Carmel knocks Benet out of ESCC race
No. 18 Corsairs leave Lisle with 2-0 win, league-leading 18 points
By Mike Garofola
LISLE -- Who will lift the East Suburban Catholic Conference championship trophy?
It may well be Carmel after its hard-fought 2-0 victory against host Benet on Tuesday afternoon. The win kept the Corsairs (12-3-0, 6-0-0) even with rival Saint Viator (4-0-1 in ESCC) in the loss column.
The longtime rivals will play Friday night at the spacious Robert Morris Field in Arlington Heights with the top prize at stake. A win or draw gives the Corsairs the outright title for the second-consecutive year.
Benet (15-3-1, 5-1-1) saw its championship aspirations disappear with its first conference loss. Carmel made its intentions known almost immediately.
"The girls really came to play," said a pleased Ray Krawzak after his club topped his alma mater. "(Sarah) Galla's goal in the first three minutes really got us fired up and showed they were ready to go right from the start.
"We actually had not played since April 30, because our game with Viator (May 2) was called off because of the weather. Coupled with all that down time, plus the girls having prom over this last weekend, I wasn't sure what we would have for this one.
"But the focus was there, and I have to point toward some of our leaders -- Lily Sykes, Riley Harmon, Emma Heinrich, Sophia Sarkis -- as those who helped this team keep its focus.
"It was those players who made us ready to go (for) what is always an extremely tough opponent and one that had just as much at stake as we did."
The contest was crucial and was made more so after Benet drew 0-0 with Saint Viator on April 25.
"We did everything that day, but finish our chances," said Benet manager Gerard Oconer. "So it put a little more on us today to get the win, and make it just (us) and Saint Viator for the conference championship.
"But that first 15 minutes was just a nightmare for us -- giving up that bad first goal and making things worse when they added another one to force us to try to pull one back before the half to turn things around."
The home side melted under the Corsairs early pressure and allowed Galla to run free to the spot. From there her terrific one-timer off a superb cross from Zenaya Barnes ended in the back of the Redwings net before some in the crowd had taken their seats.
"Zenaya gave me just a great ball into the box," said the humble freshman, whose sublime touch in a pressure situation made a difficult opportunity look easy.
Although stunned by the opener, the Redwings did not crawl into a hole and disappear.
That fact was witnessed by two quality chances. The first came from Mia Ullmer after Abby Casmere split the Corsairs open with a devastating early ball, Next came Maddie Becker's wonderful ball over the top that found the foot of Erin Flynn, but Carmel keeper Sarkis challenged fearlessly off her line to deny the talented Benet senior.
Carmel responded with pace on the counterattack. Olivia Salvi ran onto a brilliant looping serve from Ciara Thomas and then drove home the final goal of the game with her close-range finish.
"This is a huge rivalry game for us every year, so for us to get those two goals fairly early in the game was big for us," said Heinrich, who earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors for her hard work and leadership. "It also meant we would need to defend as much as we could after going up 2-0, because we knew Benet would really come at us."
The Redwings slowly began to build plenty of one-way traffic following the Salvi goal in the 14th minute. They proved dangerous in many ways and forced the visitors to sit a little deeper until the intermission and then change their formation after the break.
"Benet's midfield was really tough on us," said Heinrich. "So while we opened up (the game) with four of us in the middle, after the half coach moved both me and Olivia (Salvi) into more of defensive midfielders for the second half."
Benet began to settle into the match and its tactical approach to solving a very good Corsairs defensive side.
"That last 15-20 minutes of the first half, we played simple but with quick touches with our players in the middle targeting and finding our people up-top," said Oconer.
It appeared Jackie Schuman was in position to halve the Corsairs advantage in the 27th minute when she collected a Nicole Burns helper in-close, however the senior leaned back a bit too far and put her shot over the bar.
A lovely early ball from Schuman to Cami Picha quickly put Sarah Bozych in position to strike, but Sarkis' daring run off her line forced Bozych to alter her shot, which went side in the 29th minute.
Three-straight corners led to a trio of deep throws by the Redwings but none generated troubling moments for a Carmel backline which by then had become much more stout and watertight in the final 10 minutes of a first period that was played almost entirely in the visitors end.
"It then became a defensive game for us in the second half with us just looking to counter," Krawzak said. "Because it was clear Benet would throw everything at us after the break."
The home side created a handful of set piece chances all throughout the second period, but the Corsairs had done well defending these opportunites. Carmel continued to limit chances at Sarkis, whose toughest task came when she sent a Schuman attempt after a Becker crossfield helper out of the box with a forceful push.
"I cannot say enough of the way we defended as a team in that second half," said Krawzak.
Sykes, Thomas, Molly Machala and Maddy Splitt did not wilt from the pressure the Redwings heaped upon their guests. After Sarkis saved Casmere on the right side four minutes from time, it was clear the Corsairs were in position to close things out.
"We knew what we had to do when we heard Benet and Saint Viator tied, so we were all ready to do whatever it took to get a win," said Galla.
While Benet had won five straight since the draw with the Lions, and scored 14 while conceding three, the Corsairs sent off three opponents and outscored them 16-1.
Astoundingly, Carmel's league margin is even better: 33 goals for; 0 against.
"To go through the regular season to this point and not allowing a goal says a lot about our players and the way they take pride in defending as a team," Krawzak said. "We hope we can finish things up with one more clean-sheet on Friday against a great opponent in Saint Viator."
Oconer couldn't help but wonder how his club would have played from the opening whistle had this contest began on time, instead of almost 35 minutes late while the Corsairs battled through the usual rush hour traffic on Interstate 355.
"We had a good warmup and looked to be ready to go," Oconer said. "But to sit around waiting might have taken something out of us but I also want to say that's not an excuse for our poor start, and I don't want to take anything away from Ray's girls.
"They sat in, as we expected, in that second half and did what they had to do. And that's what happens when you're chasing two goals from early on."
Starting lineups
Carmel (4-3-3)
GK- Sophia Sarkis
D- Molly Machala
D- Ciara Thomas
D- Maddy Splitt
D- Lily Sykes
M- Mia Salvi
M- Olivia Salvi
M- Emma Heinrich
F- Sarah Galla
F- Skyler Thomas
F- Zenaya Barnes
Benet (4-4-2)
GK- Eva Frantzen
D- Kate Flynn
D- Clare Bumpus
D- Mary Kate Hansen
D- Lauren Fischer
M- Mia Ullmer
M- Jackie Schuman
M- Maddie Becker
M- Erin Flynn
F- Mia Tommasone
F- Abby Casmere
Chicagoland Soccer MVP or the Match: Emma Heinrich, sr., MF, Carmel
Referee: Mike McDermott
Scoring summary
First half
Carmel: Galla (Barnes) 3'
Carmel: Saliv (Thomas) 14
No. 18 Corsairs leave Lisle with 2-0 win, league-leading 18 points
By Mike Garofola
LISLE -- Who will lift the East Suburban Catholic Conference championship trophy?
It may well be Carmel after its hard-fought 2-0 victory against host Benet on Tuesday afternoon. The win kept the Corsairs (12-3-0, 6-0-0) even with rival Saint Viator (4-0-1 in ESCC) in the loss column.
The longtime rivals will play Friday night at the spacious Robert Morris Field in Arlington Heights with the top prize at stake. A win or draw gives the Corsairs the outright title for the second-consecutive year.
Benet (15-3-1, 5-1-1) saw its championship aspirations disappear with its first conference loss. Carmel made its intentions known almost immediately.
"The girls really came to play," said a pleased Ray Krawzak after his club topped his alma mater. "(Sarah) Galla's goal in the first three minutes really got us fired up and showed they were ready to go right from the start.
"We actually had not played since April 30, because our game with Viator (May 2) was called off because of the weather. Coupled with all that down time, plus the girls having prom over this last weekend, I wasn't sure what we would have for this one.
"But the focus was there, and I have to point toward some of our leaders -- Lily Sykes, Riley Harmon, Emma Heinrich, Sophia Sarkis -- as those who helped this team keep its focus.
"It was those players who made us ready to go (for) what is always an extremely tough opponent and one that had just as much at stake as we did."
The contest was crucial and was made more so after Benet drew 0-0 with Saint Viator on April 25.
"We did everything that day, but finish our chances," said Benet manager Gerard Oconer. "So it put a little more on us today to get the win, and make it just (us) and Saint Viator for the conference championship.
"But that first 15 minutes was just a nightmare for us -- giving up that bad first goal and making things worse when they added another one to force us to try to pull one back before the half to turn things around."
The home side melted under the Corsairs early pressure and allowed Galla to run free to the spot. From there her terrific one-timer off a superb cross from Zenaya Barnes ended in the back of the Redwings net before some in the crowd had taken their seats.
"Zenaya gave me just a great ball into the box," said the humble freshman, whose sublime touch in a pressure situation made a difficult opportunity look easy.
Although stunned by the opener, the Redwings did not crawl into a hole and disappear.
That fact was witnessed by two quality chances. The first came from Mia Ullmer after Abby Casmere split the Corsairs open with a devastating early ball, Next came Maddie Becker's wonderful ball over the top that found the foot of Erin Flynn, but Carmel keeper Sarkis challenged fearlessly off her line to deny the talented Benet senior.
Carmel responded with pace on the counterattack. Olivia Salvi ran onto a brilliant looping serve from Ciara Thomas and then drove home the final goal of the game with her close-range finish.
"This is a huge rivalry game for us every year, so for us to get those two goals fairly early in the game was big for us," said Heinrich, who earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors for her hard work and leadership. "It also meant we would need to defend as much as we could after going up 2-0, because we knew Benet would really come at us."
The Redwings slowly began to build plenty of one-way traffic following the Salvi goal in the 14th minute. They proved dangerous in many ways and forced the visitors to sit a little deeper until the intermission and then change their formation after the break.
"Benet's midfield was really tough on us," said Heinrich. "So while we opened up (the game) with four of us in the middle, after the half coach moved both me and Olivia (Salvi) into more of defensive midfielders for the second half."
Benet began to settle into the match and its tactical approach to solving a very good Corsairs defensive side.
"That last 15-20 minutes of the first half, we played simple but with quick touches with our players in the middle targeting and finding our people up-top," said Oconer.
It appeared Jackie Schuman was in position to halve the Corsairs advantage in the 27th minute when she collected a Nicole Burns helper in-close, however the senior leaned back a bit too far and put her shot over the bar.
A lovely early ball from Schuman to Cami Picha quickly put Sarah Bozych in position to strike, but Sarkis' daring run off her line forced Bozych to alter her shot, which went side in the 29th minute.
Three-straight corners led to a trio of deep throws by the Redwings but none generated troubling moments for a Carmel backline which by then had become much more stout and watertight in the final 10 minutes of a first period that was played almost entirely in the visitors end.
"It then became a defensive game for us in the second half with us just looking to counter," Krawzak said. "Because it was clear Benet would throw everything at us after the break."
The home side created a handful of set piece chances all throughout the second period, but the Corsairs had done well defending these opportunites. Carmel continued to limit chances at Sarkis, whose toughest task came when she sent a Schuman attempt after a Becker crossfield helper out of the box with a forceful push.
"I cannot say enough of the way we defended as a team in that second half," said Krawzak.
Sykes, Thomas, Molly Machala and Maddy Splitt did not wilt from the pressure the Redwings heaped upon their guests. After Sarkis saved Casmere on the right side four minutes from time, it was clear the Corsairs were in position to close things out.
"We knew what we had to do when we heard Benet and Saint Viator tied, so we were all ready to do whatever it took to get a win," said Galla.
While Benet had won five straight since the draw with the Lions, and scored 14 while conceding three, the Corsairs sent off three opponents and outscored them 16-1.
Astoundingly, Carmel's league margin is even better: 33 goals for; 0 against.
"To go through the regular season to this point and not allowing a goal says a lot about our players and the way they take pride in defending as a team," Krawzak said. "We hope we can finish things up with one more clean-sheet on Friday against a great opponent in Saint Viator."
Oconer couldn't help but wonder how his club would have played from the opening whistle had this contest began on time, instead of almost 35 minutes late while the Corsairs battled through the usual rush hour traffic on Interstate 355.
"We had a good warmup and looked to be ready to go," Oconer said. "But to sit around waiting might have taken something out of us but I also want to say that's not an excuse for our poor start, and I don't want to take anything away from Ray's girls.
"They sat in, as we expected, in that second half and did what they had to do. And that's what happens when you're chasing two goals from early on."
Starting lineups
Carmel (4-3-3)
GK- Sophia Sarkis
D- Molly Machala
D- Ciara Thomas
D- Maddy Splitt
D- Lily Sykes
M- Mia Salvi
M- Olivia Salvi
M- Emma Heinrich
F- Sarah Galla
F- Skyler Thomas
F- Zenaya Barnes
Benet (4-4-2)
GK- Eva Frantzen
D- Kate Flynn
D- Clare Bumpus
D- Mary Kate Hansen
D- Lauren Fischer
M- Mia Ullmer
M- Jackie Schuman
M- Maddie Becker
M- Erin Flynn
F- Mia Tommasone
F- Abby Casmere
Chicagoland Soccer MVP or the Match: Emma Heinrich, sr., MF, Carmel
Referee: Mike McDermott
Scoring summary
First half
Carmel: Galla (Barnes) 3'
Carmel: Saliv (Thomas) 14