Benet barrels along vs. Carmel
Cibulka’s early brace triggers 5-1 for host Redwing
By Matt Le Cren
LISLE – Tom Petty once sang that if you never slow down, you never grow old.
At the rate Katie Lewellyan and her Benet teammates are going, their youth will never end.
Lewellyan notched a goal and an assist, Jaimee Cibulka bagged two more goals and goalkeeper Shannon Clark made six saves to lead the host Redwings to a 5-1 victory over Carmel on Wednesday.
The win allowed Benet, ranked third in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, to keep pace with no. 11 Joliet Catholic ahead of their East Suburban Catholic Conference showdown on Monday at Joliet Memorial Stadium.
“We’re excited to play Joliet Catholic,” Cibulka said. “It will be another great conference game.
“It’s always competitive. We’re just going to keep working hard and get ready for that.”
The Redwings (9-0-0, 3-0-0) worked plenty hard in dispatching Carmel (4-4-3, 0-1-2), which lost to Joliet Catholic 6-1 on May 8. The Angels (8-0, 3-0) routed Marian 10-1 Wednesday.
As she has done so often this season, the Loyola-bound Cibulka opened the scoring. After the Corsairs were called for a handball in the box, Cibulka converted the ensuing penalty kick at the 24:34 mark of the first half.
That opened the floodgates for the Redwings, who scored three times in a span of 10 minutes. Cibulka made it 2-0 when she raced around the left end into the 6 and used her right foot to roof a short shot. It was her team-leading 11th strike of the season.
“Every goal we score is a team goal, so I can’t take credit for all of that,” Cibulka said. “My teammates are setting me up with some great opportunities, and it is just important that we put them away.”
Brooke Pullen put away the third goal, nodding home a corner kick from Brinkley Douglas to make it 3-0.
Things would have been worse for Carmel if not for the play of goalkeeper Lisete Astudillo, who made five saves to keep the score reasonably close at the break.
But the reprieve didn’t last long.
Rachel Burns buried a 25-yard runner at the 35:34 mark of the second half and then Lewellyan raced up the middle of the field into the box before ripping a shot off the underside of the crossbar to make it 5-0 with 21:26 remaining.
It was Lewellyan’s first goal of the season and second of her career. Both goals, much to Carmel’s chagrin, have come against the Corsairs.
“Katie has been a really great player for us,” Cibulka said. “Even when she played as a freshman, she was a huge contributor.
“Having her is just a great asset. She controls the whole middle of our field, and I’m happy that she was able to put that one away because she definitely deserved it.”
Lewellyan, a junior, has mainly been a facilitator in Benet’s formidable midfield, which also includes Burns and Mariana Pinto. But she knows when to take her chances.
“I just put my head down and went for it,” Lewellyan said. “I saw the opening and just took it.
“In the defensive and middle thirds we like to make sure we’re passing and not being selfish with the ball. But once you get in front of goal, everyone is just trying to get a shot off.”
And the Redwings never stop trying to get shots off, no matter how big their lead may be.
“We put it away early,” Lewellyan said. “We knew we wanted to keep going and obviously keep trying, but also preparing (for upcoming) games this season and making sure we’re getting all the subs in so we can keep our legs fresh.”
Benet managed to do both and now has four days to prepare for Joliet Catholic, which plays Plainfield North on Saturday.
“I think (the win) boosts a lot of people’s confidence,” Lewellyan said. “A lot of people had time on the ball today, so I think it will be good going into JCA.”
Carmel’s freshman striker Anna Hartman’s confidence was still high despite the loss. She scored Carmel’s only goal with 7:10 left and denied the Redwings their fifth shutout.
It was the seventh goal of the season for Hartman, who has been nursing an injury.
“I hurt my ankle earlier so I’ve been sitting out of practice,” Hartman said. “My coach (Stephanie Kile) said, ‘I can sit you for the rest of the game just to be safe,’ because we were already losing 5-0.
“But we always want to keep pushing even if we’re down, so I was like, ‘No, I want to go back in.’ The rest of my teammates said, ‘Yeah, we’ve got to score,’ so that was our mentality.”
Hartman figures to be a formidable force for three more years for the Corsairs. She won’t forget this loss, though thoughts of revenge will have to wait for future seasons.
“Being able to score against a team like Benet, it just brings a little bit of joy, I guess, so we’re not keeping our heads down,” Hartman said. “Ending on a goal brings more positivity for our upcoming games.”
The Corsairs did manage to get the ball into the attacking third on a fairly consistent basis, earning five corner kicks and a few free kicks. Senior forward Mia Salvi’s serves were dangerous but Clark did well to punch several out of danger and Benet’s backline of Pullen, Nora Hanson, Annastacia Thiel and Sadie Sterbenz took care of the rest.
“We had a set game plan because their forwards are super fast,” Hartman said. “But (senior forward) Sarah (Galla) is hurt and (freshman midfielder) Jill (Miller)was also out. Not having them two I think really hurt us.”
Even so, the Corsairs played the Redwings fairly evenly for the first 15 minutes. Benet sophomore forward Anna Casmere, who operates on the opposite flank as Cibulka, had a great scoring chance with 25:30 left when she broke into the right side of the box.
But Astudillo made the save on the near post, then made a reflex stop on Casmere’s rebound.
The Redwings, though, kept up the pressure and earned a corner kick. The Corsairs cleared it, but the hand ball gave Benet the penalty kick.
“We were doing a pretty good at the beginning and then we make a tiny mistake like the hand ball on the penalty. We kept our heads down, and I think that hurt us,” Hartman said. “They’re going to take advantage of that for sure.”
After nine straight wins to open the season – and 16 dating back to their 2019 state championship season – the Redwings expect to take advantage of every opportunity.
“We have been winning a lot, so our expectation to win gets really high,” Hanson said. “So at the beginning we’re always like, ‘We need to finish this fast so we can enjoy the rest of the game.’ That has really helped.”
Starting lineups
Carmel
GK Lisete Astudillo
D Zkylah Barnes
D Liz Galla
D Abby Gibbons
D Grace Harvey
M Lauren Jenkins
M Maddie Preda
M Mia Salvi
F Anna Hartman
F Lyndsey Basara
F Sofia Coury
Benet
GK Shannon Clark
D Brooke Pullen
D Sadie Sterbenz
D Annastacia Thiel
D Nora Hanson
M Mariana Pinto
M Katie Lewellyan
M Brinkley Douglas
F Rachel Burns
F Jaimee Cibulka
F Anna Casmere
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Jaimee Cibulka, sr., F, Benet.
Scoring summary
First half
Benet – Jaimee Cibulka (PK) 24:34 remaining
Benet – Cibulka (Rachel Burns) 22:53 remaining
Benet – Brooke Pullen (Brinkley Douglas) 17:43 remaining
Second half
Benet – Burns (Katie Lewellyan) 35:34 remaining
Benet – Lewellyan 21:26 remaining
Carmel – Anna Hartman 7:10 remaining
Cibulka’s early brace triggers 5-1 for host Redwing
By Matt Le Cren
LISLE – Tom Petty once sang that if you never slow down, you never grow old.
At the rate Katie Lewellyan and her Benet teammates are going, their youth will never end.
Lewellyan notched a goal and an assist, Jaimee Cibulka bagged two more goals and goalkeeper Shannon Clark made six saves to lead the host Redwings to a 5-1 victory over Carmel on Wednesday.
The win allowed Benet, ranked third in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, to keep pace with no. 11 Joliet Catholic ahead of their East Suburban Catholic Conference showdown on Monday at Joliet Memorial Stadium.
“We’re excited to play Joliet Catholic,” Cibulka said. “It will be another great conference game.
“It’s always competitive. We’re just going to keep working hard and get ready for that.”
The Redwings (9-0-0, 3-0-0) worked plenty hard in dispatching Carmel (4-4-3, 0-1-2), which lost to Joliet Catholic 6-1 on May 8. The Angels (8-0, 3-0) routed Marian 10-1 Wednesday.
As she has done so often this season, the Loyola-bound Cibulka opened the scoring. After the Corsairs were called for a handball in the box, Cibulka converted the ensuing penalty kick at the 24:34 mark of the first half.
That opened the floodgates for the Redwings, who scored three times in a span of 10 minutes. Cibulka made it 2-0 when she raced around the left end into the 6 and used her right foot to roof a short shot. It was her team-leading 11th strike of the season.
“Every goal we score is a team goal, so I can’t take credit for all of that,” Cibulka said. “My teammates are setting me up with some great opportunities, and it is just important that we put them away.”
Brooke Pullen put away the third goal, nodding home a corner kick from Brinkley Douglas to make it 3-0.
Things would have been worse for Carmel if not for the play of goalkeeper Lisete Astudillo, who made five saves to keep the score reasonably close at the break.
But the reprieve didn’t last long.
Rachel Burns buried a 25-yard runner at the 35:34 mark of the second half and then Lewellyan raced up the middle of the field into the box before ripping a shot off the underside of the crossbar to make it 5-0 with 21:26 remaining.
It was Lewellyan’s first goal of the season and second of her career. Both goals, much to Carmel’s chagrin, have come against the Corsairs.
“Katie has been a really great player for us,” Cibulka said. “Even when she played as a freshman, she was a huge contributor.
“Having her is just a great asset. She controls the whole middle of our field, and I’m happy that she was able to put that one away because she definitely deserved it.”
Lewellyan, a junior, has mainly been a facilitator in Benet’s formidable midfield, which also includes Burns and Mariana Pinto. But she knows when to take her chances.
“I just put my head down and went for it,” Lewellyan said. “I saw the opening and just took it.
“In the defensive and middle thirds we like to make sure we’re passing and not being selfish with the ball. But once you get in front of goal, everyone is just trying to get a shot off.”
And the Redwings never stop trying to get shots off, no matter how big their lead may be.
“We put it away early,” Lewellyan said. “We knew we wanted to keep going and obviously keep trying, but also preparing (for upcoming) games this season and making sure we’re getting all the subs in so we can keep our legs fresh.”
Benet managed to do both and now has four days to prepare for Joliet Catholic, which plays Plainfield North on Saturday.
“I think (the win) boosts a lot of people’s confidence,” Lewellyan said. “A lot of people had time on the ball today, so I think it will be good going into JCA.”
Carmel’s freshman striker Anna Hartman’s confidence was still high despite the loss. She scored Carmel’s only goal with 7:10 left and denied the Redwings their fifth shutout.
It was the seventh goal of the season for Hartman, who has been nursing an injury.
“I hurt my ankle earlier so I’ve been sitting out of practice,” Hartman said. “My coach (Stephanie Kile) said, ‘I can sit you for the rest of the game just to be safe,’ because we were already losing 5-0.
“But we always want to keep pushing even if we’re down, so I was like, ‘No, I want to go back in.’ The rest of my teammates said, ‘Yeah, we’ve got to score,’ so that was our mentality.”
Hartman figures to be a formidable force for three more years for the Corsairs. She won’t forget this loss, though thoughts of revenge will have to wait for future seasons.
“Being able to score against a team like Benet, it just brings a little bit of joy, I guess, so we’re not keeping our heads down,” Hartman said. “Ending on a goal brings more positivity for our upcoming games.”
The Corsairs did manage to get the ball into the attacking third on a fairly consistent basis, earning five corner kicks and a few free kicks. Senior forward Mia Salvi’s serves were dangerous but Clark did well to punch several out of danger and Benet’s backline of Pullen, Nora Hanson, Annastacia Thiel and Sadie Sterbenz took care of the rest.
“We had a set game plan because their forwards are super fast,” Hartman said. “But (senior forward) Sarah (Galla) is hurt and (freshman midfielder) Jill (Miller)was also out. Not having them two I think really hurt us.”
Even so, the Corsairs played the Redwings fairly evenly for the first 15 minutes. Benet sophomore forward Anna Casmere, who operates on the opposite flank as Cibulka, had a great scoring chance with 25:30 left when she broke into the right side of the box.
But Astudillo made the save on the near post, then made a reflex stop on Casmere’s rebound.
The Redwings, though, kept up the pressure and earned a corner kick. The Corsairs cleared it, but the hand ball gave Benet the penalty kick.
“We were doing a pretty good at the beginning and then we make a tiny mistake like the hand ball on the penalty. We kept our heads down, and I think that hurt us,” Hartman said. “They’re going to take advantage of that for sure.”
After nine straight wins to open the season – and 16 dating back to their 2019 state championship season – the Redwings expect to take advantage of every opportunity.
“We have been winning a lot, so our expectation to win gets really high,” Hanson said. “So at the beginning we’re always like, ‘We need to finish this fast so we can enjoy the rest of the game.’ That has really helped.”
Starting lineups
Carmel
GK Lisete Astudillo
D Zkylah Barnes
D Liz Galla
D Abby Gibbons
D Grace Harvey
M Lauren Jenkins
M Maddie Preda
M Mia Salvi
F Anna Hartman
F Lyndsey Basara
F Sofia Coury
Benet
GK Shannon Clark
D Brooke Pullen
D Sadie Sterbenz
D Annastacia Thiel
D Nora Hanson
M Mariana Pinto
M Katie Lewellyan
M Brinkley Douglas
F Rachel Burns
F Jaimee Cibulka
F Anna Casmere
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Jaimee Cibulka, sr., F, Benet.
Scoring summary
First half
Benet – Jaimee Cibulka (PK) 24:34 remaining
Benet – Cibulka (Rachel Burns) 22:53 remaining
Benet – Brooke Pullen (Brinkley Douglas) 17:43 remaining
Second half
Benet – Burns (Katie Lewellyan) 35:34 remaining
Benet – Lewellyan 21:26 remaining
Carmel – Anna Hartman 7:10 remaining