Redwings aiming to turn the corner down the stretch
3-1 win over DG South a good sign for Benet

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By Gary Larsen

Benet was 6-6-1 heading into Monday’s game against a 9-2-4 Downers Grove South team, and the Redwings’ 3-1 win highlighted the vast parity in Illinois high school soccer this fall.

To an arguably unprecedented extent, fans can throw the sectional seeds out the window this year.

“I think we’ll have a double-digit seed surprise somebody big,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “It’s going to happen. The talent is too deep around here.”

For Benet, Monday’s win was another crisp step forward towards finding its footing as the season’s end draws near.

“It seems like we’ve been waiting all season for a game like this, where we shoot the ball four times and score three goals,” Wesley said. “And then we played pretty good defense.”

The Redwings scored 3 goals before halftime against the Mustangs, with junior Hunter Miller in the thick of things. Miller scored from distance early on, and then hammered another ball on frame to set up Benet’s second goal.

South keeper Sam Hadley made the initial stop on Miller’s blast, but Redwings’ senior Brian Morefield was there to follow it up.

“(Miller) hasn’t played in back for a while but he’s doing great up top,” Benet senior Ryan Reilly said. “Creating opportunities has been a problem for this team, but he and (Sean) Mogan are creating chances for us. Hunter, Mogan, (Sean) O’Hara, and Morefield were all great today.”

Mogan sent a nice feed to O’Hara streaking up the left side, and O’Hara buried Benet’s third goal of the half, hitting a sweet shot to the inside netting of the far post.

“Sean Mogan does what he does for us every game,” Wesley said. “Every time the ball hits his foot, he keeps it, and he’s only 5’5” or 5’6” but he wins every head ball at midfield, which isn’t supposed to happen.”

There’s nothing like a three-goal spurt in a 20-minute span to lift a team’s spirits, and it was just what the doctor ordered for Benet.

The Redwings have missed the services of 5 or 6 starters due to injury at various points this season, after entering the season with high expectations they’ve struggled to meet.

“Metea Valley, Marist, Carmel – those were disappointing losses,” Reilly said. “I think we’re better than that. We have to play 80 minutes. Both Marist and Metea scored 3 goals in the last 18 minutes, and I just don’t understand how you let that happen.

"We had a meeting on the field after (DG South) scored that first goal, and decided that wasn’t going to happen again.”

The Mustangs’ Kyle Wolf scored a second-half goal set up by a Joe McLean free kick, and while South had its share of pressure to the final whistle, Benet didn’t break again.

Reilly’s return to the back line after a 6-game hiatus was a big reason why. There’s Benet with Reilly on the field and Benet without him, with Wesley’s blood pressure hanging precariously in the balance.

“We couldn’t need him more,” Wesley said. “This was the least stressful game I’ve had all season, and it’s because he’s back.

"He’s the only guy who talks and organizes. We have a sophomore goalie (Kyle DalSanto) who’s not really ready yet to take on that responsibility, Joe Mahoney is a solid role player who will do anything you tell him, and Ryan is that lynchpin that connects it all.”

Reilly returned to the field on Monday and while the senior captain isn't a hundred percent healthy, “it was either play hurt or sit out,” Reilly said. “And sitting out isn't an option.”

After Miller had a hand in the game’s first-half scoring, Wesley slid him to the back line to help thwart the Mustangs’ attack.

“Hunter Miller is a player," Wesley said. "We can fire a ball into him and he’s going to control it, keep it, and find the pass. His first shot was a great chance and his second shot their goalkeeper couldn’t handle, and Brian Morefield cleaned it up.

"And what we’ve done recently when we’ve scored goals is taking him from the front and moving him to the back, to lock down the back once we get ahead.”

Benet’s record has twice dipped below .500 this year, but the Redwings answered the bell both times, posting a pair of follow-up wins to climb back over .500 mark.

They’ll chase their first 3-game win streak of the season on Wednesday against St. Patrick, and then close out the regular season with four tough opponents: Nazareth, Wheaton Academy, Saint Viator, and Lyons Township.

ESCC rival Saint Viator and Lyons Township were last year’s Class 2A and 3A state champions, respectively.

“We’re a team that can lose in the regional or go to the state finals. We’re that team,” Reilly said.
 
Wesley pointed to one more Redwing as an example of what it will take for Benet to make a deep run in the looming postseason.

“Kevin Doyle is stepping up,” Wesley said. “He was hurt for three months and now he’s getting significant playing time at outside mid. He helps us. He’s blue-collar to the bone, and if we can mix in some of the talent we have with that blue-collar attitude, I think we have something.

"I don’t want to say that one game righted the ship but we’re moving in the right direction. There’s an urgency now that we did not have before.”