Redhawks win Best of West
title with strong second half
Benet can't match Naperville Central's firepower
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE -- Benet was attempting to pull off the impressive if improbable feat of beating both Naperville North and Naperville Central on the road on the same day.
The Redwings nearly did it.
After knocking off Naperville North 4-2 behind Kyle Kenagy’s hat trick in the morning to advance to the Best of the West tournament title match, Benet held a 1-0 halftime lead on host Naperville Central.
But the Redhawks had too much firepower and rode an impressive display of second-half offense to a 3-1 victory in a battle of unbeatens at Memorial Stadium.
Ironically, Benet coach Sean Wesley said it was his team’s best performance so far.
“I think for the first time this year we played pretty good soccer and we had to because they’re a great team,” Wesley said. “So to stay in the game and be in the flow and create chances, we were going to have to play good soccer tonight -- and we did. We connected more passes than we’ve done so far this year.
“We were in good shape at halftime, but I think our legs caught up to us. I think it’s a really tough day on the kids. To play Naperville North at Naperville North and then come here and play Naperville Central at Naperville Central five hours later, I just didn’t think we had the legs.”
But the Redhawks (6-0-1) certainly did. They looked like thoroughbreds in the second half, tying the game just 25 seconds after intermission.
Noah Hey got the equalizer when he scored off a rebound of Daniel Poole’s volley.
“I saw the defender mishit it,” Hey said. “The ball fell right to me, and I put it home.
“We wanted to come out right away and pop one in, keep digging ourselves back in the game, and that’s what we did.”
Naperville Central coach Troy Adams wasn’t happy with the halftime deficit but he took it in stride.
“He just calmly told us to play our own game, just don’t overcompensate, don’t try to take it all on by yourself,” Poole said. “Coach always tells us there’s always an opportunity in the first five minutes, and we took it.”
Hey’s goal flipped a switch for the Redhawks’ high-powered offense, which dominated the rest of the game.
Poole, Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match, tallied the game winner 2:36 after Hey’s goal on a one-timer off a cross from Jordi Heeneman. Both Hey and Poole now have two goals this fall.
Heeneman boosted the bulge to 3-0 at the 22:21 mark. Riley Guttosch lofted a 30-yard free kick from the left sideline over the defense to the back post, where Heeneman had an easy tap-in volley.
“It happens every time we score [that] a bunch of goals come after,” Poole said. “And I’d like to thank all our fans. They got us going, and everyone was excited and ready to go.”
The Redhawks also started strong in the first half, attacking off the opening kickoff and creating a dangerous chance in the opening 15 seconds when Poole got around the left end and skittered a cross that Benet goalie Konrad Bayer dove on just before Hey could get his foot on it.
Naperville Central had six shots in the opening half, but Bayer made three saves and the play was more end-to-end than it was later on.
“I think in the first half they didn’t allow us to get into our game and play the way we wanted to play,” Hey said. “Then in the second half we came out really strong and popped one in and the rest is history.”
Before that, the Redwings (4-1) were in the process of writing a different script. They struck first with 19:17 to go in the first half when sophomore midfielder Connor Mote tallied his first career varsity goal when he knocked home a cross from freshman Artur Pach.
Pach’s cross from the right corner was intended for Kenagy, but it missed him and went to Mote, who was crashing in on the far post. Mote adroitly settled it and sent a short shot past Redhawks goalie Alan Daas.
Benet nearly went up by two goals eight minutes later when Kenagy dribbled 70 yards up the middle of the field before being forced into the right corner, where he dumped the ball off to Pach.
Pach’s cross into traffic was punched away by Alan Daas, but Benet’s Omar Kashow headed it over Kallikadan’s head. Naperville Central defender Sean Flading headed the ball off the line to keep his team within a goal.
“Huge play,” Adams said. “[If that goes in] you’re chasing goals in the second half and they can start to lock in and drop back."
Instead, Benet dropped its first game of the season.
“We played 70 minutes,” Mote said. “The first 10 minutes of that second half, I guess we weren’t ready. We didn’t come out strong like we did in the first half.”
Wesley blamed that on fatigue.
“I loved our back line and our attitude and effort,” Wesley said. “I just didn’t think we had the legs. We couldn’t keep up after halftime.”
Starting lineups
Benet
GK Konrad Bayer
D Bennett Curtis
D Harrison Burke
D Dustin Uher
D Jared Kovach
M Connor Mote
M Richard Michalik
M Artur Pach
M Andrew Heaton
F Kyle Kenagy
F Daniel Morefield
Naperville Central
GK Alan Daas
D Derek Kerbs
D Sean Flading
D Griffin Geisler
M Noah Hey
M Jordi McCormack
M Noah Canlas
M Riley Guttosch
F Ethan Mohr
F Jordi Heeneman
F Daniel Poole
Man of the Match: Daniel Poole, Naperville Central
title with strong second half
Benet can't match Naperville Central's firepower
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE -- Benet was attempting to pull off the impressive if improbable feat of beating both Naperville North and Naperville Central on the road on the same day.
The Redwings nearly did it.
After knocking off Naperville North 4-2 behind Kyle Kenagy’s hat trick in the morning to advance to the Best of the West tournament title match, Benet held a 1-0 halftime lead on host Naperville Central.
But the Redhawks had too much firepower and rode an impressive display of second-half offense to a 3-1 victory in a battle of unbeatens at Memorial Stadium.
Ironically, Benet coach Sean Wesley said it was his team’s best performance so far.
“I think for the first time this year we played pretty good soccer and we had to because they’re a great team,” Wesley said. “So to stay in the game and be in the flow and create chances, we were going to have to play good soccer tonight -- and we did. We connected more passes than we’ve done so far this year.
“We were in good shape at halftime, but I think our legs caught up to us. I think it’s a really tough day on the kids. To play Naperville North at Naperville North and then come here and play Naperville Central at Naperville Central five hours later, I just didn’t think we had the legs.”
But the Redhawks (6-0-1) certainly did. They looked like thoroughbreds in the second half, tying the game just 25 seconds after intermission.
Noah Hey got the equalizer when he scored off a rebound of Daniel Poole’s volley.
“I saw the defender mishit it,” Hey said. “The ball fell right to me, and I put it home.
“We wanted to come out right away and pop one in, keep digging ourselves back in the game, and that’s what we did.”
Naperville Central coach Troy Adams wasn’t happy with the halftime deficit but he took it in stride.
“He just calmly told us to play our own game, just don’t overcompensate, don’t try to take it all on by yourself,” Poole said. “Coach always tells us there’s always an opportunity in the first five minutes, and we took it.”
Hey’s goal flipped a switch for the Redhawks’ high-powered offense, which dominated the rest of the game.
Poole, Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match, tallied the game winner 2:36 after Hey’s goal on a one-timer off a cross from Jordi Heeneman. Both Hey and Poole now have two goals this fall.
Heeneman boosted the bulge to 3-0 at the 22:21 mark. Riley Guttosch lofted a 30-yard free kick from the left sideline over the defense to the back post, where Heeneman had an easy tap-in volley.
“It happens every time we score [that] a bunch of goals come after,” Poole said. “And I’d like to thank all our fans. They got us going, and everyone was excited and ready to go.”
The Redhawks also started strong in the first half, attacking off the opening kickoff and creating a dangerous chance in the opening 15 seconds when Poole got around the left end and skittered a cross that Benet goalie Konrad Bayer dove on just before Hey could get his foot on it.
Naperville Central had six shots in the opening half, but Bayer made three saves and the play was more end-to-end than it was later on.
“I think in the first half they didn’t allow us to get into our game and play the way we wanted to play,” Hey said. “Then in the second half we came out really strong and popped one in and the rest is history.”
Before that, the Redwings (4-1) were in the process of writing a different script. They struck first with 19:17 to go in the first half when sophomore midfielder Connor Mote tallied his first career varsity goal when he knocked home a cross from freshman Artur Pach.
Pach’s cross from the right corner was intended for Kenagy, but it missed him and went to Mote, who was crashing in on the far post. Mote adroitly settled it and sent a short shot past Redhawks goalie Alan Daas.
Benet nearly went up by two goals eight minutes later when Kenagy dribbled 70 yards up the middle of the field before being forced into the right corner, where he dumped the ball off to Pach.
Pach’s cross into traffic was punched away by Alan Daas, but Benet’s Omar Kashow headed it over Kallikadan’s head. Naperville Central defender Sean Flading headed the ball off the line to keep his team within a goal.
“Huge play,” Adams said. “[If that goes in] you’re chasing goals in the second half and they can start to lock in and drop back."
Instead, Benet dropped its first game of the season.
“We played 70 minutes,” Mote said. “The first 10 minutes of that second half, I guess we weren’t ready. We didn’t come out strong like we did in the first half.”
Wesley blamed that on fatigue.
“I loved our back line and our attitude and effort,” Wesley said. “I just didn’t think we had the legs. We couldn’t keep up after halftime.”
Starting lineups
Benet
GK Konrad Bayer
D Bennett Curtis
D Harrison Burke
D Dustin Uher
D Jared Kovach
M Connor Mote
M Richard Michalik
M Artur Pach
M Andrew Heaton
F Kyle Kenagy
F Daniel Morefield
Naperville Central
GK Alan Daas
D Derek Kerbs
D Sean Flading
D Griffin Geisler
M Noah Hey
M Jordi McCormack
M Noah Canlas
M Riley Guttosch
F Ethan Mohr
F Jordi Heeneman
F Daniel Poole
Man of the Match: Daniel Poole, Naperville Central