Pinto drives Benet past
Oak Park and River Forest
Senior scores brace in less than 4 minutes in 2-1 comeback win
By Bobby Narang
OAK PARK — Benet goalkeeper Shannon Clark experienced the whole gamut of emotions in Saturday’s nonconference battle with Oak Park and River Forest.
The junior was in constant motion in a wild, but scoreless, second half and helped spark the Redwings to a 2-1 win over the Huskies.
Clark, who made six of her 11 saves in the final 40 minutes, put her whole game on display against the talented Huskies (7-2-0).
Oak Park and River Forest made Clark work, attacking her from numerous angles, come coming from six corner kicks in the second half. Clark even collided with an Oak Park and River Forest player in the 60th minute. She repeatedly came out of the box and stormed into crowds to snare the ball off corner kicks.
Clark said she enjoyed playing the physical and athletic Huskies, though she enjoyed pulling out the victory even more. Over 709 minutes in goal this season, Clark has allowed only six goals and notched 41 saves.
So when Oak Park and River Forest’s Julia Daun scored the first goal, Clark said she was motivated to not let the ball get past her the rest of the game.
“I just didn’t want them to score anymore,” Clark said. “That was all that was going through my mind. My body listened to what I was telling it to do -- to save all the balls.
“I’m normally very aggressive with coming out of the box, but at the beginning of the season I felt I was a bit more timid than what I’m normally. But I feel I’m back to being my aggressive self.
“I love it when the game gets physical. It gets me pumped up and my adrenaline going. I think I play better when things get physical, and I can be aggressive.”
The Redwings, who are ranked 18th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, capped off a memorable week with another victory and ran their winning streak to six in a row. Benet (8-2-0) has outscored its opponents 28-4 during the run, which included an East Suburban Catholic Conference 10-0 triumph over Marian.
Senior Mariana Pinto has been a major force. The Chicagoland Soccer all-stater and Lewis recruit scored both games in the win and helped the Redwings erase a 1-0 deficit.
Pinto scored in a 3 minute, 57 second span and pushed her season total to a team-high 12 goals. She tallied four goals and an assist in a 7-2 league win over Nazareth on Monday.
The senior smiled when asked about her special week of six goals, one assist and officially signing with Lewis on Thursday. She committed in January.
“It’s the same mentality every game, and it’s my job to score goals for the team. I’m going to do it any possible way,” Pinto said. “Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of goals outside the box, which is new for me. It’s working out, so I’m going to go with it.
“On my first goal it was actually planned, because we’ve been working on throw-ins. Sadie Sterbenz had a long throw-in, so I was sort of at the top of the box. I turned and hit it. We practiced it exactly that way, so I was proud of that.
“The second goal was a combination from me to Anna (Casmere) and pretty sure to Keira Petrucelli. She slipped the ball to me, and I had an open shot with my right and was able to put it in.
“This whole week has come full circle, and it’s been an amazing week. The games have been tough for us. I’m really happy that it’s all going well for us. We hope to keep it up.”
The Redwings needed both of Pinto’s goals to stop the hard-charging Huskies, who broke into the Top 25 this week at no. 25. The home team worked hard to get an equalizer in front of a good-sized crowd at Oak Park and River Forest stadium. The Huskies were motivated to knock off the Redwings for a variety of reasons, but mainly to avenge a 4-1 defeat to Benet in a Class 3A sectional semifinal last season.
The hosts had the ball on the offensive side of the field for most of the second half, but despite several corner kicks and shots, they weren’t able to get a ball past Clark.
“We scored first, but we just couldn’t score again,” Oak Park and River Forest coach Christine Johnston said. “Benet is a great team and are very competitive. We knew it was going to be a physical and competitive game, but we played pretty well.
“We wanted that revenge, but Benet had a really nice shot on their first goal. We grind every single day and have to go back to the drawing board.”
The Huskies alternated goalies: Jackie Bollinger played the first half; Lilah Gery recorded three saves in the final 40 minutes. Gery was also hit hard during a collision, just a minute after than Clark’s crash.
“Lilah is a good communicator and a big strong force in the back,” Johnston said. “Jackie’s a good communicator too. We made a few changes. Lilah’s a really strong player and talks a lot, which helps keep our line in check.
“We’re a great team. This loss stings a bit, but we’re going to go back and figure out what we need to do to win our next game.”
Benet defender Nora Hanson said the backline held strong to keep Oak Park and River Forest to one goal.
“We’ve been communicating really well,” Hanson said. “We were all really nervous, but we were staying positive, and I kept thinking we had to win this. We were losing 1-0, but we knew we had to get up to win.”
Benet midfielder Rachel Burns nearly scored a goal in the 46th minute. She sent a shot wide left. She said the Redwings are building momentum in their attempt to win a second state Class AA title in the last four years.
“We knew coming into this that we had to play strong,” Burns said. “What I love about this team is it doesn’t matter if we get scored on first, because we’re going to come back.
“It doesn’t get us down. We’re going to keep working hard. We want to win state this year. We have to keep going. We have the right mindset and keep positive.”
Starting lineups
Benet
GK Shannon Clark
D Reese MacDonald
D Sadie Sterbenz
D Annastacia Thiel
D Nora Hanson
MF Brinkley Douglas
MF Kate Lewellyan
MF Rachel Burns
F Anna Casmere
F Mariana Pinto
F Keira Petrucelli
Oak Park and River Forest
GK Jackie Bollinger
D Tess Wright
D Hailey Nowak
D Kylie Houghton
MF Shane Colpoys
MF Lily Clifford
MF Cate Ryan
MF Jose Humbert
MF Katherine Hoffman
F Kiki Leman
F Julia Daun
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Mariana Pinto, sr., F, Benet
Scoring summary
First half
Oak Park and River Forest — Julia Daun (unassisted), 8th minute
Benet — Mariana Pinto (Sadie Sterbenz), 22nd minute
Benet — Mariana Pinto (Keira Petrucelli), 26th minute
Second half
No scoring
Oak Park and River Forest
Senior scores brace in less than 4 minutes in 2-1 comeback win
By Bobby Narang
OAK PARK — Benet goalkeeper Shannon Clark experienced the whole gamut of emotions in Saturday’s nonconference battle with Oak Park and River Forest.
The junior was in constant motion in a wild, but scoreless, second half and helped spark the Redwings to a 2-1 win over the Huskies.
Clark, who made six of her 11 saves in the final 40 minutes, put her whole game on display against the talented Huskies (7-2-0).
Oak Park and River Forest made Clark work, attacking her from numerous angles, come coming from six corner kicks in the second half. Clark even collided with an Oak Park and River Forest player in the 60th minute. She repeatedly came out of the box and stormed into crowds to snare the ball off corner kicks.
Clark said she enjoyed playing the physical and athletic Huskies, though she enjoyed pulling out the victory even more. Over 709 minutes in goal this season, Clark has allowed only six goals and notched 41 saves.
So when Oak Park and River Forest’s Julia Daun scored the first goal, Clark said she was motivated to not let the ball get past her the rest of the game.
“I just didn’t want them to score anymore,” Clark said. “That was all that was going through my mind. My body listened to what I was telling it to do -- to save all the balls.
“I’m normally very aggressive with coming out of the box, but at the beginning of the season I felt I was a bit more timid than what I’m normally. But I feel I’m back to being my aggressive self.
“I love it when the game gets physical. It gets me pumped up and my adrenaline going. I think I play better when things get physical, and I can be aggressive.”
The Redwings, who are ranked 18th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, capped off a memorable week with another victory and ran their winning streak to six in a row. Benet (8-2-0) has outscored its opponents 28-4 during the run, which included an East Suburban Catholic Conference 10-0 triumph over Marian.
Senior Mariana Pinto has been a major force. The Chicagoland Soccer all-stater and Lewis recruit scored both games in the win and helped the Redwings erase a 1-0 deficit.
Pinto scored in a 3 minute, 57 second span and pushed her season total to a team-high 12 goals. She tallied four goals and an assist in a 7-2 league win over Nazareth on Monday.
The senior smiled when asked about her special week of six goals, one assist and officially signing with Lewis on Thursday. She committed in January.
“It’s the same mentality every game, and it’s my job to score goals for the team. I’m going to do it any possible way,” Pinto said. “Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of goals outside the box, which is new for me. It’s working out, so I’m going to go with it.
“On my first goal it was actually planned, because we’ve been working on throw-ins. Sadie Sterbenz had a long throw-in, so I was sort of at the top of the box. I turned and hit it. We practiced it exactly that way, so I was proud of that.
“The second goal was a combination from me to Anna (Casmere) and pretty sure to Keira Petrucelli. She slipped the ball to me, and I had an open shot with my right and was able to put it in.
“This whole week has come full circle, and it’s been an amazing week. The games have been tough for us. I’m really happy that it’s all going well for us. We hope to keep it up.”
The Redwings needed both of Pinto’s goals to stop the hard-charging Huskies, who broke into the Top 25 this week at no. 25. The home team worked hard to get an equalizer in front of a good-sized crowd at Oak Park and River Forest stadium. The Huskies were motivated to knock off the Redwings for a variety of reasons, but mainly to avenge a 4-1 defeat to Benet in a Class 3A sectional semifinal last season.
The hosts had the ball on the offensive side of the field for most of the second half, but despite several corner kicks and shots, they weren’t able to get a ball past Clark.
“We scored first, but we just couldn’t score again,” Oak Park and River Forest coach Christine Johnston said. “Benet is a great team and are very competitive. We knew it was going to be a physical and competitive game, but we played pretty well.
“We wanted that revenge, but Benet had a really nice shot on their first goal. We grind every single day and have to go back to the drawing board.”
The Huskies alternated goalies: Jackie Bollinger played the first half; Lilah Gery recorded three saves in the final 40 minutes. Gery was also hit hard during a collision, just a minute after than Clark’s crash.
“Lilah is a good communicator and a big strong force in the back,” Johnston said. “Jackie’s a good communicator too. We made a few changes. Lilah’s a really strong player and talks a lot, which helps keep our line in check.
“We’re a great team. This loss stings a bit, but we’re going to go back and figure out what we need to do to win our next game.”
Benet defender Nora Hanson said the backline held strong to keep Oak Park and River Forest to one goal.
“We’ve been communicating really well,” Hanson said. “We were all really nervous, but we were staying positive, and I kept thinking we had to win this. We were losing 1-0, but we knew we had to get up to win.”
Benet midfielder Rachel Burns nearly scored a goal in the 46th minute. She sent a shot wide left. She said the Redwings are building momentum in their attempt to win a second state Class AA title in the last four years.
“We knew coming into this that we had to play strong,” Burns said. “What I love about this team is it doesn’t matter if we get scored on first, because we’re going to come back.
“It doesn’t get us down. We’re going to keep working hard. We want to win state this year. We have to keep going. We have the right mindset and keep positive.”
Starting lineups
Benet
GK Shannon Clark
D Reese MacDonald
D Sadie Sterbenz
D Annastacia Thiel
D Nora Hanson
MF Brinkley Douglas
MF Kate Lewellyan
MF Rachel Burns
F Anna Casmere
F Mariana Pinto
F Keira Petrucelli
Oak Park and River Forest
GK Jackie Bollinger
D Tess Wright
D Hailey Nowak
D Kylie Houghton
MF Shane Colpoys
MF Lily Clifford
MF Cate Ryan
MF Jose Humbert
MF Katherine Hoffman
F Kiki Leman
F Julia Daun
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Mariana Pinto, sr., F, Benet
Scoring summary
First half
Oak Park and River Forest — Julia Daun (unassisted), 8th minute
Benet — Mariana Pinto (Sadie Sterbenz), 22nd minute
Benet — Mariana Pinto (Keira Petrucelli), 26th minute
Second half
No scoring