Benet rallies in OT to oust Addison Trail
2 power-play overtime goals trump short-handed strike in 2-1 win
By Matt Le Cren
ADDISON – Up until a couple years ago, overtime in the high school playoffs was decided by a golden goal.
The IHSA did away with that, switching to a system of two, 10-minute overtime periods in which teams could score an unlimited amount of goals.
If the old system were still in place, Addison Trail, ranked 12th in the final Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, would still be playing.
Instead, the Blazers are out of the playoffs after seeing Benet score once in each overtime to rally for a 2-1 upset victory in the Class 3A Addison Trail Sectional semifinals.
Sixteenth-ranked Benet had several advantages in the game. The biggest was a man advantage for the final 33 minutes of the game after star Addison Trail goalkeeper Sam Sandoval was ejected for a foul on Benet's Trent McVey just outside the box. In addition, the home team played the match without injured leading scorer and all-state candidate Melvin Mora.
The seventh-seeded Redwings (17-3-1) will get a crack at winning their first 3A sectional title Friday night when they take on top-seeded Lake Park (19-3-3). The Lancers edged St. Charles East 3-2 on penalty kicks after a 2-2 deadlock in the other semifinal.
“I don’t know why they changed it,” Addison Trail coach Ryan Dini said on the elimination of sudden-death overtime. “It makes no sense. These kids are playing 80 minutes and then to ask them to play another 20, especially in a playoff intensity when it’s just non-stop like this, is crazy.”
Crazy would be a good description of this match, which Benet coach Sean Wesley dubbed “one of the crazier games we’ve ever been a part of.”
Despite that, the Blazers (17-6-0) took the lead on a shorthanded goal from North Park recruit Julio Acosta, who ran onto a perfect feed from Alexis Delapaz and slid it past charging Benet goalie Hunter Randolph at the 7:43 mark of the first overtime to break a scoreless tie.
“(Delapaz) had it on the right side, and he played a through-ball to my left foot,” Acosta said. “I was making a run towards the top of the box, and he played it to me. I took a touch with my left foot and just put it in the back of the net.”
That was Addison Trail’s first and only shot of the first overtime. The Blazers hoped it would be enough for the 15th win in their last 16 games but playing shorthanded proved to be too much.
The Redwings scored on their only shot of the initial extra period when sophomore Hans Haenicke beat a defender in the right side of the box and scored on a short shot to tie the game with 1:46 remaining.
“It was kind of like a blur,” Haenicke said of his second goal of the season. “I was trying to get my foot on it and trying to get something on it.
“I knew that we needed to get a goal, and I knew we didn’t have much time, so just a lot of emotion.”
There was much emotion on both sides. The Redwings could have been deflated by giving up a shorthanded goal but were anything but.
“I think that we worked really well as a team,” Haenicke said. “We always kept our heads up.
“Even when we went down a goal, we always kept our head up, and we kept going. We didn’t crack.”
That took its toll on the second-seeded Blazers.
“We had to watch our defense, make the right movements and attack at the right time,” Acosta said. “(After the ejection), they had an extra guy up-top. We had to bring down one guy and leave some space in the middle open.”
Yet the Redwings didn’t get many opportunities with the man-advantage. The first came immediately after Sandoval was sent off.
Backup goalkeeper Ernesto Padua, a junior, tipped Franklin Rutkowski’s ensuing 19-yard free kick over the crossbar.
That would be Benet’s last shot until Haenicke’s strike. The Redwings got two more shots in the second overtime, one of which was saved by Padua, until junior Anthony Klos delivered the big blow with 7:26 to go.
McVey’s corner kick from the left side found traffic in front. Klos knocked a short shot past Padua, only to have a defender deflect the ball into the left post. But Klos stayed with it and buried the rebound to put Benet ahead.
“I was hoping (we) could hang on,” Dini said. “We were starting to sub a little more, but they’ve got so many weapons with (Rutkowski) and (Nick Renfro).
“It was too long to play a man down against a team like that. That’s the bottom line.
“We changed our formation, did everything we could and played our butts off, but that’s soccer this time of year.”
The Blazers were holding their own before the ejection. Each team had only two shots in the first half, though Addison Trail’s chances were of much better quality.
Leonardo Acosta took Addison Trail’s first shot, a 28-yarder which struck the crossbar with 21:15 to go. The rebound went right to Delapaz, who was stuffed by the sliding Randolph.
In the second half, Leonardo Acosta again nearly broke the ice for the Blazers, racing past two defenders into the left side of the box before sliding a shot just wide of the right post at the 36-minute mark.
Two minutes later, Randolph blocked an open shot from Leanardo Acosta. The ball was cleared momentarily before Eduardo Huerta fired a shot just high from the right wing.
“We had some opportunities,” Dini said. “We hit the crossbar ... had a couple deflections. Just a lot went against us today, so it was tough.
“We lost our goalie, we lost our all-sectional player (Mora) this weekend. He played with me for three years on varsity, so you take our top goal-scorer off, our goalie who has 13 shutouts gets a red card, but credit them.”
Indeed, Benet showed just as much resiliency in a match that literally went down to the wire. Randolph prevented the game from going to penalty kicks when he sprawled to his right to knock Anthony Hernandez’s 28-yard free kick around the post as time expired.
“Whether it was going in or not, I knew I had to be there, and I just put everything I had into it,” Randolph said. “I really wasn’t able to show what I’ve got throughout the season, and this game I really felt confident.
“The second the ball gets close to me I just become so confident. I just come out and put my whole body in front of it and hope for the best. Usually it comes out in my favor, and I’m able to save it.”
While the Blazers were unable to save their season, Julio Acosta said the finish reflected the way they battled throughout the season.
“We never gave up, and we helped each other through,” he said. “We tried to keep going, like brothers.
“We fought hard (tonight), but we just didn’t get the result. We had a good season. We don’t want to end this way, but I’m proud of the guys.”
Starting lineups
Benet
GK Hunter Randolph
D Jonathan Mitra
D Zach Serafin
D Kyle Kohlsaat
D Thomas Miskin
M CJ Warren
M Anthony Klos
M Juan Pinto
M Nick Renfro
F Franklin Rutkowski
M Michael Fernandes
Addison Trail
GK Sam Sandoval
D Martin Murillo
D Eduardo Huerta
D Joseph Macedo
M Edaurdo Gomez
M Alexis Delapaz
M Luis Silva
M Julio Acosta
F Matthew Moran
M Leonardo Acosta
F Anthony Hernandez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Hunter Randolph, jr., GK, Benet.
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring
First overtime
Addison Trail – Julio Acosta (Alexis Delapaz) 7:43
Benet – Hans Haenicke 1:46
Second overtime
Benet – Anthony Klos 7:26
2 power-play overtime goals trump short-handed strike in 2-1 win
By Matt Le Cren
ADDISON – Up until a couple years ago, overtime in the high school playoffs was decided by a golden goal.
The IHSA did away with that, switching to a system of two, 10-minute overtime periods in which teams could score an unlimited amount of goals.
If the old system were still in place, Addison Trail, ranked 12th in the final Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, would still be playing.
Instead, the Blazers are out of the playoffs after seeing Benet score once in each overtime to rally for a 2-1 upset victory in the Class 3A Addison Trail Sectional semifinals.
Sixteenth-ranked Benet had several advantages in the game. The biggest was a man advantage for the final 33 minutes of the game after star Addison Trail goalkeeper Sam Sandoval was ejected for a foul on Benet's Trent McVey just outside the box. In addition, the home team played the match without injured leading scorer and all-state candidate Melvin Mora.
The seventh-seeded Redwings (17-3-1) will get a crack at winning their first 3A sectional title Friday night when they take on top-seeded Lake Park (19-3-3). The Lancers edged St. Charles East 3-2 on penalty kicks after a 2-2 deadlock in the other semifinal.
“I don’t know why they changed it,” Addison Trail coach Ryan Dini said on the elimination of sudden-death overtime. “It makes no sense. These kids are playing 80 minutes and then to ask them to play another 20, especially in a playoff intensity when it’s just non-stop like this, is crazy.”
Crazy would be a good description of this match, which Benet coach Sean Wesley dubbed “one of the crazier games we’ve ever been a part of.”
Despite that, the Blazers (17-6-0) took the lead on a shorthanded goal from North Park recruit Julio Acosta, who ran onto a perfect feed from Alexis Delapaz and slid it past charging Benet goalie Hunter Randolph at the 7:43 mark of the first overtime to break a scoreless tie.
“(Delapaz) had it on the right side, and he played a through-ball to my left foot,” Acosta said. “I was making a run towards the top of the box, and he played it to me. I took a touch with my left foot and just put it in the back of the net.”
That was Addison Trail’s first and only shot of the first overtime. The Blazers hoped it would be enough for the 15th win in their last 16 games but playing shorthanded proved to be too much.
The Redwings scored on their only shot of the initial extra period when sophomore Hans Haenicke beat a defender in the right side of the box and scored on a short shot to tie the game with 1:46 remaining.
“It was kind of like a blur,” Haenicke said of his second goal of the season. “I was trying to get my foot on it and trying to get something on it.
“I knew that we needed to get a goal, and I knew we didn’t have much time, so just a lot of emotion.”
There was much emotion on both sides. The Redwings could have been deflated by giving up a shorthanded goal but were anything but.
“I think that we worked really well as a team,” Haenicke said. “We always kept our heads up.
“Even when we went down a goal, we always kept our head up, and we kept going. We didn’t crack.”
That took its toll on the second-seeded Blazers.
“We had to watch our defense, make the right movements and attack at the right time,” Acosta said. “(After the ejection), they had an extra guy up-top. We had to bring down one guy and leave some space in the middle open.”
Yet the Redwings didn’t get many opportunities with the man-advantage. The first came immediately after Sandoval was sent off.
Backup goalkeeper Ernesto Padua, a junior, tipped Franklin Rutkowski’s ensuing 19-yard free kick over the crossbar.
That would be Benet’s last shot until Haenicke’s strike. The Redwings got two more shots in the second overtime, one of which was saved by Padua, until junior Anthony Klos delivered the big blow with 7:26 to go.
McVey’s corner kick from the left side found traffic in front. Klos knocked a short shot past Padua, only to have a defender deflect the ball into the left post. But Klos stayed with it and buried the rebound to put Benet ahead.
“I was hoping (we) could hang on,” Dini said. “We were starting to sub a little more, but they’ve got so many weapons with (Rutkowski) and (Nick Renfro).
“It was too long to play a man down against a team like that. That’s the bottom line.
“We changed our formation, did everything we could and played our butts off, but that’s soccer this time of year.”
The Blazers were holding their own before the ejection. Each team had only two shots in the first half, though Addison Trail’s chances were of much better quality.
Leonardo Acosta took Addison Trail’s first shot, a 28-yarder which struck the crossbar with 21:15 to go. The rebound went right to Delapaz, who was stuffed by the sliding Randolph.
In the second half, Leonardo Acosta again nearly broke the ice for the Blazers, racing past two defenders into the left side of the box before sliding a shot just wide of the right post at the 36-minute mark.
Two minutes later, Randolph blocked an open shot from Leanardo Acosta. The ball was cleared momentarily before Eduardo Huerta fired a shot just high from the right wing.
“We had some opportunities,” Dini said. “We hit the crossbar ... had a couple deflections. Just a lot went against us today, so it was tough.
“We lost our goalie, we lost our all-sectional player (Mora) this weekend. He played with me for three years on varsity, so you take our top goal-scorer off, our goalie who has 13 shutouts gets a red card, but credit them.”
Indeed, Benet showed just as much resiliency in a match that literally went down to the wire. Randolph prevented the game from going to penalty kicks when he sprawled to his right to knock Anthony Hernandez’s 28-yard free kick around the post as time expired.
“Whether it was going in or not, I knew I had to be there, and I just put everything I had into it,” Randolph said. “I really wasn’t able to show what I’ve got throughout the season, and this game I really felt confident.
“The second the ball gets close to me I just become so confident. I just come out and put my whole body in front of it and hope for the best. Usually it comes out in my favor, and I’m able to save it.”
While the Blazers were unable to save their season, Julio Acosta said the finish reflected the way they battled throughout the season.
“We never gave up, and we helped each other through,” he said. “We tried to keep going, like brothers.
“We fought hard (tonight), but we just didn’t get the result. We had a good season. We don’t want to end this way, but I’m proud of the guys.”
Starting lineups
Benet
GK Hunter Randolph
D Jonathan Mitra
D Zach Serafin
D Kyle Kohlsaat
D Thomas Miskin
M CJ Warren
M Anthony Klos
M Juan Pinto
M Nick Renfro
F Franklin Rutkowski
M Michael Fernandes
Addison Trail
GK Sam Sandoval
D Martin Murillo
D Eduardo Huerta
D Joseph Macedo
M Edaurdo Gomez
M Alexis Delapaz
M Luis Silva
M Julio Acosta
F Matthew Moran
M Leonardo Acosta
F Anthony Hernandez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Hunter Randolph, jr., GK, Benet.
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring
First overtime
Addison Trail – Julio Acosta (Alexis Delapaz) 7:43
Benet – Hans Haenicke 1:46
Second overtime
Benet – Anthony Klos 7:26