winning streak but nursing a boatload of injuries.

Hinsdale Central controlled the action from the start and had a golden opportunity in the second minute when senior Casey May was dumped in the box. Meghan Schick’s penalty kick, however, deflected off the right post.

But Jarmy put the Red Devils on the board at the 31:30 mark of the first half when she knocked home a low cross from Alison Cerny, who had driven to the left endline before finding the wide-open Jarmy with the pass.

“I definitely give her all of the credit for that,” Jarmy said. “That was a perfect pass. All I did was tap it in. At first I was a little nervous it was going to go wide.”

The Red Devils had little reason to be nervous. Though they had only 10 shots, they scored on four of them and dominated the possession for long stretches.

Hinsdale Central scored a decisive goal and ended any thoughts the Redwings had of coming back when a nerve-free freshman made it 2-0 with 8:49 left in the first half.

Junior Alex Otto fed a pass up the middle to forward Emily LaRocque, who dribbled forward and unleashed a 17-yard shot that beat Benet goalie Emma Hlavin to the lower left corner.

It was the fifth goal of the season for LaRocque, who comes off the bench but figures to move into the starting lineup after players like Jarmy and May graduate.

“I was so happy to get a goal,” LaRocque said. “It was just a great feeling once I turned around and [got] that great pass from my teammate.

“The seniors have been my role models all throughout the season. To make that goal to finish off their Senior Night game felt great. I’m happy that it happened because they’ve been such great role models.”

The Red Devils will lose a significant number of players, including Jarmy, May, Madeline Engelking, Lauren Zapka, Caitlin Smith, Darby Moran, Katherine Treankler, Katie Camden and Maddie McCormick, to graduation.

But Jarmy has confidence that youngsters like LaRocque will step up to replace them.

“I definitely think she will be [a main offensive threat],” Jarmy said. “As a freshman she’s already good and I think as the years go on she’s going to get a lot better, especially with [Coach Michael] Smith.

“She’s going to take after his technique and his philosophy. I think she’s going to learn from that and it’s going to help her a lot.”

LaRocque said she has already learned a lot from the seniors, who demonstrated their prowess while playing about half the game against the Redwings as both teams substituted liberally.

May increased the lead to 3-0 in the 46th minute when she ran onto a pass from Engelking and beat Benet goalie Christina Stopka with a 15-yard shot from the left side of the box.

Three minutes later, Zapka made it 4-0 when she powered a 22-yard rocket off the hands of Stopka.

“All along [the seniors] have been playing so well and showing me the way throughout the season,” LaRocque said. “I’m glad that I’m given the opportunity to play with them before they leave because I’ve been learning so much from them.

“Jenn has been playing so great throughout the season – our leading goal-scorer. I’m just happy to have her around and help me out. It’s just been awesome to have this experience as a freshman. I never would have thought I’d been here last year, that’s for sure.”

Benet coach Bob Gros is sure his team would not have lost by four goals if it had been healthy. The Redwings (15-4-1) had given up more than two goals just once – in a 3-1 loss to Carmel – but have been devastated by injuries to their back line.

Junior Rachel Pavlinec, one of the most talented players on the team, is out for the season with a torn ACL, while sophomore sweeper Rachel Bernicky and sophomore marking back Sophia Elbchiri also are sidelined.

“Our biggest problem right now is we have so many backline key people out,” said Gros, who is hoping to get Bernicky and Elbchiri back for the playoffs. “We incorporate our back line with our midfield and we’re disjointed.

“But there are no excuses. We were exposed in a lot of ways. They’re an excellent team and we got outplayed, but it’s hard when you’ve got three key people missing.”

The Redwings managed only two shots in the first half and had five more in the second half when the Red Devils were playing mainly JV players.

Hinsdale Central junior goalie Riley Glenn made one save on a shot by Amanda Kaiser in the first half and freshman backup Katy Coseglia stopped snipes from Michelle Morefield and Jacquie Kaufman after intermission as they shared their team’s 10th shutout.

“If you’ve looked at our results this year, and we showed it today, we’ve struggled finishing at times,” Gros said. “Sometimes we’re pretty good at it. Today we had like six open looks in the second half and didn’t do it, and they put theirs in.

“It’s a matter of the will to win and this bunch has grit and determination. We had five starters out against Viator on Tuesday. We didn’t let them score and then we took it over in the overtime.

“They have had that knack all year long. They’ll stand there and fight to the death and they’ll figure out how to get one or two in, so I think that gives us something to look forward to.”

Neither team wanted to show all of their cards because if the seeds hold, they will meet again on May 21 at the Hinsdale Central Sectional semifinals.

That game would be played on the turf at Dickinson Field and could be a much closer fight if the Redwings are healthy because they prefer playing on turf.

But both teams must win two games to get to that point and neither is looking ahead that far.

Benet, the No. 4 seed, opens the postseason against No. 13 Farragut on Tuesday at the Downers Grove South Regional. They could play fifth-seeded Downers South in the regional final.

“We have every intention of taking it one step at a time,” Gros said. “We’re going to play Farragut on Tuesday. We’re going to win that game and then we’re more than likely meet up with Downers South. We’re preparing for that.

“We’ve got some good solid practice time between now and then. We’re going to go out there are give them our best game. I think they’re two very even teams.”

Hinsdale Central is taking the same approach. The Red Devils face either Proviso East or Proviso West in the first round Tuesday at the Wheaton North Regional and then either No. 8 Oak Park and River Forest or No. 9 Wheaton North in the regional title game.

“Surprisingly, I’m not nervous one bit,” LaRocque said. “We have such a strong team that I’m not even afraid of [the playoffs] because I just know that lose or win, we’ll still be tight. But I’m sad for the season to end, especially with the seniors leaving.”