Forsythe’s late goal lifts Benet past Wheaton Academy
Junior MF scores on 78th-minute rebound, breaks scoreless tie
By Steve Millar
WEST CHICAGO – Benet was denied again and again as it poured on the offense in search of the first goal Saturday.
After all the missed opportunities, many after the Redwings played with a man advantage, they kept going.
“Our guys are resilient,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “They still had belief and were confident good things were going to come, even though for a long time it seemed like it wasn’t going to happen. I’m super proud to get a win like this on the road.”
The win came courtesy of a late goal by junior midfielder Brendan Forsythe, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match.
Senior forward Hans Haenicke created the opportunity when he made a strong run down the left side of the field and ripped a shot on goal.
Wheaton Academy goalkeeper Declan Finnegan, who was brilliant all day, stopped Haenicke’s shot but gave up a rebound. Forsythe was there to hammer it home with just 2 minutes, 29 seconds left to play. Visiting Benet held on for a 1-0 win in the nonconference match.
“I just saw Hans shoot it,” Forsythe said. “I knew it was slippery ground and the ball could end up at the back post, so I just made that run hoping I would get it.
“It was nice. We wanted that win really bad, and we were fighting hard for it at the end.”
Wesley was glad to see Forsythe’s aggressive charge into the box without the ball for the Redwings (11-1-0).
“We want to hunt in the box,” Wesley said. “We want to make it hard on the other team’s goalie and add more pressure to the situation. I think he’s learning that, and obviously it really paid off for us.”
Wheaton Academy (8-3-1) put forth a huge defensive effort while playing a man down for the final 37 minutes, 16 seconds after a red card.
“We’ve been throwing around the phrase, ‘next man up,’ all season,” Wheaton Academy coach Cody Snouffer said. “With COVID and everything else this season, you never know who you’re going to have for each game, so we tell everybody to be ready when their number is called.
“I think we played eight different players on that backline, and we just had that mentality to battle no matter who is alongside of you. That’s how we were able to hold them off as long as we could.”
Finnegan was spectacular in net, making nine saves, including seven in the second half.
Even before going a man up, Benet had a great look in the opening moments of the second half when Haenicke made a big run down the right side of the field and played a pass to Preston Wray in the center of the box. Wray had a point-blank look, but Finnegan got a piece of his shot and deflected it just wide.
After the red card, Benet attacked relentlessly. The Redwings earned seven corner kicks in the second half, but Finnegan and his defenders were up to the challenge on every one.
Finnegan made another big save in the 45th minute when Haenicke got open down the middle of the field off an Andy Nash pass. Finnegan was able to catch Haenicke’s shot.
Finnegan denied an Anthony Klos header off a corner kick in the 61st minute, dove to the ground to catch Klos’ shot in the 68th minute and caught Sam Hepburn’s hard free kick from 20 yards in the 71st minute.
“I thought Wheaton Academy played really good, especially down a man,” Wesley said. “They were really strong, and their goalie made huge saves. He stood on his head the majority of the second half.”
Snouffer was proud of Finnegan.
“Declan did a great job anticipating shots,” Snouffer said. “The only one he didn’t catch and hold found its way to the back of the net. His ability to catch a lot of shots from a lot of different players really made his performance stand out.”
The Warriors’ backline, including Alex Anaya, Jude Barton, Gabe Olsen and several reserve defenders, did well to keep Benet off the scoreboard most of the way.
The Redwings, meanwhile, kept attacking until they scored.
“Going a man up, we just try to keep the same intensity that we have when it’s 11 vs. 11,” Forsythe said. “It helps us out, but we just want to play the same way we played before and keep trying to score goals.
“We moved the ball quick, tried to play simple. We wanted to not try to do too much and just find the open shot.”
Wheaton Academy had just one shot on goal, a long attempt from Barton that was easily handled by Benet goalkeeper Nolan Hart, who recorded the shutout.
The Warriors’ best scoring chance came in the 11th minute, when Solomon Pitts played a pass ahead to Rian Bautista, who got behind the defense in alone on Hart, but fired just wide.
Benet’s back line of Klos, Jared Plummer, Zach Serrafin and Nicholas Roe were sure not to give up another clean look like that.
“It was the same game plan as always,” Klos said. “We try to cover each other. If one person steps up, we’ll have another guy or two behind the ball. We make sure we’re all on the same page. We’re really constructive with our communication with each other. If we think something isn’t working, we’ll talk about it.
“We’re a really close group of guys. It’s always organized. We have some talent back there and, we have a lot of guys who want to work hard and grind. It’s amazing.”
Klos said it was important for Benet to keep composed after going a man up.
“After the red card, we had to make sure we stayed disciplined and didn’t even it up by taking a red ourselves,” he said. “I had a yellow. We had a couple yellows today, so we had to make sure we stayed really smart in the second half.”
Wheaton Academy did generate a couple opportunities while playing 10 against 11. The Warriors earned a corner kick in the 50th minute, but Hart picked off Haetham Nasr’s cross.
The Warriors’ last real opportunity came in the 73rd minute when they earned a free kick from 35 yards. Barton fired a shot high.
“Having to play against Benet with 10 guys for 30 minutes is a really tall order,” Snouffer said. “I think prior to that the match was really balanced.
“When you go down a man, you try to live on the counter and live on set pieces. Maybe we’d want a couple of those free kicks or corners back, but we had a couple chances. When you’re down a man, you’re not going to get five shots on goal, you’re going to maybe get two. So, one of those has to go in.”
Snouffer and the Warriors were set to turn their attention to a busy final week of the season. It features four Metro Suburban Conference games, including undefeated Blue Division leader St. Francis and one-loss Riverside-Brookfield.
“I want our seniors to have an awesome last week of high school soccer,” Snouffer said. “We have four conference games, and we want to finish conference strong. We want to celebrate the fact that we’ve been able to play this year. We want the younger players to feel comfortable and confident, because it’s a pretty quick turnaround for fall 2021 soccer, so we want to be ready for that.”
Starting lineups
Benet
GK – Nolan Hart
D – Jared Plummer
D – Anthony Klos
D – Zach Serafin
D – Nicholas Roe
MF – Sam Hepburn
MF – Nico Picha
MF - Brendan Forsythe
MF – Dan Pepping
F - Preston Wray
F - Hans Haenicke
Wheaton Academy:
GK – Declan Finnegan
D – Alex Anaya
D – Jude Barton
D – Solomon Pitts
D – Gabe Olsen
MF – Evan Eckert
MF – Haetham Nasr
MF – Josh Mariotti
MF – Caleb Mariotti
F – Rian Bautista
F – Robert Platt
Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match: Brendan Forsythe, jr., MF, Benet
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Benet – Forsythe (Haenicke), 78th minute
Junior MF scores on 78th-minute rebound, breaks scoreless tie
By Steve Millar
WEST CHICAGO – Benet was denied again and again as it poured on the offense in search of the first goal Saturday.
After all the missed opportunities, many after the Redwings played with a man advantage, they kept going.
“Our guys are resilient,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “They still had belief and were confident good things were going to come, even though for a long time it seemed like it wasn’t going to happen. I’m super proud to get a win like this on the road.”
The win came courtesy of a late goal by junior midfielder Brendan Forsythe, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match.
Senior forward Hans Haenicke created the opportunity when he made a strong run down the left side of the field and ripped a shot on goal.
Wheaton Academy goalkeeper Declan Finnegan, who was brilliant all day, stopped Haenicke’s shot but gave up a rebound. Forsythe was there to hammer it home with just 2 minutes, 29 seconds left to play. Visiting Benet held on for a 1-0 win in the nonconference match.
“I just saw Hans shoot it,” Forsythe said. “I knew it was slippery ground and the ball could end up at the back post, so I just made that run hoping I would get it.
“It was nice. We wanted that win really bad, and we were fighting hard for it at the end.”
Wesley was glad to see Forsythe’s aggressive charge into the box without the ball for the Redwings (11-1-0).
“We want to hunt in the box,” Wesley said. “We want to make it hard on the other team’s goalie and add more pressure to the situation. I think he’s learning that, and obviously it really paid off for us.”
Wheaton Academy (8-3-1) put forth a huge defensive effort while playing a man down for the final 37 minutes, 16 seconds after a red card.
“We’ve been throwing around the phrase, ‘next man up,’ all season,” Wheaton Academy coach Cody Snouffer said. “With COVID and everything else this season, you never know who you’re going to have for each game, so we tell everybody to be ready when their number is called.
“I think we played eight different players on that backline, and we just had that mentality to battle no matter who is alongside of you. That’s how we were able to hold them off as long as we could.”
Finnegan was spectacular in net, making nine saves, including seven in the second half.
Even before going a man up, Benet had a great look in the opening moments of the second half when Haenicke made a big run down the right side of the field and played a pass to Preston Wray in the center of the box. Wray had a point-blank look, but Finnegan got a piece of his shot and deflected it just wide.
After the red card, Benet attacked relentlessly. The Redwings earned seven corner kicks in the second half, but Finnegan and his defenders were up to the challenge on every one.
Finnegan made another big save in the 45th minute when Haenicke got open down the middle of the field off an Andy Nash pass. Finnegan was able to catch Haenicke’s shot.
Finnegan denied an Anthony Klos header off a corner kick in the 61st minute, dove to the ground to catch Klos’ shot in the 68th minute and caught Sam Hepburn’s hard free kick from 20 yards in the 71st minute.
“I thought Wheaton Academy played really good, especially down a man,” Wesley said. “They were really strong, and their goalie made huge saves. He stood on his head the majority of the second half.”
Snouffer was proud of Finnegan.
“Declan did a great job anticipating shots,” Snouffer said. “The only one he didn’t catch and hold found its way to the back of the net. His ability to catch a lot of shots from a lot of different players really made his performance stand out.”
The Warriors’ backline, including Alex Anaya, Jude Barton, Gabe Olsen and several reserve defenders, did well to keep Benet off the scoreboard most of the way.
The Redwings, meanwhile, kept attacking until they scored.
“Going a man up, we just try to keep the same intensity that we have when it’s 11 vs. 11,” Forsythe said. “It helps us out, but we just want to play the same way we played before and keep trying to score goals.
“We moved the ball quick, tried to play simple. We wanted to not try to do too much and just find the open shot.”
Wheaton Academy had just one shot on goal, a long attempt from Barton that was easily handled by Benet goalkeeper Nolan Hart, who recorded the shutout.
The Warriors’ best scoring chance came in the 11th minute, when Solomon Pitts played a pass ahead to Rian Bautista, who got behind the defense in alone on Hart, but fired just wide.
Benet’s back line of Klos, Jared Plummer, Zach Serrafin and Nicholas Roe were sure not to give up another clean look like that.
“It was the same game plan as always,” Klos said. “We try to cover each other. If one person steps up, we’ll have another guy or two behind the ball. We make sure we’re all on the same page. We’re really constructive with our communication with each other. If we think something isn’t working, we’ll talk about it.
“We’re a really close group of guys. It’s always organized. We have some talent back there and, we have a lot of guys who want to work hard and grind. It’s amazing.”
Klos said it was important for Benet to keep composed after going a man up.
“After the red card, we had to make sure we stayed disciplined and didn’t even it up by taking a red ourselves,” he said. “I had a yellow. We had a couple yellows today, so we had to make sure we stayed really smart in the second half.”
Wheaton Academy did generate a couple opportunities while playing 10 against 11. The Warriors earned a corner kick in the 50th minute, but Hart picked off Haetham Nasr’s cross.
The Warriors’ last real opportunity came in the 73rd minute when they earned a free kick from 35 yards. Barton fired a shot high.
“Having to play against Benet with 10 guys for 30 minutes is a really tall order,” Snouffer said. “I think prior to that the match was really balanced.
“When you go down a man, you try to live on the counter and live on set pieces. Maybe we’d want a couple of those free kicks or corners back, but we had a couple chances. When you’re down a man, you’re not going to get five shots on goal, you’re going to maybe get two. So, one of those has to go in.”
Snouffer and the Warriors were set to turn their attention to a busy final week of the season. It features four Metro Suburban Conference games, including undefeated Blue Division leader St. Francis and one-loss Riverside-Brookfield.
“I want our seniors to have an awesome last week of high school soccer,” Snouffer said. “We have four conference games, and we want to finish conference strong. We want to celebrate the fact that we’ve been able to play this year. We want the younger players to feel comfortable and confident, because it’s a pretty quick turnaround for fall 2021 soccer, so we want to be ready for that.”
Starting lineups
Benet
GK – Nolan Hart
D – Jared Plummer
D – Anthony Klos
D – Zach Serafin
D – Nicholas Roe
MF – Sam Hepburn
MF – Nico Picha
MF - Brendan Forsythe
MF – Dan Pepping
F - Preston Wray
F - Hans Haenicke
Wheaton Academy:
GK – Declan Finnegan
D – Alex Anaya
D – Jude Barton
D – Solomon Pitts
D – Gabe Olsen
MF – Evan Eckert
MF – Haetham Nasr
MF – Josh Mariotti
MF – Caleb Mariotti
F – Rian Bautista
F – Robert Platt
Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match: Brendan Forsythe, jr., MF, Benet
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Benet – Forsythe (Haenicke), 78th minute