Early Peterson goal leads
Hinsdale Central over Benet
Red Devils post shutout win for 1st sectional title in 7 seasons
By Curt Herron
HINSDALE -- There were two compelling story lines for Friday's Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional championship: the host Red Devils’ attempt to win their first title since 2014; and Benet going after its second sectional title in three seasons after falling in that same round last year.
It was a good bet that whichever team scored first at Dickinson Field might not only be able to dictate play but that the initial score might also be good enough to determine who advanced, and that's just what happened.
Senior Owen Peterson fired in a liner from 35 yards in the 13th minute to give the fourth-seeded hosts the advantage. The Red Devils, who were ranked 19th in the final Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, had the better of the play in the opening half. The third-seeded and 17th-ranked Redwings did their best to get the equalizer, especially during the second half, but were unable to connect as Hinsdale Central captured a 1-0 victory that earned a berth in Tuesday's 4:30 p.m. East Aurora Supersectional against Naperville Central, a 3-2 winner over Naperville North in Saturday's Bolingbrook Sectional final.
Naperville Central (23-3-1), a top seed which was ranked third in the final Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, won 3-1 when the teams met Sept. 23 in Hinsdale.
Hinsdale Central (17-4-1) last won a sectional title in 2014 and went on to a 1-0 victory over Normal in the final for its second state title.
The Red Devils are now 4-5 in sectional finals under coach Mike Wiggins, also winning titles in 2007 and 2008 while falling 2-1 to eventual state runnerup Morton in 2019 in its revious last visit to a sectional final.
One week ago, Wiggins became the 12th coach to win 400-plus matches in boys soccer following a shootout win on penalties over Young in the Proviso East Regional final.
Wiggins has coached at the school since 2002 following an eight-year stint at Downers Grove South, where he won three sectional titles. He joins Mike Taylor (Glenbard South, Fenton, Saint Viator), Larry Peppers (Hinckley-Big Rock), Roger Essman (Earlville-Leland, Paw Paw), Gene Baker (Granite City), Scott Steib (Lake Zurich, Barrington), Andy Bitta (Libertyville), Brian Papa (Sandburg, Lincoln-Way, Lincoln-Way East), Mark Schartner (Stevenson), Tom Bower (Latin), Steve West (Jacksonville) and Jose Barrientos (Eisenhower) plus five others in the elite class of 400-match winners.
Hinsdale Central was 7-4-1 after dropping consecutive matches to Lyons, Naperville Central and York in eight days in late September and allowed 13 goals in those contests. But since then, they've won 10 in a row, allowed just six goals and recorded five shutouts during the streak. One of those was a 2-0 sectional semifinal victory over Lyons on Oct.25, which avenged its 5-2 setback to the rival Lions when the squads met in West Suburban Conference Silver Division play on Sept. 20.
"We've had a season that has had an eye to games like these," Wiggins said. "So really our preparation all year has been putting us in a position where we understand what this looks like, playing at a high level and understanding what we can expect going up against some of the best teams around. We've had a heck of a week with the result against Lyons. That was obviously a game that looked a lot different than the first time we played them. To be able to come back from a 5-2 loss and turn around and shut them out 2-0, that's a credit to our guys.
"And then getting the result tonight against a really strong team, we knew that they were going to be everything that they came with tonight. Obviously Owen's goal
was well-received and certainly came at a good time. … It gave us just the confidence that we needed to know that the way that we were defending and the way that we were finding ourselves both collectively and individually across the field, we felt like we could still counter and get our chances in yet be strong in the defensive side. All in all, I'm just really happy for the guys, for sure."
The Red Devils resilience has allowed them to stand among the eight remaining Class 3A teams that head into the final week of the season.
"The one thing that I've told these guys, what they continue to do for me right now is that they keep becoming the stories of the future. And when you're getting results like a 2-0 win (Aug. 27) over Marquette out of Milwaukee when they were ranked number three in the country and when you're coming from behind, not once, but twice against Oak Park (and River Forest, Sept. 13) to get a result ... these aren't things that you can recreate in a training environment.
"They're going through these moments, and that's what's making them stronger. We can't recreate a penalty kick shootout with Whitney Young. But when you have the realization that you can do that, that's just one more piece that adds to the stories that these guys are giving us a chance to tell."
Third-seeded Benet (15-5-1), which was ranked 17th, opened the season with four-straight wins, but then lost three of its next five matches. The shutout was the team's fourth and first since Oct. 1 against St. Patrick in East Suburban Catholic Conference play. They entered the match Friday on a 9-1-1 roll.
Coach Sean Wesley's team won sectionals in 2019, when they took the Class AA title, and in 2016, when they finished third in AA. But this is their third loss in three tries in a 3A sectional final since he became head coach in 2010.
"I'm super proud of the fact that the journey that it took to get to be in a position like this to be in a 1-0 game for a trophy in a 3A sectional final. I think that it's a huge testament to the senior class and the leadership and then some of the young guys stepping up," he said. "I thought the game was a tale of two halves. I thought we were pretty terrible in the first half and didn't do much, and it was kind of the opposite of how we played Morton. We had two chances where if we could have found that creativity inside the box and just hammered one of those into the back of the net then maybe it's a different game.
"It's tough going down 1-0 to a team like this that has the long throw-in and just kind of grinds the game. It felt like we defended 50 corner kicks. The journey, especially in the second half of this year and how we grew into it and had an identity, these guys raised the standard in our program to go a little bit further than we normally do in 3A. I'm really proud of that. We'll miss these guys. I hope that the young guys realize that this is what it takes, and this is what it's like."
In a first half that didn't feature very many serious scoring threats, Hinsdale Central capitalized on one of the first few good chances. Peterson's well-placed attempt from 35 yards found the upper corner quickly and gave the hosts extra momentum. It seemed to adversely affect the Redwings, who struggled to put together threatening attempts during the opening half.
"Obviously I'm shooting to score," Peterson said. "I was hoping it was going to go in, because it was a hard shot to make. The keeper almost got to it. I got a few more and none of them went in, but all we needed was one.
"Our backline held up really well, especially on balls in the air. They played a lot of balls diagonally across the field. Kevin (Gottschalk), Ollie (Oliver), Greg (Theotikos) and Cody (Jurgenson), they all do a very good job with balls in the air; that's been a strong point of theirs over the season. They're very athletic, and they control the ball and play it up. They do a very good job.
"We had a really tough draw, and our conference is really tough. We have some of the top teams in the state, ... We faced off against LT (Lyons) on Tuesday, and they're a very good team and very talented and the same with Benet, of course.
“… If we can pull through, that's wonderful. We have a very strong team morale, and we're always picking each other up. If there's any mistakes that happen, it's just ‘Now we need to recover.' It's all positive, and that's a thing that we stress in this program. That definitely has helped us along the way."
The early goal was a big boost for the Red Devils, who have had to rally in order to claim several of their biggest victories. After getting the lone goal, they relied on the starting backline of seniors Gottschalk, Jurgenson and Theotikos and junior Pohlenz. The stingy effort included work from midfielders who drew starts, senior Peterson, junior Ardit Abdullai and sophomores Enzo Cinque and Austen Szurgot. The remaining starters were forwards senior Braden Henry and junior Luca Davies; and sophomore goalie Martin Contreras.
Red Devils senior Dayton DiTomasso is one of his team's captains. He was injured in the 5-2 victory over district rival Hinsdale South on Sept. 29 and has been unable to compete since then. However, he's continued on with his leadership duties and is thrilled to see how well that his teammates have performed this season.
"I'm beyond proud of every single person in that locker room," DiTomasso said. "That was an all-around team performance. It was incredible. Everyone comes to practice every day, prepared and ready to go. We've been working since August, so this is really special for us.
"Credit to Benet, they put up a great fight. They have a lot of very talented and quick players, and they had a lot of chances out there. I was really proud of our defense holding it down back there. Something that's really important to us is not giving up goals, and we work a ton in practice on our backline, on heading and winning and defending and dropping back, and I'm really proud of that.
"I got hurt in the Hinsdale South game, about midway through the season, and I broke my heel, and it was pretty devastating. But I decided instead of sitting in sorrow or anything like that, I wanted to fully commit to the team and continue to be a captain."
After Szurgot had an attempt deflected away by Redwings senior goalie Evan Lucas, there was a little lull before chances picked up as the opening half wound down. Following a foul, junior Nicholas Roe placed a ball into the box on a free kick but Hinsdale Central defenders were able to clear the loose ball.
Contreras got injured a short while later, and senior Henrique Ribeiro stepped in and remained in goal for hosts for the remainder of the match. Following a free kick, Henry sent in a header that was cleared away by a Redwings defender. Then a little bit before the intermission whistle Benet senior Ryan Augustyn sent in a good shot from the side, but it was hauled in by Ribeiro.
"It was a huge advantage for them," said Lucas of the goal. "We worked super hard the whole game, but that goal, we couldn't fight back from that. I'm super proud of the team. We had a lot of tough moments during the season, but we fought back from them and we came so far from where we were.
"I'll remember just being with these guys every day. Every day after school, if you have a long day, you have a bad day, you have a good day, you're still there with friends every single day, and I'm going to miss that."
Hinsdale Central received good attempts from Theotikos, Henry and Cinque in the first part of the second half while Benet countered with threatening shots from sophomore Jack Kuelthau, senior Nico Picha and Roe.
Some of the best opportunities during the final 20 minutes were a long free kick from Szurgot that was cleared by a defender and a shot from that Henry was tipped over the net by Lucas.
Augustyn was denied by Ribeiro on a try on the other side of the field and then Szurgot once again was thwarted by the Redwings keeper.
In the final minutes of play, Theotikos sent a throw-in to Davies, who was stopped by Lucas. Then Augustyn placed two more shots in an effort to force overtime, the first was hauled in by Ribeiro and the second cleared by a defender.
The Redwings graduate 13 seniors, Charlie Auble, Danny Boyle, Thomas Chmelik, Brayden Fagbemi, Peter Hepburn, Kovas Jeleniauskas, Jack Kruger, Owen McGarry, Colin McGuinn, Connor Serafin, Augustyn, Lucas and Picha. Six of those started: Lucas in goal; Hepburn on defense; Fagbemi, McGarry and Picha in the midfield and Augustyn at forward. Other starters were junior defenders Matthew Benka, Nick Nirtaut and Roe, junior midfielder Drew Fieldman and sophomore forward Kuelthau.
"Hinsdale Central is a great team," Fagbemi said. "I'm proud of the work that we put in, and we put everything on the floor. It (the goal) just kind of made us play catch up, but we stayed true to ourselves. But at the end of the day, we couldn't get one, and that's how it went.
"I liked the bond that we had on the field and off the field. I'm going to miss these guys. It's not going to be the same, not seeing them at practice every day and playing with them on the pitch, I'll never do it again."
Starting lineups
Benet
GK: Evan Lucas
D: Matthew Benka
D: Peter Hepburn
D: Nick Nirtaut
D: Nicholas Roe
MF: Brayden Fagbemi
MF: Nico Picha
MF: Drew Fieldman
MF: Owen McGarry
F: Jack Kuelthau
F: Ryan Augustyn
Hinsdale Central
GK: Martin Contreras
D: Greg Theotikos
D: Kevin Gottschalk
D: Oliver Pohlenz
D: Cody Jurgenson
MF: Ardit Abdullai
MF: Owen Peterson
MF: Austen Szurgot
MF: Enzo Cinque
F: Braden Henry
F: Luca Davies
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Owen Peterson, sr., MF, Hinsdale Central
Scoring summary
First half
Hinsdale Central: Owen Peterson, 13'
Second half
No scoring
Hinsdale Central over Benet
Red Devils post shutout win for 1st sectional title in 7 seasons
By Curt Herron
HINSDALE -- There were two compelling story lines for Friday's Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional championship: the host Red Devils’ attempt to win their first title since 2014; and Benet going after its second sectional title in three seasons after falling in that same round last year.
It was a good bet that whichever team scored first at Dickinson Field might not only be able to dictate play but that the initial score might also be good enough to determine who advanced, and that's just what happened.
Senior Owen Peterson fired in a liner from 35 yards in the 13th minute to give the fourth-seeded hosts the advantage. The Red Devils, who were ranked 19th in the final Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, had the better of the play in the opening half. The third-seeded and 17th-ranked Redwings did their best to get the equalizer, especially during the second half, but were unable to connect as Hinsdale Central captured a 1-0 victory that earned a berth in Tuesday's 4:30 p.m. East Aurora Supersectional against Naperville Central, a 3-2 winner over Naperville North in Saturday's Bolingbrook Sectional final.
Naperville Central (23-3-1), a top seed which was ranked third in the final Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, won 3-1 when the teams met Sept. 23 in Hinsdale.
Hinsdale Central (17-4-1) last won a sectional title in 2014 and went on to a 1-0 victory over Normal in the final for its second state title.
The Red Devils are now 4-5 in sectional finals under coach Mike Wiggins, also winning titles in 2007 and 2008 while falling 2-1 to eventual state runnerup Morton in 2019 in its revious last visit to a sectional final.
One week ago, Wiggins became the 12th coach to win 400-plus matches in boys soccer following a shootout win on penalties over Young in the Proviso East Regional final.
Wiggins has coached at the school since 2002 following an eight-year stint at Downers Grove South, where he won three sectional titles. He joins Mike Taylor (Glenbard South, Fenton, Saint Viator), Larry Peppers (Hinckley-Big Rock), Roger Essman (Earlville-Leland, Paw Paw), Gene Baker (Granite City), Scott Steib (Lake Zurich, Barrington), Andy Bitta (Libertyville), Brian Papa (Sandburg, Lincoln-Way, Lincoln-Way East), Mark Schartner (Stevenson), Tom Bower (Latin), Steve West (Jacksonville) and Jose Barrientos (Eisenhower) plus five others in the elite class of 400-match winners.
Hinsdale Central was 7-4-1 after dropping consecutive matches to Lyons, Naperville Central and York in eight days in late September and allowed 13 goals in those contests. But since then, they've won 10 in a row, allowed just six goals and recorded five shutouts during the streak. One of those was a 2-0 sectional semifinal victory over Lyons on Oct.25, which avenged its 5-2 setback to the rival Lions when the squads met in West Suburban Conference Silver Division play on Sept. 20.
"We've had a season that has had an eye to games like these," Wiggins said. "So really our preparation all year has been putting us in a position where we understand what this looks like, playing at a high level and understanding what we can expect going up against some of the best teams around. We've had a heck of a week with the result against Lyons. That was obviously a game that looked a lot different than the first time we played them. To be able to come back from a 5-2 loss and turn around and shut them out 2-0, that's a credit to our guys.
"And then getting the result tonight against a really strong team, we knew that they were going to be everything that they came with tonight. Obviously Owen's goal
was well-received and certainly came at a good time. … It gave us just the confidence that we needed to know that the way that we were defending and the way that we were finding ourselves both collectively and individually across the field, we felt like we could still counter and get our chances in yet be strong in the defensive side. All in all, I'm just really happy for the guys, for sure."
The Red Devils resilience has allowed them to stand among the eight remaining Class 3A teams that head into the final week of the season.
"The one thing that I've told these guys, what they continue to do for me right now is that they keep becoming the stories of the future. And when you're getting results like a 2-0 win (Aug. 27) over Marquette out of Milwaukee when they were ranked number three in the country and when you're coming from behind, not once, but twice against Oak Park (and River Forest, Sept. 13) to get a result ... these aren't things that you can recreate in a training environment.
"They're going through these moments, and that's what's making them stronger. We can't recreate a penalty kick shootout with Whitney Young. But when you have the realization that you can do that, that's just one more piece that adds to the stories that these guys are giving us a chance to tell."
Third-seeded Benet (15-5-1), which was ranked 17th, opened the season with four-straight wins, but then lost three of its next five matches. The shutout was the team's fourth and first since Oct. 1 against St. Patrick in East Suburban Catholic Conference play. They entered the match Friday on a 9-1-1 roll.
Coach Sean Wesley's team won sectionals in 2019, when they took the Class AA title, and in 2016, when they finished third in AA. But this is their third loss in three tries in a 3A sectional final since he became head coach in 2010.
"I'm super proud of the fact that the journey that it took to get to be in a position like this to be in a 1-0 game for a trophy in a 3A sectional final. I think that it's a huge testament to the senior class and the leadership and then some of the young guys stepping up," he said. "I thought the game was a tale of two halves. I thought we were pretty terrible in the first half and didn't do much, and it was kind of the opposite of how we played Morton. We had two chances where if we could have found that creativity inside the box and just hammered one of those into the back of the net then maybe it's a different game.
"It's tough going down 1-0 to a team like this that has the long throw-in and just kind of grinds the game. It felt like we defended 50 corner kicks. The journey, especially in the second half of this year and how we grew into it and had an identity, these guys raised the standard in our program to go a little bit further than we normally do in 3A. I'm really proud of that. We'll miss these guys. I hope that the young guys realize that this is what it takes, and this is what it's like."
In a first half that didn't feature very many serious scoring threats, Hinsdale Central capitalized on one of the first few good chances. Peterson's well-placed attempt from 35 yards found the upper corner quickly and gave the hosts extra momentum. It seemed to adversely affect the Redwings, who struggled to put together threatening attempts during the opening half.
"Obviously I'm shooting to score," Peterson said. "I was hoping it was going to go in, because it was a hard shot to make. The keeper almost got to it. I got a few more and none of them went in, but all we needed was one.
"Our backline held up really well, especially on balls in the air. They played a lot of balls diagonally across the field. Kevin (Gottschalk), Ollie (Oliver), Greg (Theotikos) and Cody (Jurgenson), they all do a very good job with balls in the air; that's been a strong point of theirs over the season. They're very athletic, and they control the ball and play it up. They do a very good job.
"We had a really tough draw, and our conference is really tough. We have some of the top teams in the state, ... We faced off against LT (Lyons) on Tuesday, and they're a very good team and very talented and the same with Benet, of course.
“… If we can pull through, that's wonderful. We have a very strong team morale, and we're always picking each other up. If there's any mistakes that happen, it's just ‘Now we need to recover.' It's all positive, and that's a thing that we stress in this program. That definitely has helped us along the way."
The early goal was a big boost for the Red Devils, who have had to rally in order to claim several of their biggest victories. After getting the lone goal, they relied on the starting backline of seniors Gottschalk, Jurgenson and Theotikos and junior Pohlenz. The stingy effort included work from midfielders who drew starts, senior Peterson, junior Ardit Abdullai and sophomores Enzo Cinque and Austen Szurgot. The remaining starters were forwards senior Braden Henry and junior Luca Davies; and sophomore goalie Martin Contreras.
Red Devils senior Dayton DiTomasso is one of his team's captains. He was injured in the 5-2 victory over district rival Hinsdale South on Sept. 29 and has been unable to compete since then. However, he's continued on with his leadership duties and is thrilled to see how well that his teammates have performed this season.
"I'm beyond proud of every single person in that locker room," DiTomasso said. "That was an all-around team performance. It was incredible. Everyone comes to practice every day, prepared and ready to go. We've been working since August, so this is really special for us.
"Credit to Benet, they put up a great fight. They have a lot of very talented and quick players, and they had a lot of chances out there. I was really proud of our defense holding it down back there. Something that's really important to us is not giving up goals, and we work a ton in practice on our backline, on heading and winning and defending and dropping back, and I'm really proud of that.
"I got hurt in the Hinsdale South game, about midway through the season, and I broke my heel, and it was pretty devastating. But I decided instead of sitting in sorrow or anything like that, I wanted to fully commit to the team and continue to be a captain."
After Szurgot had an attempt deflected away by Redwings senior goalie Evan Lucas, there was a little lull before chances picked up as the opening half wound down. Following a foul, junior Nicholas Roe placed a ball into the box on a free kick but Hinsdale Central defenders were able to clear the loose ball.
Contreras got injured a short while later, and senior Henrique Ribeiro stepped in and remained in goal for hosts for the remainder of the match. Following a free kick, Henry sent in a header that was cleared away by a Redwings defender. Then a little bit before the intermission whistle Benet senior Ryan Augustyn sent in a good shot from the side, but it was hauled in by Ribeiro.
"It was a huge advantage for them," said Lucas of the goal. "We worked super hard the whole game, but that goal, we couldn't fight back from that. I'm super proud of the team. We had a lot of tough moments during the season, but we fought back from them and we came so far from where we were.
"I'll remember just being with these guys every day. Every day after school, if you have a long day, you have a bad day, you have a good day, you're still there with friends every single day, and I'm going to miss that."
Hinsdale Central received good attempts from Theotikos, Henry and Cinque in the first part of the second half while Benet countered with threatening shots from sophomore Jack Kuelthau, senior Nico Picha and Roe.
Some of the best opportunities during the final 20 minutes were a long free kick from Szurgot that was cleared by a defender and a shot from that Henry was tipped over the net by Lucas.
Augustyn was denied by Ribeiro on a try on the other side of the field and then Szurgot once again was thwarted by the Redwings keeper.
In the final minutes of play, Theotikos sent a throw-in to Davies, who was stopped by Lucas. Then Augustyn placed two more shots in an effort to force overtime, the first was hauled in by Ribeiro and the second cleared by a defender.
The Redwings graduate 13 seniors, Charlie Auble, Danny Boyle, Thomas Chmelik, Brayden Fagbemi, Peter Hepburn, Kovas Jeleniauskas, Jack Kruger, Owen McGarry, Colin McGuinn, Connor Serafin, Augustyn, Lucas and Picha. Six of those started: Lucas in goal; Hepburn on defense; Fagbemi, McGarry and Picha in the midfield and Augustyn at forward. Other starters were junior defenders Matthew Benka, Nick Nirtaut and Roe, junior midfielder Drew Fieldman and sophomore forward Kuelthau.
"Hinsdale Central is a great team," Fagbemi said. "I'm proud of the work that we put in, and we put everything on the floor. It (the goal) just kind of made us play catch up, but we stayed true to ourselves. But at the end of the day, we couldn't get one, and that's how it went.
"I liked the bond that we had on the field and off the field. I'm going to miss these guys. It's not going to be the same, not seeing them at practice every day and playing with them on the pitch, I'll never do it again."
Starting lineups
Benet
GK: Evan Lucas
D: Matthew Benka
D: Peter Hepburn
D: Nick Nirtaut
D: Nicholas Roe
MF: Brayden Fagbemi
MF: Nico Picha
MF: Drew Fieldman
MF: Owen McGarry
F: Jack Kuelthau
F: Ryan Augustyn
Hinsdale Central
GK: Martin Contreras
D: Greg Theotikos
D: Kevin Gottschalk
D: Oliver Pohlenz
D: Cody Jurgenson
MF: Ardit Abdullai
MF: Owen Peterson
MF: Austen Szurgot
MF: Enzo Cinque
F: Braden Henry
F: Luca Davies
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Owen Peterson, sr., MF, Hinsdale Central
Scoring summary
First half
Hinsdale Central: Owen Peterson, 13'
Second half
No scoring