Benet keeps the magic alive against Carmel
Redwings ride 1st half goal to surprise shutout win over Corsairs
By Gary Larsen
MUNDELEIN -- Carmel struggles to break the Curse of the Redwings even during seasons when Benet’s win-loss record isn’t up to its usual standards,
“It seems like we always have some bad voodoo against Benet,” Carmel defender Brett Cloe said.
Visiting Benet (3-6-1, 2-1-0) upset no. 19 Carmel and snapped the Corsairs' eight-game win streak with a 1-0 win on a goal scored eight minutes before halftime. The voodoo started with the score off the foot of Benet sophomore defender Tom Miskin.
Carmel senior keeper Kyle Knauer was rock-solid all night, but Miskin’s 45-yard serve from the left touchline somehow found its way into the net at the near post.
“Miskin caught (Knauer) by surprise and that ball was spinning like crazy,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “It was a little bit unlucky. It was a sloppy goal, and I feel bad for (Knauer).”
More voodoo ensued just before halftime, when Benet keeper Brian Gould left his line aggressively after a Carmel serve into the box. A Carmel player got a foot on the ball first and cracked a quick shot seemingly destined to tie the game.
Miskin again kept the curse alive, making a goal line save. Benet cleared Miskin's deflection and maintained its lead.
One half of intense play between two motivated teams followed.
A gritty performance by a Carmel team playing in its third game in three days went unrewarded. Benet, which posted consecutive wins for the first time this season, itched to stay in the hunt for this year’s East Suburban Catholic Conference title and got its wish.
“Our whole group played good today,” Wesley said. “I was proud of the fact that we pressed the issue. It was a good game for us. Everybody knows our record, but we’ve played some really good soccer.
“We’d like to create more really good scoring chances but this starts a new season for us, putting us back in the conference race. Now we have a chance.”
Now Benet, St. Patrick, and Carmel each have a single loss in conference play. That gives traditional league contender Saint Viator an edge in the loss column with its 3-0-2 record. The Lions tied St. Patrick 0-0 after two overtimes on Sept. 5. Carmel takes on Saint Viator on Oct. 4, and Benet travels to Arlington Heights for its final game of the regular season Oct. 13.
Carmel (8-2-0, 4-1-0) had a busy three-day run. The Corsairs beat St. Patrick 5-0 Thursday after beating Grayslake North 3-1 Wednesday but maintained energy and intensity throughout Friday's game. Asked if he was perhaps disappointed in the loss, but not the effort his side showed, Cloe was quick with an answer.
“I’m not disappointed in anything, really,” Cloe said. “A loss is unfortunate but it happens to the best of us. We worked our butts off until the last whistle, which I couldn’t be more proud of the team as a whole for. I just love the heart that this team has. It’s an intangible thing. We want it. We’re not going to always be the best team out there, but nobody wants it more than us.
“The keys to success are hard work, believing in yourselves, and a little bit of luck. We had two out of three of those going for us tonight.”
Carmel senior mid Rob Rau blasted a free kick wide of frame at 45 minutes, and Benet junior forward Franklin Rutkowski quickly followed by earning a corner kick on a good hustle play.
Carmel senior forward Austin Ehren sent a quality chance wide at 61 minutes, and one minute later Ehren broke in alone on Gould. Gould charged out and timed his slide perfectly, deflecting Ehren’s shot from point-blank range over the endline.
Benet’s voodoo made another appearance at 69 minutes when Benet defender Danny Smith cleared another Carmel shot off the goal line.
“It’s good relief to know that if I come out and mess up a little bit, they’ve got my back,” Gould said of his backline. “Hopefully it doesn’t happen (often), but we’ve got really good defenders back there.”
Carmel intensified its attack during the final 20 minutes. A Benet defense that started Miskin, Smith, Collin Dannheim, and John Mitra played big, and Gould made multiple saves down the stretch.
Carmel sent numbers forward late in search of a tying goal, and showed no ill effects of playing in their third game in as many days.
“Fitness is one of our strong suits,” Cloe said. “We subbed pretty heavily against Grayslake North so we could be a little more rested coming into this game. So I don’t think (fatigue) was to blame for the loss at all. Our main goal is still to win conference, and we can still do it. So this was just a bump in the road.”
Wesley saw promise in the way his side defended against a gritty, physical, and skilled Carmel team.
“We defended our box much better than we’ve done in previous games and (Gould) played great,” Wesley said.
“(Midfielder) Artur Pach played really well for us, Franklin was a beast today and he was kind of terrorizing the left side of the field. And (midfielder) Nick Trakszelis is obviously a kid who’s hungry for wins. Every time the ball hit his foot, it seemed like he was making something special happen.”
For his goal work Gould was selected as Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, though he singled out junior midfielder C.J. Warren for his play.
“Carmel has a lot of players who are dangerous in the air, but we stepped up a lot, especially (Warren),” Gould said. “He probably played the best I’ve ever seen him play, in terms of winning balls in the air.”
Benet sophomore midfielder Nick Renfro also spent his night battling Carmel’s size at midfield. Renfro was optimistic after Friday’s win.
“I think it’s a turning point for this season,” Renfro said. “Hopefully we’ll have more games like these. We’re gelling as a team, getting good leadership from guys like Brian Gould and Nick Trakszelis, and that’s really helping us out.”
Krawzak also saw quality efforts by his boys from around the pitch.
“Eli Larson at center back did an outstanding job of keeping things locked down at the end of the game,” Krawzak said. “When we kept pushing people up, Eli was responsible for locking things down. Matt Fix did a nice job, too, hustling and winning things at midfield as a defensive mid for us. He won many, many head balls for us and then hustled up-top at the end of the game. He had a nice game tonight.
“There’s something about this rivalry. Historically it’s always us and Benet. I’ve made my peace with (Saint) Viator, but Benet is just a thorn in my side. On the boys side and the girls side, they’re just a tremendous program."
Starting lineups
Benet
GK Brian Gould
D Danny Smith
D Tom Miskin
D John Mitra
D Collin Dannheim
M Nick Trakszelis
M Artur Pach
M Nick Renfro
M Jason Rowaiye
F Will Benish
F Franklin Rutkowski
Carmel
GK Kyle Knauer
D Brett Cloe
D Eli Larson
D Nate Passarelli
D Michael Handel
M Ian McKernan
M Henry Barnes
M Carsten Murgas
M Matt Fix
F Austin Ehren
F Rob Rau
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Brian Gould, sr., GK, Benet
Scoring summary
First half
Benet — Miskin (UA)
Redwings ride 1st half goal to surprise shutout win over Corsairs
By Gary Larsen
MUNDELEIN -- Carmel struggles to break the Curse of the Redwings even during seasons when Benet’s win-loss record isn’t up to its usual standards,
“It seems like we always have some bad voodoo against Benet,” Carmel defender Brett Cloe said.
Visiting Benet (3-6-1, 2-1-0) upset no. 19 Carmel and snapped the Corsairs' eight-game win streak with a 1-0 win on a goal scored eight minutes before halftime. The voodoo started with the score off the foot of Benet sophomore defender Tom Miskin.
Carmel senior keeper Kyle Knauer was rock-solid all night, but Miskin’s 45-yard serve from the left touchline somehow found its way into the net at the near post.
“Miskin caught (Knauer) by surprise and that ball was spinning like crazy,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “It was a little bit unlucky. It was a sloppy goal, and I feel bad for (Knauer).”
More voodoo ensued just before halftime, when Benet keeper Brian Gould left his line aggressively after a Carmel serve into the box. A Carmel player got a foot on the ball first and cracked a quick shot seemingly destined to tie the game.
Miskin again kept the curse alive, making a goal line save. Benet cleared Miskin's deflection and maintained its lead.
One half of intense play between two motivated teams followed.
A gritty performance by a Carmel team playing in its third game in three days went unrewarded. Benet, which posted consecutive wins for the first time this season, itched to stay in the hunt for this year’s East Suburban Catholic Conference title and got its wish.
“Our whole group played good today,” Wesley said. “I was proud of the fact that we pressed the issue. It was a good game for us. Everybody knows our record, but we’ve played some really good soccer.
“We’d like to create more really good scoring chances but this starts a new season for us, putting us back in the conference race. Now we have a chance.”
Now Benet, St. Patrick, and Carmel each have a single loss in conference play. That gives traditional league contender Saint Viator an edge in the loss column with its 3-0-2 record. The Lions tied St. Patrick 0-0 after two overtimes on Sept. 5. Carmel takes on Saint Viator on Oct. 4, and Benet travels to Arlington Heights for its final game of the regular season Oct. 13.
Carmel (8-2-0, 4-1-0) had a busy three-day run. The Corsairs beat St. Patrick 5-0 Thursday after beating Grayslake North 3-1 Wednesday but maintained energy and intensity throughout Friday's game. Asked if he was perhaps disappointed in the loss, but not the effort his side showed, Cloe was quick with an answer.
“I’m not disappointed in anything, really,” Cloe said. “A loss is unfortunate but it happens to the best of us. We worked our butts off until the last whistle, which I couldn’t be more proud of the team as a whole for. I just love the heart that this team has. It’s an intangible thing. We want it. We’re not going to always be the best team out there, but nobody wants it more than us.
“The keys to success are hard work, believing in yourselves, and a little bit of luck. We had two out of three of those going for us tonight.”
Carmel senior mid Rob Rau blasted a free kick wide of frame at 45 minutes, and Benet junior forward Franklin Rutkowski quickly followed by earning a corner kick on a good hustle play.
Carmel senior forward Austin Ehren sent a quality chance wide at 61 minutes, and one minute later Ehren broke in alone on Gould. Gould charged out and timed his slide perfectly, deflecting Ehren’s shot from point-blank range over the endline.
Benet’s voodoo made another appearance at 69 minutes when Benet defender Danny Smith cleared another Carmel shot off the goal line.
“It’s good relief to know that if I come out and mess up a little bit, they’ve got my back,” Gould said of his backline. “Hopefully it doesn’t happen (often), but we’ve got really good defenders back there.”
Carmel intensified its attack during the final 20 minutes. A Benet defense that started Miskin, Smith, Collin Dannheim, and John Mitra played big, and Gould made multiple saves down the stretch.
Carmel sent numbers forward late in search of a tying goal, and showed no ill effects of playing in their third game in as many days.
“Fitness is one of our strong suits,” Cloe said. “We subbed pretty heavily against Grayslake North so we could be a little more rested coming into this game. So I don’t think (fatigue) was to blame for the loss at all. Our main goal is still to win conference, and we can still do it. So this was just a bump in the road.”
Wesley saw promise in the way his side defended against a gritty, physical, and skilled Carmel team.
“We defended our box much better than we’ve done in previous games and (Gould) played great,” Wesley said.
“(Midfielder) Artur Pach played really well for us, Franklin was a beast today and he was kind of terrorizing the left side of the field. And (midfielder) Nick Trakszelis is obviously a kid who’s hungry for wins. Every time the ball hit his foot, it seemed like he was making something special happen.”
For his goal work Gould was selected as Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, though he singled out junior midfielder C.J. Warren for his play.
“Carmel has a lot of players who are dangerous in the air, but we stepped up a lot, especially (Warren),” Gould said. “He probably played the best I’ve ever seen him play, in terms of winning balls in the air.”
Benet sophomore midfielder Nick Renfro also spent his night battling Carmel’s size at midfield. Renfro was optimistic after Friday’s win.
“I think it’s a turning point for this season,” Renfro said. “Hopefully we’ll have more games like these. We’re gelling as a team, getting good leadership from guys like Brian Gould and Nick Trakszelis, and that’s really helping us out.”
Krawzak also saw quality efforts by his boys from around the pitch.
“Eli Larson at center back did an outstanding job of keeping things locked down at the end of the game,” Krawzak said. “When we kept pushing people up, Eli was responsible for locking things down. Matt Fix did a nice job, too, hustling and winning things at midfield as a defensive mid for us. He won many, many head balls for us and then hustled up-top at the end of the game. He had a nice game tonight.
“There’s something about this rivalry. Historically it’s always us and Benet. I’ve made my peace with (Saint) Viator, but Benet is just a thorn in my side. On the boys side and the girls side, they’re just a tremendous program."
Starting lineups
Benet
GK Brian Gould
D Danny Smith
D Tom Miskin
D John Mitra
D Collin Dannheim
M Nick Trakszelis
M Artur Pach
M Nick Renfro
M Jason Rowaiye
F Will Benish
F Franklin Rutkowski
Carmel
GK Kyle Knauer
D Brett Cloe
D Eli Larson
D Nate Passarelli
D Michael Handel
M Ian McKernan
M Henry Barnes
M Carsten Murgas
M Matt Fix
F Austin Ehren
F Rob Rau
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Brian Gould, sr., GK, Benet
Scoring summary
First half
Benet — Miskin (UA)