Benet's Pinto towers over Naperville C.
Diminutive MF heads in game-winner for 2-1 win in varsity debut
By Matt Le Cren
LISLE – Benet’s Mariana Pinto describes herself as “quite short.”
But the junior midfielder stood tall when it mattered Monday.
Pinto made her varsity debut a memorable one, heading home a free kick from Rachel Burns with 5:51 to go as the host Redwings, ranked 10th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, rallied past no. 8 Naperville Central 2-1.
It was a fine way for Benet to finish its season-opener. Benet coach Gerard Oconer called it a “huge” victory, which wasn’t an exaggeration as the Redwings found a way to come from behind to beat a formidable opponent in an evenly played match.
“At the beginning of the game, I just told the girls that even if they get a goal, if they’re beating us, we just have to give it our all, and we would come back,” Pinto said. “And that’s exactly what we did.”
Pinto played a key role in that. Her physical play in the midfield alongside Katie Lewellyan helped turn the tide in the second half after each team’s no. 14 – Sullivan Schubel for Naperville Central and Loyola-bound Jaimee Cibulka for Benet – traded penalty kicks.
“She will be huge,” Cibulka said of Pinto. “We graduated a lot of girls and Mariana has been great stepping up and playing that center mid position.
“We have a lot of younger girls, and she is one of the older players on the team, even if she doesn’t have the varsity experience to show for it. She’s just a really skilled player.”
Indeed, Oconer said before the 2020 season that he expected Pinto to be a major factor. But the campaign was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, delaying Pinto’s move up to the varsity by a year.
“Last year, it was devastating getting that news,” Pinto said. “It’s something I’ve always dreamt of doing since freshman year, but I didn’t get the chance.
“Just coming out for the first time, there was just a ton of emotions.”
There were plenty of joyous emotions after Pinto gave the Redwings (1-0-0) the lead. She leapy out of a crowd in the middle of the penalty box and sent a long header floating out of the reach of Naperville Central goalkeeper Trinity Strang and into the upper right corner of the net.
“I was in the front and Brooke (Pullen) was right behind me and between another defender,” Pinto said. “We had practiced taking those, and it just happened to be in the right spot at the right moment.
“
I just gave it my all. There was 5 minutes left in the game, so just had to beat her to it.”
Cibulka, who has played club soccer with Pinto, was pleased to see it.
“I knew Mariana had it in her,” Cibulka said. “She would have been on the team last year, but we obviously didn’t have the chance to play.
“She’s been just a great asset for us. She facilitates a lot of our play through the middle, so I’m not surprised she was at the end of that.”
Naperville Central coach Ed Watson, whose team had outscored its first two opponents by a 6-1 margin, expected one of his players to be on the end of it.
“Both teams could have had other goals, so the fact that they got that second one, it is what it is,” Watson said. “I wasn’t pleased with the fact that we allowed them to win the ball.
“The girls know that that is unacceptable. We have to win that ball.
“As high and lazy as it was, that’s just a matter of us not willing to go up and make sure that we win it. We allowed them to get a head on the ball, and that’s all it took.”
Up until that point, both defenses were stellar except for the pair of penalties. Benet goalkeeper Shannon Clark made six saves, while Strang and Abbey O’Connor combined to make five saves for Naperville Central.
Schubel gave the Redhawks (2-1-0) the lead when she slipped her penalty kick past Clark into lower left corner of the net with 32:33 remaining in the second half.
But the always dangerous Cibulka got that back less than four minutes later. She was taken down in the box after racing around the left end, got up and drilled the penalty into the upper left corner of the net.
It was the second-straight season Cibulka has scored the first goal of the season for Benet. She also did it in 2019, jump-starting a campaign which ended with Cibulka scoring the overtime goal that gave the Redwings the Class AA state championship, the first in program history.
“We actually practiced penalties at practice a lot and Mr. Oconer and coach ‘U’ (Martin Uscila), they’re all great about making sure we have the confidence to step up and take those,” Cibulka said. “So right after I had gotten fouled, Mr. Oconer looked at me and he’s like, ‘Are you good with taking it?’ and I said yeah.
“I was kind of fired up after the play. I wanted to finish it off.”
Finishing off the Redhawks was a great confidence boost for the Redwings, who have been moved up to Class 3A for the 2021 postseason, meaning they could face Naperville Central again.
“It was really big,” Cibulka said. “It’s always good to start of the year with a solid win.
“We want to play good teams. They had some really great players that challenged us.
“It was back-and-forth a lot in the first half and in games like those, whoever ends up finishing one at the end usually comes away with the game, and we were lucky that it was us.”
Both teams played without key defenders. Naperville Central junior center back Sophia Skoubis and Benet sophomore Sadie Sterbenz, who is expected to be a key contributor, both missed the game with injuries.
But Oconer is excited about his team’s prospects and impressed with the Redwings’ play in the win.
“Once we’re at full strength I think we can play with anybody this year,” Oconer said. “In the tradition of our left backs here, our freshman Nora Hanson was just phenomenal today.
“We couldn’t have asked for anything more from her. And then Lewellyan in the midfield just controls everything and obviously Jaimee was dangerous every time she touched the ball.”
The Redwings were at a slight disadvantage Monday, because they had yet to play a match. But on the other hand, their offense presented a stiffer challenge than the Redhawks had faced in beating Normal and Burlington Central last week.
“It’s their first opportunity to play,” Watson said. “It’s our third, but we didn’t have the same type of pressure put on us those first two, so this taught us a few things. They played very well.”
Schubel was grateful for the chance to play such a quality opponent.
“It’s really nice to play a team like Benet this early, because they’re a really good test for us, and we’re trying to get better every game,” Schubel said. “So I think they helped us realize some things we need to fix.”
Schubel was impressed with Benet’s coordination.
“Their outside wings are really good,” Schubel said. “They’re a really good team altogether, and they just played really well together.
“They just kept high intensity the whole time. It was an even game, I thought. They got a lot of chances, and we did, too.”
Schubel would like to get another chance at the Redwings, who are just one of many quality teams on Naperville Central’s schedule.
“We want to keep getting better and if we see them again, just challenge them again,” Schubel said. “We have some good people this year, and we’re excited to play together.”
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK Abigail O’Connor
D Samantha Sharp
D Malia Velker
D Karly Maida
D Ella Burke
M Taylor Walk
M Sullivan Schubel
M Megan Norkett
F Emma Irle
F Molly O’Rear
F Madelyn Boogard
Benet
GK Shannon Clark
D Brooke Pullen
D Ariana Hazemi
D Nora Hanson
D Alexandra Jonaitis
M Brinkley Douglas
M Katie Lewelllyan
M Mariana Pinto
F Jaimee Cibulka
F Anna Casmere
F Rachel Burns
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Mariana Pinto, jr., MF, Benet.
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Naperville Central – Sullivan Schubel (PK) 32:33 remaining
Benet – Jaimee Cibulka (PK) 28:48 remaining
Benet – Mariana Pinto (Rachel Burns) 5:57 remaining
Diminutive MF heads in game-winner for 2-1 win in varsity debut
By Matt Le Cren
LISLE – Benet’s Mariana Pinto describes herself as “quite short.”
But the junior midfielder stood tall when it mattered Monday.
Pinto made her varsity debut a memorable one, heading home a free kick from Rachel Burns with 5:51 to go as the host Redwings, ranked 10th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, rallied past no. 8 Naperville Central 2-1.
It was a fine way for Benet to finish its season-opener. Benet coach Gerard Oconer called it a “huge” victory, which wasn’t an exaggeration as the Redwings found a way to come from behind to beat a formidable opponent in an evenly played match.
“At the beginning of the game, I just told the girls that even if they get a goal, if they’re beating us, we just have to give it our all, and we would come back,” Pinto said. “And that’s exactly what we did.”
Pinto played a key role in that. Her physical play in the midfield alongside Katie Lewellyan helped turn the tide in the second half after each team’s no. 14 – Sullivan Schubel for Naperville Central and Loyola-bound Jaimee Cibulka for Benet – traded penalty kicks.
“She will be huge,” Cibulka said of Pinto. “We graduated a lot of girls and Mariana has been great stepping up and playing that center mid position.
“We have a lot of younger girls, and she is one of the older players on the team, even if she doesn’t have the varsity experience to show for it. She’s just a really skilled player.”
Indeed, Oconer said before the 2020 season that he expected Pinto to be a major factor. But the campaign was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, delaying Pinto’s move up to the varsity by a year.
“Last year, it was devastating getting that news,” Pinto said. “It’s something I’ve always dreamt of doing since freshman year, but I didn’t get the chance.
“Just coming out for the first time, there was just a ton of emotions.”
There were plenty of joyous emotions after Pinto gave the Redwings (1-0-0) the lead. She leapy out of a crowd in the middle of the penalty box and sent a long header floating out of the reach of Naperville Central goalkeeper Trinity Strang and into the upper right corner of the net.
“I was in the front and Brooke (Pullen) was right behind me and between another defender,” Pinto said. “We had practiced taking those, and it just happened to be in the right spot at the right moment.
“
I just gave it my all. There was 5 minutes left in the game, so just had to beat her to it.”
Cibulka, who has played club soccer with Pinto, was pleased to see it.
“I knew Mariana had it in her,” Cibulka said. “She would have been on the team last year, but we obviously didn’t have the chance to play.
“She’s been just a great asset for us. She facilitates a lot of our play through the middle, so I’m not surprised she was at the end of that.”
Naperville Central coach Ed Watson, whose team had outscored its first two opponents by a 6-1 margin, expected one of his players to be on the end of it.
“Both teams could have had other goals, so the fact that they got that second one, it is what it is,” Watson said. “I wasn’t pleased with the fact that we allowed them to win the ball.
“The girls know that that is unacceptable. We have to win that ball.
“As high and lazy as it was, that’s just a matter of us not willing to go up and make sure that we win it. We allowed them to get a head on the ball, and that’s all it took.”
Up until that point, both defenses were stellar except for the pair of penalties. Benet goalkeeper Shannon Clark made six saves, while Strang and Abbey O’Connor combined to make five saves for Naperville Central.
Schubel gave the Redhawks (2-1-0) the lead when she slipped her penalty kick past Clark into lower left corner of the net with 32:33 remaining in the second half.
But the always dangerous Cibulka got that back less than four minutes later. She was taken down in the box after racing around the left end, got up and drilled the penalty into the upper left corner of the net.
It was the second-straight season Cibulka has scored the first goal of the season for Benet. She also did it in 2019, jump-starting a campaign which ended with Cibulka scoring the overtime goal that gave the Redwings the Class AA state championship, the first in program history.
“We actually practiced penalties at practice a lot and Mr. Oconer and coach ‘U’ (Martin Uscila), they’re all great about making sure we have the confidence to step up and take those,” Cibulka said. “So right after I had gotten fouled, Mr. Oconer looked at me and he’s like, ‘Are you good with taking it?’ and I said yeah.
“I was kind of fired up after the play. I wanted to finish it off.”
Finishing off the Redhawks was a great confidence boost for the Redwings, who have been moved up to Class 3A for the 2021 postseason, meaning they could face Naperville Central again.
“It was really big,” Cibulka said. “It’s always good to start of the year with a solid win.
“We want to play good teams. They had some really great players that challenged us.
“It was back-and-forth a lot in the first half and in games like those, whoever ends up finishing one at the end usually comes away with the game, and we were lucky that it was us.”
Both teams played without key defenders. Naperville Central junior center back Sophia Skoubis and Benet sophomore Sadie Sterbenz, who is expected to be a key contributor, both missed the game with injuries.
But Oconer is excited about his team’s prospects and impressed with the Redwings’ play in the win.
“Once we’re at full strength I think we can play with anybody this year,” Oconer said. “In the tradition of our left backs here, our freshman Nora Hanson was just phenomenal today.
“We couldn’t have asked for anything more from her. And then Lewellyan in the midfield just controls everything and obviously Jaimee was dangerous every time she touched the ball.”
The Redwings were at a slight disadvantage Monday, because they had yet to play a match. But on the other hand, their offense presented a stiffer challenge than the Redhawks had faced in beating Normal and Burlington Central last week.
“It’s their first opportunity to play,” Watson said. “It’s our third, but we didn’t have the same type of pressure put on us those first two, so this taught us a few things. They played very well.”
Schubel was grateful for the chance to play such a quality opponent.
“It’s really nice to play a team like Benet this early, because they’re a really good test for us, and we’re trying to get better every game,” Schubel said. “So I think they helped us realize some things we need to fix.”
Schubel was impressed with Benet’s coordination.
“Their outside wings are really good,” Schubel said. “They’re a really good team altogether, and they just played really well together.
“They just kept high intensity the whole time. It was an even game, I thought. They got a lot of chances, and we did, too.”
Schubel would like to get another chance at the Redwings, who are just one of many quality teams on Naperville Central’s schedule.
“We want to keep getting better and if we see them again, just challenge them again,” Schubel said. “We have some good people this year, and we’re excited to play together.”
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK Abigail O’Connor
D Samantha Sharp
D Malia Velker
D Karly Maida
D Ella Burke
M Taylor Walk
M Sullivan Schubel
M Megan Norkett
F Emma Irle
F Molly O’Rear
F Madelyn Boogard
Benet
GK Shannon Clark
D Brooke Pullen
D Ariana Hazemi
D Nora Hanson
D Alexandra Jonaitis
M Brinkley Douglas
M Katie Lewelllyan
M Mariana Pinto
F Jaimee Cibulka
F Anna Casmere
F Rachel Burns
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Mariana Pinto, jr., MF, Benet.
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Naperville Central – Sullivan Schubel (PK) 32:33 remaining
Benet – Jaimee Cibulka (PK) 28:48 remaining
Benet – Mariana Pinto (Rachel Burns) 5:57 remaining