Naperville N. takes ranked battle vs. Benet
Huskies prevail 2-0 on 2nd half goals
By Jared Birchfield
NAPERVILLE – Naperville North eked out two second half goals to squeeze past Benet 2-0 in a nonconference match Saturday morning.
Fifth-ranked North was unable to take advantage of no. 3 Benet being down a man for most of the second half but capitalized on a corner kick and penalty kick to defeat the defending Class AA state champions.
Both squads kept up strong defensive pressure throughout the game.
“It was the tale of two halves. In the first half, we take 12 shots to their five and we don’t convert any. That changes the game,” said Benet coach Sean Wesley. “We created great chances and played really well in the first half. I was really proud of the kids, but it is still 0-0.
“Naperville is great at putting pressure on you with set plays, and they always have been. We knew that would be the case today, and we got undone by the corner kick.
“We had a chance to clear it, had a chance to save it and the next thing you know you are chasing the game against a really good team that is well coached,” Wesley continued. “We took the red card four minutes into the second half. So you are playing 10 against 11 against a great squad, and you’re down a goal and you’re chasing the game.”
Naperville North and coach Jim Konrad knew they had survived a fight.
“I was proud of the boys in the first half, we were able to handle the pressure. You are under so much pressure all the time because they are so good athletically,” he said.
“They are a tough team. They are a great team. We were fortunate.
“Obviously, Benet is an awesome team – they play so hard. I think the effort level they bring is similar to ours. So, second half, don’t forget they were down a man, that leveled the game a little bit, too. Being up a man helped us in the second half.”
Huskies goalkeeper Pablo Jara knew where his coach was coming from.
“It was intense. Benet would not stop no matter what. They wouldn’t give me a second to think,” he said. “They knew everything. They came prepared, and they came with a lot of heart. They were very hard to defend.”
Naperville North (3-0-0) broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute.
Spencer Gaccione, standing in front of the goal, headed Nikhil Javeri’s kick from the left corner into the net.
“We squeezed in that corner kick goal. That was a little bit of luck,” Konrad said.
Shortly after the score, a soft red card cut the Redwings down to 10 men. Benet (1-1-0) was also tagged with a total of three yellow cards during the game.
“We just lost our minds. I would love to blame COVID-19,” Wesley said. “These guys wanted to play so bad, you sit them out for 10 months and then you take away a season. We get out here on a beautiful day and were ready to go.
“We were just so amped up that it was working against us. We don’t finish in the first half. and in the second half we are fighting so hard we forget about the little things, and we started worrying about all the things we didn’t need to.”
“I think we play with a lot of heart,” said Benet’s Hans Haenicke, who will play at Division III Macalester in Minnesota next year. “Every time we go against Naperville North, we kind of like get really excited for it. Sometimes those nerves come in. We played well.
“I think we beat ourselves up in the end with fouls and talking to the ref. But other than that, I think we played all right.”
North neutralized Haenick, one of Benet’s top offensive weapons.
“I thought Hans was really dangerous. Now we just need to capitalize on that,” Wesley said. “When you break a team down, and you get past that first defender, you have to make good things happen. We didn’t take advantage of that.”
Naperville North added the insurance tally with 24:58 left to play.
Alex Barger scored his fourth goal of the season on a penalty kick that went to the left of Benet goalkeeper Evan Lucas.
“They make a great play in the box, Cam (Radeke) cuts him and then the kid gets unlucky, and we get the PK,” Konrad said.
The Huskies second goal had a deflating effect on Benet.
“I still thought we were in the game. I still thought we had a chance to score. The PK was definitely unfortunate,” said Wesley. “And then another yellow card and that puts a kid on the bench.”
Wesley was still pleased with his team’s play in the last half.
“To not really concede a goal in open play was amazing,” he said. “Especially when we go down a guy and there is so much time.”
Even with the lead, Naperville North’s defense never rested.
“I’m happy with the way the backline responded to the pressure Benet put us under. Our defense is young this year with the exception of Josh Kaufman, who played all of last year.” Konrad said. “I’m proud of them to play against a returning state championship team with a lot of guys back. I thought the boys handled the pressure very well, but we have got a ways to go, though.”
Konrad was also impressed with the play of his midfielders, particularly Jacob Ryu.
“Our midfield, Jacob Ryu and Tyson Amoo-Mensah, really bailed our backline out. They track back and cover it a lot and that really protected our backline today,” Konrad said.
“Ryu has been just an absolute load on both sides of the ball. He’s great defensively and great in the attack. He was all over the field;
”When you play Benet, you’ve got to compete. From the very first minute, he was competing. He tracked back defensively well. He got us into the attack, got us out of pressure and found the guys on top. He was a complete A-team player today.”
Wesley was pleased with the middle of his defense.
“I thought our centerbacks were great. I thought Zack Serafin was amazing especially when we went down a guy in the second half,” he said.”I thought Nick Roe, a freshman, was one of the best players on the field. He is fun to watch.”
Starting lineups
Benet
GK: Evan Lucas
D: Owen McGarry
D: Jared Plummer
D: Zach Sarafin
D: Nick Roes
M: Sam Hepburn
M: Daniel Pepping
F: Chris Mankowski
F: Brendan Forsythe
F: Preston Wade
F: Hans Haenicke
Naperville North
GK: Pablo Jara
D: Alex Fisher
D: Spencer Gaccione
D: Josh Kaufman
MF: Tyson Amoo-Mensah
MF: Cam Radeke
MF: Jacob Ryu
MF: Nikhil Javeri
MF: Pablo Olano
F: Keegan Flaherty
F: Alex Barger
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jacob Ryu, jr. MF, Naperville North
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second Half
Naperville North – Gaccione (Javeri) 43 minutes
Naperville North – Barger (PK) 55 minutes
Huskies prevail 2-0 on 2nd half goals
By Jared Birchfield
NAPERVILLE – Naperville North eked out two second half goals to squeeze past Benet 2-0 in a nonconference match Saturday morning.
Fifth-ranked North was unable to take advantage of no. 3 Benet being down a man for most of the second half but capitalized on a corner kick and penalty kick to defeat the defending Class AA state champions.
Both squads kept up strong defensive pressure throughout the game.
“It was the tale of two halves. In the first half, we take 12 shots to their five and we don’t convert any. That changes the game,” said Benet coach Sean Wesley. “We created great chances and played really well in the first half. I was really proud of the kids, but it is still 0-0.
“Naperville is great at putting pressure on you with set plays, and they always have been. We knew that would be the case today, and we got undone by the corner kick.
“We had a chance to clear it, had a chance to save it and the next thing you know you are chasing the game against a really good team that is well coached,” Wesley continued. “We took the red card four minutes into the second half. So you are playing 10 against 11 against a great squad, and you’re down a goal and you’re chasing the game.”
Naperville North and coach Jim Konrad knew they had survived a fight.
“I was proud of the boys in the first half, we were able to handle the pressure. You are under so much pressure all the time because they are so good athletically,” he said.
“They are a tough team. They are a great team. We were fortunate.
“Obviously, Benet is an awesome team – they play so hard. I think the effort level they bring is similar to ours. So, second half, don’t forget they were down a man, that leveled the game a little bit, too. Being up a man helped us in the second half.”
Huskies goalkeeper Pablo Jara knew where his coach was coming from.
“It was intense. Benet would not stop no matter what. They wouldn’t give me a second to think,” he said. “They knew everything. They came prepared, and they came with a lot of heart. They were very hard to defend.”
Naperville North (3-0-0) broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute.
Spencer Gaccione, standing in front of the goal, headed Nikhil Javeri’s kick from the left corner into the net.
“We squeezed in that corner kick goal. That was a little bit of luck,” Konrad said.
Shortly after the score, a soft red card cut the Redwings down to 10 men. Benet (1-1-0) was also tagged with a total of three yellow cards during the game.
“We just lost our minds. I would love to blame COVID-19,” Wesley said. “These guys wanted to play so bad, you sit them out for 10 months and then you take away a season. We get out here on a beautiful day and were ready to go.
“We were just so amped up that it was working against us. We don’t finish in the first half. and in the second half we are fighting so hard we forget about the little things, and we started worrying about all the things we didn’t need to.”
“I think we play with a lot of heart,” said Benet’s Hans Haenicke, who will play at Division III Macalester in Minnesota next year. “Every time we go against Naperville North, we kind of like get really excited for it. Sometimes those nerves come in. We played well.
“I think we beat ourselves up in the end with fouls and talking to the ref. But other than that, I think we played all right.”
North neutralized Haenick, one of Benet’s top offensive weapons.
“I thought Hans was really dangerous. Now we just need to capitalize on that,” Wesley said. “When you break a team down, and you get past that first defender, you have to make good things happen. We didn’t take advantage of that.”
Naperville North added the insurance tally with 24:58 left to play.
Alex Barger scored his fourth goal of the season on a penalty kick that went to the left of Benet goalkeeper Evan Lucas.
“They make a great play in the box, Cam (Radeke) cuts him and then the kid gets unlucky, and we get the PK,” Konrad said.
The Huskies second goal had a deflating effect on Benet.
“I still thought we were in the game. I still thought we had a chance to score. The PK was definitely unfortunate,” said Wesley. “And then another yellow card and that puts a kid on the bench.”
Wesley was still pleased with his team’s play in the last half.
“To not really concede a goal in open play was amazing,” he said. “Especially when we go down a guy and there is so much time.”
Even with the lead, Naperville North’s defense never rested.
“I’m happy with the way the backline responded to the pressure Benet put us under. Our defense is young this year with the exception of Josh Kaufman, who played all of last year.” Konrad said. “I’m proud of them to play against a returning state championship team with a lot of guys back. I thought the boys handled the pressure very well, but we have got a ways to go, though.”
Konrad was also impressed with the play of his midfielders, particularly Jacob Ryu.
“Our midfield, Jacob Ryu and Tyson Amoo-Mensah, really bailed our backline out. They track back and cover it a lot and that really protected our backline today,” Konrad said.
“Ryu has been just an absolute load on both sides of the ball. He’s great defensively and great in the attack. He was all over the field;
”When you play Benet, you’ve got to compete. From the very first minute, he was competing. He tracked back defensively well. He got us into the attack, got us out of pressure and found the guys on top. He was a complete A-team player today.”
Wesley was pleased with the middle of his defense.
“I thought our centerbacks were great. I thought Zack Serafin was amazing especially when we went down a guy in the second half,” he said.”I thought Nick Roe, a freshman, was one of the best players on the field. He is fun to watch.”
Starting lineups
Benet
GK: Evan Lucas
D: Owen McGarry
D: Jared Plummer
D: Zach Sarafin
D: Nick Roes
M: Sam Hepburn
M: Daniel Pepping
F: Chris Mankowski
F: Brendan Forsythe
F: Preston Wade
F: Hans Haenicke
Naperville North
GK: Pablo Jara
D: Alex Fisher
D: Spencer Gaccione
D: Josh Kaufman
MF: Tyson Amoo-Mensah
MF: Cam Radeke
MF: Jacob Ryu
MF: Nikhil Javeri
MF: Pablo Olano
F: Keegan Flaherty
F: Alex Barger
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jacob Ryu, jr. MF, Naperville North
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second Half
Naperville North – Gaccione (Javeri) 43 minutes
Naperville North – Barger (PK) 55 minutes