St. Patrick makes another statement versus Benet in battle of ranked ESCC teams
Joshua Torres’s 65th minute goal gives Shamrocks 1-0 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
RIVER GROVE -- All St. Patrick has to do to measure how far the program has come is think about its history with Benet.
Until last year, think of the Harlem Globetrotters and Washington Generals. Year after year, Benet had their way. As part of its magical year last year, St. Patrick traveled to Lisle and stunned the Redwings 1-0.
“I think last year was maybe the first year we ever beat Benet,” St. Patrick coach Kyle McClure said.
That victory, symbolic and meaningful, underscored the leap of a program clearly on the ascendant. In winning 23 games last year and capturing the first state trophy in school history, the Shamrocks showed a terrific upward climb.
The days of Benet steamrolling St. Patrick are a distant memory.
“The whole [East Suburban Catholic] conference is better, and specifically St. Patrick,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “They have a lot of good players: guys who are really athletic; guys who can keep the ball; guys who are confident on the ball; and who can dribble and take people on. They play well as a team.”
Teams that make a big leap from one year to the next sometime suffer a regression. The heightened expectations make it difficult to match the previous jump.
Not this St. Patrick team.
Sophomore forward Joshua Torres continued his torrid offensive play by cutting through the Redwings’ backline and taking a ball from junior defender Diego Rivera in the 65th minute that he drilled inside the near post for the no. 23 Shamrocks’ 1-0 victory over no. 15 Benet here Saturday at Triton.
The wide and seemingly infinite space of the college field clearly suits the possessive, quick style of the Shamrocks. They are now a career 8-0-0 the last two years playing on this field.
The goal marked the culmination of strong play from each side in the second half after a tactical, closely played first half yielded few meaningful opportunities on each side. Benet keeper Hunter Randolph posted five saves, including one on an earlier point-blank ball from Torres. Junior defender Tom Miskin also thwarted an apparent sure goal with his spectacular clearance off the line in the 58th minute.
St. Patrick (11-3-0, 3-0-0) finally broke through late after junior midfielder Aaron Moreno-Lopez controlled a ball just below midfield and played it over the top to Rivera.
“It took a couple of deflections off a couple of defenders,” Rivera said. “I saw the ball, so I just ran up to it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw two people making the back post run. I was going to try and get as much [pace], as I could on the ball and low drive it down to the second post like my coach always tells me.
“Our coach says good things happen when you play it second post, and that’s what we did.”
Torres scored his 15th goal of the year. He has tended to score his goals in bunches with four different hat tricks. Junior forward Luis Saucedo also created tremendous pressure against the Redwings, utilizing his speed and quickness to break Benet down.
Torres located the open space. Benet got caught off-guard, an uncharacteristic condition for the normally organized and principled defensive team.
“As talented as they are, we had a situation where one guy presses and nobody presses with him and the next thing you know they slice us like swiss cheese,” Wesley said. “And we are under it, and the ball is in our box, and they get something out of it.
“The whole rest of the half, I thought we managed it much better. That’s the story of our season. The one mistake is really costing us.”
Benet (7-3-1, 3-1-0) showed far greater unity and grace in the second half.
“I thought we played horrible in the first half,” Wesley said. “We were not connecting passes.”
Long and agile forward Franklin Rutkowski played aggressively as the Redwings sought to create opportunities off their tremendous size advantage.
St. Patrick junior midfielder Jonathan Rodriguez, the team’s best two-way player, helped sophomore keeper Jorge Cebrero clear a Rutkowski header inside the box.
Rodriguez flashed his versatility and positional flexibility in earning the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction.
“He’s a great player they move all over the field,” Wesley said. “When they needed one, he’s flying up the pitch and when they don’t want to give one up, he is in the back winning headers and taking chances away from us. I thought he played really well.”
Called “Pollo,” Rodriguez is a free roamer who plays with passion and precision. He proved invaluable in slowing down the Redwings’ top offensive threats such as standout junior midfielder Nick Renfro and emerging young star, sophomore midfielder Anthony Klos.
“We’ve all been practicing hard,” Rodriguez said. “Everything our coaches tell us to do we just try to carry it out. The way we practice is what we carry out to the game. Another big thing is we are really communicating very well.”
In dropping down to support the Shamrocks’ backline, Rodriguez made a point of taking away what Rutkowski, Renfro and Klos are most comfortable with.
“I am pretty sure they all like to shoot with their right, so what I tried to do was block the right side so they would not be able to come through, and I wanted to try and force them left,” he said.
Led by Rodriguez, St. Patrick did an admirable job of matching the Redwings’ intensity and sustained play in the second half.
“We were talking more in the second half and telling everybody to make sure they had a man, and we were dropping down,” Rodriguez said.
Benet’s only two losses coming into the game were against the state’s two best teams, two-time defending Class 3A state champion Naperville North and 2017 state runner-up Libertyville.
“They are one of the best teams in the state,” McClure said of Benet. “The mentality we played with was to win. The way our conference points work, you get three points for a win and just one for a tie. You really get penalized if you tie a team.
“We played to win the whole game. We kept pressing for a goal. We didn’t want to keep it [scoreless], and I don’t think they did either.”
The two keepers were stellar in the second half. Cebrero made a diving stop of a ball by Benet freshman forward T.J. McVey. Randolph made some signature stops as well.
Benet's Miskin also had a shot from the left wing from distance the athletic Cebrero elevated to bring down.
“We definitely kicked it into another gear in the second half and created a lot more opportunities,” Miskin said. “We could not put any away. We had a lapse of concentration on their goal.”
The two teams proved their respective value Saturday.
“We have quality, and we have talen. We have played with great teams like Naperville North, Libertyville and now St. Patrick,” Wesley said. “We are still young. We are only starting three seniors, maybe four depending on the day. We are asking young guys to contribute a lot.
“As people have seen, in the moment when it has clicked we are a sleeping giant.”
For its part, St. Patrick took another significant step forward.
“This is probably the best we have played all season in terms of putting a complete game together,” McClure said. “That was the best team we have played all season.
“We are going to try to keep getting better.”
Starting lineups
Benet
GK: Hunter Randolph
D: Jonathan Mitra
D: Zach Serafin
D: Kyle Kohlsaat
D: Thomas Miskin
M: C.J. Warren
M: Nick Renfro
M: Anthony Klos
M: Preston Wray
F: Franklin Rutkowski
F: T.J. McVey
St. Patrick
GK: Jorge Cebrero
D: Adam Pryztula
D: Juan Leon
D: Collin Kroeger
D: Angel Adame
M: Jonathan Rodriguez
M: Sebastian Modrzejewski
M: Aaron Moreno-Lopez
M: Ivan Guerrero
F: Joshua Torres
F: Luis Saucedo
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jonathan Rodriguez, jr., MF, St. Patrick
Scoring summary
First half
None
Second half
St. Patrick—Joshua Torres (Diego Rivera), 65th minute
Joshua Torres’s 65th minute goal gives Shamrocks 1-0 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
RIVER GROVE -- All St. Patrick has to do to measure how far the program has come is think about its history with Benet.
Until last year, think of the Harlem Globetrotters and Washington Generals. Year after year, Benet had their way. As part of its magical year last year, St. Patrick traveled to Lisle and stunned the Redwings 1-0.
“I think last year was maybe the first year we ever beat Benet,” St. Patrick coach Kyle McClure said.
That victory, symbolic and meaningful, underscored the leap of a program clearly on the ascendant. In winning 23 games last year and capturing the first state trophy in school history, the Shamrocks showed a terrific upward climb.
The days of Benet steamrolling St. Patrick are a distant memory.
“The whole [East Suburban Catholic] conference is better, and specifically St. Patrick,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “They have a lot of good players: guys who are really athletic; guys who can keep the ball; guys who are confident on the ball; and who can dribble and take people on. They play well as a team.”
Teams that make a big leap from one year to the next sometime suffer a regression. The heightened expectations make it difficult to match the previous jump.
Not this St. Patrick team.
Sophomore forward Joshua Torres continued his torrid offensive play by cutting through the Redwings’ backline and taking a ball from junior defender Diego Rivera in the 65th minute that he drilled inside the near post for the no. 23 Shamrocks’ 1-0 victory over no. 15 Benet here Saturday at Triton.
The wide and seemingly infinite space of the college field clearly suits the possessive, quick style of the Shamrocks. They are now a career 8-0-0 the last two years playing on this field.
The goal marked the culmination of strong play from each side in the second half after a tactical, closely played first half yielded few meaningful opportunities on each side. Benet keeper Hunter Randolph posted five saves, including one on an earlier point-blank ball from Torres. Junior defender Tom Miskin also thwarted an apparent sure goal with his spectacular clearance off the line in the 58th minute.
St. Patrick (11-3-0, 3-0-0) finally broke through late after junior midfielder Aaron Moreno-Lopez controlled a ball just below midfield and played it over the top to Rivera.
“It took a couple of deflections off a couple of defenders,” Rivera said. “I saw the ball, so I just ran up to it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw two people making the back post run. I was going to try and get as much [pace], as I could on the ball and low drive it down to the second post like my coach always tells me.
“Our coach says good things happen when you play it second post, and that’s what we did.”
Torres scored his 15th goal of the year. He has tended to score his goals in bunches with four different hat tricks. Junior forward Luis Saucedo also created tremendous pressure against the Redwings, utilizing his speed and quickness to break Benet down.
Torres located the open space. Benet got caught off-guard, an uncharacteristic condition for the normally organized and principled defensive team.
“As talented as they are, we had a situation where one guy presses and nobody presses with him and the next thing you know they slice us like swiss cheese,” Wesley said. “And we are under it, and the ball is in our box, and they get something out of it.
“The whole rest of the half, I thought we managed it much better. That’s the story of our season. The one mistake is really costing us.”
Benet (7-3-1, 3-1-0) showed far greater unity and grace in the second half.
“I thought we played horrible in the first half,” Wesley said. “We were not connecting passes.”
Long and agile forward Franklin Rutkowski played aggressively as the Redwings sought to create opportunities off their tremendous size advantage.
St. Patrick junior midfielder Jonathan Rodriguez, the team’s best two-way player, helped sophomore keeper Jorge Cebrero clear a Rutkowski header inside the box.
Rodriguez flashed his versatility and positional flexibility in earning the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction.
“He’s a great player they move all over the field,” Wesley said. “When they needed one, he’s flying up the pitch and when they don’t want to give one up, he is in the back winning headers and taking chances away from us. I thought he played really well.”
Called “Pollo,” Rodriguez is a free roamer who plays with passion and precision. He proved invaluable in slowing down the Redwings’ top offensive threats such as standout junior midfielder Nick Renfro and emerging young star, sophomore midfielder Anthony Klos.
“We’ve all been practicing hard,” Rodriguez said. “Everything our coaches tell us to do we just try to carry it out. The way we practice is what we carry out to the game. Another big thing is we are really communicating very well.”
In dropping down to support the Shamrocks’ backline, Rodriguez made a point of taking away what Rutkowski, Renfro and Klos are most comfortable with.
“I am pretty sure they all like to shoot with their right, so what I tried to do was block the right side so they would not be able to come through, and I wanted to try and force them left,” he said.
Led by Rodriguez, St. Patrick did an admirable job of matching the Redwings’ intensity and sustained play in the second half.
“We were talking more in the second half and telling everybody to make sure they had a man, and we were dropping down,” Rodriguez said.
Benet’s only two losses coming into the game were against the state’s two best teams, two-time defending Class 3A state champion Naperville North and 2017 state runner-up Libertyville.
“They are one of the best teams in the state,” McClure said of Benet. “The mentality we played with was to win. The way our conference points work, you get three points for a win and just one for a tie. You really get penalized if you tie a team.
“We played to win the whole game. We kept pressing for a goal. We didn’t want to keep it [scoreless], and I don’t think they did either.”
The two keepers were stellar in the second half. Cebrero made a diving stop of a ball by Benet freshman forward T.J. McVey. Randolph made some signature stops as well.
Benet's Miskin also had a shot from the left wing from distance the athletic Cebrero elevated to bring down.
“We definitely kicked it into another gear in the second half and created a lot more opportunities,” Miskin said. “We could not put any away. We had a lapse of concentration on their goal.”
The two teams proved their respective value Saturday.
“We have quality, and we have talen. We have played with great teams like Naperville North, Libertyville and now St. Patrick,” Wesley said. “We are still young. We are only starting three seniors, maybe four depending on the day. We are asking young guys to contribute a lot.
“As people have seen, in the moment when it has clicked we are a sleeping giant.”
For its part, St. Patrick took another significant step forward.
“This is probably the best we have played all season in terms of putting a complete game together,” McClure said. “That was the best team we have played all season.
“We are going to try to keep getting better.”
Starting lineups
Benet
GK: Hunter Randolph
D: Jonathan Mitra
D: Zach Serafin
D: Kyle Kohlsaat
D: Thomas Miskin
M: C.J. Warren
M: Nick Renfro
M: Anthony Klos
M: Preston Wray
F: Franklin Rutkowski
F: T.J. McVey
St. Patrick
GK: Jorge Cebrero
D: Adam Pryztula
D: Juan Leon
D: Collin Kroeger
D: Angel Adame
M: Jonathan Rodriguez
M: Sebastian Modrzejewski
M: Aaron Moreno-Lopez
M: Ivan Guerrero
F: Joshua Torres
F: Luis Saucedo
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jonathan Rodriguez, jr., MF, St. Patrick
Scoring summary
First half
None
Second half
St. Patrick—Joshua Torres (Diego Rivera), 65th minute