Chicagoland Soccer

Redwings win the inaugural Springfest Classic

By Gary Larsen

It will remain a mystery, whether or not Madie Burke’s free kick bomb -- taken from the touchline on the right side -- was meant to soar under the crossbar at the far post on Wednesday.

Either way, “it was an awesome ball,” said Burke’s Benet teammate, Brittany Pullen. “And I’m pretty sure she was aiming for the goal.”

Pullen and Burke each scored in Benet’s 3-0 win over Cary-Grove on Wednesday, in the title game of the inaugural St. Francis Springfest Classic, played over three days at Olympic Park in Schaumburg.

Jamei Borges also tallied in the title game for Benet (6-1-1), which put three goals on the scoreboard for the second consecutive game. Burke scored twice on assists from Katie Kaufmann and Rachel Lovely, and Borges fed Pullen for a goal in Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Jacobs.

“We told the kids to start shooting, and now they’re doing that,” Benet coach Henry Wind said. “We’re getting inside the box, we’re getting redirects, and that’s opening up the game for us.”

Forwards Burke and Borges were instrumental to Benet’s attack in the title game beyond the goals they scored.

“They put immediate pressure on people that have the ball, so the game stayed on (Cary-Grove’s) end,” Wind said. “Our forwards are pressuring the ball and everyone is staying organized. When you pressure the other team to make mistakes, you can capitalize on it.”

It was Pullen who struck first for Benet, finding a loose ball on the carpet near the far post and burying it, after Lexie Liber had sent it over on a corner kick early in the contest.

“It was a really good corner kick by Lexie Liber,” Pullen said. “Usually Madie Burke will take those but she wasn’t in, and I’m usually at the far post to head it in. But it was on the ground and I was just kind of there.”

Benet’s 1-0 lead held to halftime, as the Redwings’ girls in back kept things clean. Burke also blistered a free kick off the crossbar from 25 yards out in the first half.

With defenders Carolyn Dirienzo, Maria Schwabe, Rachel Lovely, Kelly Diedrich, and Colleen Lewellyan sharing time this year in front of veteran keeper Claire Munaretto, the Redwings now have 4 shutouts and have only given up 5 goals in 8 games.

“Carolyn is the only new player back there,” Wind said. “Everyone else is back from last year and Claire is as solid as it gets in net.

“We changed it up a little bit. We went flat-four this year with three midfielders, and they had to get used to it. Our mids had to spread out more. But we’re passing the ball more, moving it, playing much better off the ball, and we’re finishing pretty good. We’re getting in the box and we’re making runs.”

Early in the second half, Borges shot with her left foot inside the post from 20 yards out to give Benet a 2-0 cushion. The Redwings forced a point-blank save from the C-G keeper before Burke’s fortuitous boot buried Cary-Grove under a 3-goal deficit, late in the contest.

One of 10 teams in the pool play tournament, Benet went 4-1 winning 8-0 over Addison Trail, 2-0 over Marian Central, and 3-1 over Jacobs. The Redwings’ lone loss came 2-0 to Metea Valley, which finished third in the tournament.

Cary-Grove (5-3) finished 3-2 in Schaumburg, winning 2-0 over Maine West, 1-0 over both Glenbard West and St. Francis, and losing 2-1 to Fenwick.

Wind lauded the play of Katie Liber in Benet’s victories over Jacobs and Cary-Grove, and the junior liked the more aggressive approach to finishing her side showed over the two games.

“I think we’ve gotten a lot more confident in trying to finish,” Liber said. “We have to pump each other up to score, and it comes. And we have a lot of people that can score. We have to pass it around and whoever is open has to shoot.”

Halves were shortened to 30 minutes for the tournament, but playing five games over three frozen days was still no picnic.

“People are sore but it’s a good way to get a lot of games in, in a short amount of time,” Pullen said. “It was good practice for (East Suburban Catholic) conference. We have a big game on Thursday against Carmel, which is one of our biggest conference games.”

Pullen liked what she saw during her squad’s tournament run.

“Our movement off the ball has gotten a lot better and our communication has improved a lot,” Pullen said. “Our fitness level has always been good and we’re getting used to playing with each other now. We’re starting to look more like a team instead of individual soccer players.”

Benet plays at Carmel in Mundelein on Thursday at 6 p.m., and then hosts Joliet Catholic on Saturday at 2 p.m.