Benet's 2nd half groove solves Carmel
4 goals turn tight game into 5-0 ESCC win
By Matt Le Cren
LISLE – For 37 minutes, Carmel hung in there with host Benet on Monday.
Then came the proverbial bolt from the blue.
Benet’s Nick Renfro scored on a spectacular volley – a 22-yard cracker from just outside the circle – with 2:19 remaining in the first half.
After that, it was as if the visiting Corsairs were paralyzed after a lightning strike. Benet added four more goals – including three on consecutive shots – in the second half and rolled to a 5-0 East Suburban Catholic Conference victory.
“I think the nature of the goal just got us going and got the momentum back in our favor going into halftime,” Benet sophomore Preston Wray said. “So coming into the second half we had it all going for us, and I think that’s what helped us get off to a quick start.”
The Corsairs (6-6-1, 3-3-1) never threatened offensively in the first half as Benet’s defense imitated a brick wall. But the play was stagnant, and the host Redwings were unable to do anything effectively near the Carmel goal.
That changed when Jonny Mitra tossed a throw-in from the right side to Ethan Ferguson, who flicked the ball into the middle. Renfro booted the ball out of the air, past a stunned Carmel defense and inside the left post for a 1-0 lead.
“They had a great goal,” Carmel coach Ray Krawzak said. “Their first goal was the best goal we’ve seen this season.
“But it can’t break you. When that kind of thing happens, you’ve got to keep your head up, and that’s where we failed. I’d like us to improve our attitude after a setback.”
Renfro’s goal had a galvanizing effect on the Redwings (10-3-1, 5-1-0) and deflated the Corsairs, who were on their heels for much of the second half.
Benet scored three goals in a span of 6:19 to break open a close game. Renfro’s goal, it turned out, opened the floodgates on an offensive barrage the Redwings had been looking for.
“It did,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “We talk about being ruthless in the box and getting chances on goal and obviously Renfro’s chance was brilliant.
“But then in the second half our first six shots ended up on frame. With the amount of pressure we put on the them, of the six I think we scored on three.
“Whereas in the first half I thought we let them off the hook. I thought we broke them down a couple times and then our chances went way high or way wide. Second half we were ruthless. When we got to goal we put everything on frame, and it was a totally different game.”
It began with a pair of quick through-balls that led to breakaway goals from Wray and Mike Fernandes. For Wray, the goal was his second of the year, while Fernandes found the back of the net for the first time this season.
Fernandes set up Wray’s goal. He took a pass from Zach Serafin and headed it ahead to Wray, who chipped the ball over Carmel goalie Camden Krautsack from the top of the box at the 32:26 mark.
“Someone played a ball into Mike, and I could see that there was a lane behind him,” Wray said. “So I yelled to flick, and he played a great header through to me, and I just poked it over the goalie.”
Three minutes later, it was Fernandes’ turn. Mitra’s perfectly played through-ball sprung Fernandes, who raced into the right side of the box and fired from 12 yards. The charging Krautsack got both hands on it, but the ball still had enough momentum go roll into the net for a 3-0 Benet lead.
“We have a lot of athletic guys, just fast and strong, and those through-balls really work when we’re all on the same page,” Fernandes said. “It worked twice with good communication and good movement.
“Hopefully that can get the ball rolling and everyone is hungry for more. Playoffs are coming up, so hopefully we’ll be able to carry our weight.”
Wesley was pleased to see Fernandes carry the freight and get a goal against a quality opponent.
“Not just (with) the goal but some of the work that he did off the ball, playing defense and winning balls,” Wesley said. “We just worked on flicking the ball in practice the other day.
“He had struggled with it early in the year, so by him to get that assist by flicking the ball and setting up a beautiful goal is just like hard work rewarded.”
In all, five different players scored for the Redwings, including freshman T.J. McVey and sophomore Michael Rocco.
McVey scored from in front off assists from Rutkowski and Mitra with 26:07 remaining, while Rocco’s tally was set up by Patrick Michalik with 10:52 to go.
“I don’t think we have the quintessential target forward,” Wesley said. “Franklin is more of a playmaker and our other guys are used to playing other positions and doing other things, so we need guys to step up and get involved.”
The Redwings, who have won three straight, did that against Carmel.
“It’s nice that the other team can’t just key in on one guy,” Wesley said. “We’ve got guys on the wings that fly and get to goal and then a player like T.J. who keeps it and dribbles and breaks people down as a freshman.
“Then you put in a kid like Mike who is 6-foot-2, 6-foot-3 and just a beast of an athlete.”
It added up to a shocking turn of events for both teams.
“Carmel is always a competitor and a rival, so we expected the game to be close,” Wray said. “I guess it was, 1-0 at halftime, but we came out hard. Coach gave a good pep talk and we put in some work.
“It seemed like once we got our momentum to the peak they seemed to go down a little bit. But we still kept going and finished a good game.”
That was particularly disappointing to Krawzak, who has witnessed this scenario before. The Corsairs played well in taking ESCC leader Saint Viator to overtime on
Wednesday, but created nothing against Benet other than three late shots from Eli Larson.
“We have a pattern of putting our heads down, and we need to break that,” Krawzak said. “It’s happened where we’ve had these short periods of time where we allow teams to score two or three goals on us.
“That’s our focus now; it’s not going to be soccer. It’s going to be our mental state needs to change because it’s happened against Warren, it happened against St. Pat’s and now again today.”
Starting lineups
Carmel
GK Camden Krautsack
D Eli Larson
D Michael Handel
D Riley Pierson
D Joe Baude
M Ian McKernan
M Ryan Long
M Shane Farrell
M Matthew Grzesiak
F Sean Seidl
F Matt Duffy
Benet
GK Hunter Randolph
D Kyle Kohlsaat
D Jonathan Mitra
D Zach Serafin
D Thomas Miskin
M Preston Wray
M Nick Renfro
M Hans Haenicke
M Anthony Klos
F Franklin Rutkowski
M Michael Fernandes
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Mike Fernandes, jr., F, Benet
Scoring summary
First half
Benet – Nick Renfro (Ethan Ferguson) 2:19
2nd Half
Benet – Preston Wray (Mike Fernandes) 32:26
Benet – Fernandes (Jonny Mitra) 29:17
Benet – T.J. McVey (Franklin Rutkowski, Mitra) 26:07
Benet – Michael Rocco (Patrick Michalik) 10:52
4 goals turn tight game into 5-0 ESCC win
By Matt Le Cren
LISLE – For 37 minutes, Carmel hung in there with host Benet on Monday.
Then came the proverbial bolt from the blue.
Benet’s Nick Renfro scored on a spectacular volley – a 22-yard cracker from just outside the circle – with 2:19 remaining in the first half.
After that, it was as if the visiting Corsairs were paralyzed after a lightning strike. Benet added four more goals – including three on consecutive shots – in the second half and rolled to a 5-0 East Suburban Catholic Conference victory.
“I think the nature of the goal just got us going and got the momentum back in our favor going into halftime,” Benet sophomore Preston Wray said. “So coming into the second half we had it all going for us, and I think that’s what helped us get off to a quick start.”
The Corsairs (6-6-1, 3-3-1) never threatened offensively in the first half as Benet’s defense imitated a brick wall. But the play was stagnant, and the host Redwings were unable to do anything effectively near the Carmel goal.
That changed when Jonny Mitra tossed a throw-in from the right side to Ethan Ferguson, who flicked the ball into the middle. Renfro booted the ball out of the air, past a stunned Carmel defense and inside the left post for a 1-0 lead.
“They had a great goal,” Carmel coach Ray Krawzak said. “Their first goal was the best goal we’ve seen this season.
“But it can’t break you. When that kind of thing happens, you’ve got to keep your head up, and that’s where we failed. I’d like us to improve our attitude after a setback.”
Renfro’s goal had a galvanizing effect on the Redwings (10-3-1, 5-1-0) and deflated the Corsairs, who were on their heels for much of the second half.
Benet scored three goals in a span of 6:19 to break open a close game. Renfro’s goal, it turned out, opened the floodgates on an offensive barrage the Redwings had been looking for.
“It did,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “We talk about being ruthless in the box and getting chances on goal and obviously Renfro’s chance was brilliant.
“But then in the second half our first six shots ended up on frame. With the amount of pressure we put on the them, of the six I think we scored on three.
“Whereas in the first half I thought we let them off the hook. I thought we broke them down a couple times and then our chances went way high or way wide. Second half we were ruthless. When we got to goal we put everything on frame, and it was a totally different game.”
It began with a pair of quick through-balls that led to breakaway goals from Wray and Mike Fernandes. For Wray, the goal was his second of the year, while Fernandes found the back of the net for the first time this season.
Fernandes set up Wray’s goal. He took a pass from Zach Serafin and headed it ahead to Wray, who chipped the ball over Carmel goalie Camden Krautsack from the top of the box at the 32:26 mark.
“Someone played a ball into Mike, and I could see that there was a lane behind him,” Wray said. “So I yelled to flick, and he played a great header through to me, and I just poked it over the goalie.”
Three minutes later, it was Fernandes’ turn. Mitra’s perfectly played through-ball sprung Fernandes, who raced into the right side of the box and fired from 12 yards. The charging Krautsack got both hands on it, but the ball still had enough momentum go roll into the net for a 3-0 Benet lead.
“We have a lot of athletic guys, just fast and strong, and those through-balls really work when we’re all on the same page,” Fernandes said. “It worked twice with good communication and good movement.
“Hopefully that can get the ball rolling and everyone is hungry for more. Playoffs are coming up, so hopefully we’ll be able to carry our weight.”
Wesley was pleased to see Fernandes carry the freight and get a goal against a quality opponent.
“Not just (with) the goal but some of the work that he did off the ball, playing defense and winning balls,” Wesley said. “We just worked on flicking the ball in practice the other day.
“He had struggled with it early in the year, so by him to get that assist by flicking the ball and setting up a beautiful goal is just like hard work rewarded.”
In all, five different players scored for the Redwings, including freshman T.J. McVey and sophomore Michael Rocco.
McVey scored from in front off assists from Rutkowski and Mitra with 26:07 remaining, while Rocco’s tally was set up by Patrick Michalik with 10:52 to go.
“I don’t think we have the quintessential target forward,” Wesley said. “Franklin is more of a playmaker and our other guys are used to playing other positions and doing other things, so we need guys to step up and get involved.”
The Redwings, who have won three straight, did that against Carmel.
“It’s nice that the other team can’t just key in on one guy,” Wesley said. “We’ve got guys on the wings that fly and get to goal and then a player like T.J. who keeps it and dribbles and breaks people down as a freshman.
“Then you put in a kid like Mike who is 6-foot-2, 6-foot-3 and just a beast of an athlete.”
It added up to a shocking turn of events for both teams.
“Carmel is always a competitor and a rival, so we expected the game to be close,” Wray said. “I guess it was, 1-0 at halftime, but we came out hard. Coach gave a good pep talk and we put in some work.
“It seemed like once we got our momentum to the peak they seemed to go down a little bit. But we still kept going and finished a good game.”
That was particularly disappointing to Krawzak, who has witnessed this scenario before. The Corsairs played well in taking ESCC leader Saint Viator to overtime on
Wednesday, but created nothing against Benet other than three late shots from Eli Larson.
“We have a pattern of putting our heads down, and we need to break that,” Krawzak said. “It’s happened where we’ve had these short periods of time where we allow teams to score two or three goals on us.
“That’s our focus now; it’s not going to be soccer. It’s going to be our mental state needs to change because it’s happened against Warren, it happened against St. Pat’s and now again today.”
Starting lineups
Carmel
GK Camden Krautsack
D Eli Larson
D Michael Handel
D Riley Pierson
D Joe Baude
M Ian McKernan
M Ryan Long
M Shane Farrell
M Matthew Grzesiak
F Sean Seidl
F Matt Duffy
Benet
GK Hunter Randolph
D Kyle Kohlsaat
D Jonathan Mitra
D Zach Serafin
D Thomas Miskin
M Preston Wray
M Nick Renfro
M Hans Haenicke
M Anthony Klos
F Franklin Rutkowski
M Michael Fernandes
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Mike Fernandes, jr., F, Benet
Scoring summary
First half
Benet – Nick Renfro (Ethan Ferguson) 2:19
2nd Half
Benet – Preston Wray (Mike Fernandes) 32:26
Benet – Fernandes (Jonny Mitra) 29:17
Benet – T.J. McVey (Franklin Rutkowski, Mitra) 26:07
Benet – Michael Rocco (Patrick Michalik) 10:52