Benet beats back challenge from St. Patrick
Defender Roe scores twice to keep Redwings unbeaten in ESCC
By Matt Le Cren
LISLE -- As a freshman last spring, Benet's Nick Roe quickly established himself as a heady player on defense.
Now he’s doing the same at the other end of the field.
Roe headed home a pair of corner kicks late in the second half Saturday, including one with a man advantage, to help the host Redwings knock off St. Patrick 4-2 in a key East Suburban Catholic Conference match.
It was the first two-goal game of Roe’s career and is a result of Benet coach Sean Wesley’s decision to use his ace defender in all parts of the field.
“As a freshman he never really got past midfield except occasionally,” Wesley said. “Now we’re putting him in the box and asking a sophomore to do a little bit more. He came through, for sure.
“He’s a big player in big games and he’s a great teammate and great leader. We need him”
Indeed, the Redwings (10-4-0, 6-0-0) needed every bit of Roe’s contributions to hold off the upset-minded Shamrocks (7-9-0, 5-3-0), who got a defensive brace of their own from center back Xavier Gamez to keep things interesting into the final minutes.
Roe’s first goal came off Nico Picha’s corner kick from the right side. He rose up in the middle of the six-yard box and nodded it off the inside of the left post and to give Benet a 3-1 cushion with 17:25 to go in the second half.
But for the second time in the half, Gamez answered soon after for the Shamrocks, powering a header under the crossbar off a corner kick from Nicholas Leon at the top of the 65th minute to make it 3-2.
Things became more challenging for St. Patrick when Leon received a red card with 12:05 remaining that allowed the Redwings to play with a man advantage.
Even so, St. Patrick had a shot to tie the game while short-handed at the 9:45 mark. Sophomore defender Gael Quinonez's 35-yard free kick was ripped just over the crossbar.
Roe then put the game away with 7:21 remaining with another header. This time senior T.J. McVey took the corner kick from the left side, and Roe flicked it inside the right post.
“We’ve been practicing corners in practice a lot,” Roe said. “We’ve been trying in a lot of games, and it finally went in.
“It was a big time in a big game. It was a really good team we were playing so those really helped us.”
Roe’s height and strength have been an asset in the back for Benet. Those same attributes are helping him make a difference at the opposite end of the field.
“If I have a chance, I’m going to try to put it in,” Rore said. “But any other kind of contact is good, too, just to get it in the danger zone.”
Teams are finding out that when Roe is around, they are always in the danger zone.
“He’s fantastic,” Wesley said. “Anybody who watches one of our games knows he’s one of the best defenders in the state.
“He’s big, he’s strong, he’s athletic and he wins every 50/50 ball.”
St. Patrick coach Ryan McClure knows all about Roe, who has played a big role in beating the Shamrocks in their last two games. Roe had the assist on Hans Haenicke’s game-wining goal last spring, and now the game-winning goal in this one.
“We know how good they are and how well-coached they are,” McClure said. “We know especially when we play them here on their grass field that it turns into one of those games that gets a little heated maybe and gets physical. That’s our best chance to pull off the upset.
“We did a lot of good things, but they are a very physical, strong team, and I think that’s what we’re lacking a little bit. We’re kind of working on that to prepare for the playoffs.
“So this was good for us in that sense because, as you saw, two of their goals we were a little bit soft with our marking. That’s something we’ve been working on all season.”
The Redwings, who remain one of two unbeatens in the league along with Notre Dame, took advantage of those two openings to take a 2-0 lead.
McVey opened the scoring nine minutes in with a perfect volley of John Kolb’s cross from the right wing. That was the only decent scoring chance for either side before intermission.
Andy Nash made it 2-0 when he bagged his fifth goal of the season with 36:30 to go in the second half. He took a lead pass from Daniel Pepping and tucked a shot inside the right post.
“Daniel is very good at finding passes through the midfield, and I know he can slot those through-balls,” Nash said. “I made a run, and he just found me perfectly.”
But Gamez retaliated a minute later with his first goal, signaling a blowout was not imminent. His 35-yard blast was perfectly placed into the extreme upper right corner of the net.
“They tried to pass the ball to the forward,” Gamez said. “I stole it, and I saw the space; and I shot it.
“Then the second one was off a corner kick. Nico sent it in, and I found a space.”
Gamez is one of St. Patrick’s young players who are starting to blip on everyone’s radar.
“He was one of our two all-conference players as a sophomore. He’s a really strong center back, and we try to move him up when we can in the midfield,” McClure said. “As you can see, he’s very good on both ends. He’s very good in the air.
“When you play a really good team like Benet, the best players get exposed. We saw that with Xavier.”
These were Gamez’s first two goals of the season, though he has had several other near-misses. He counts this loss as a near-miss.
“I feel like we played good,” Gamez said. “Everyone gave it their all. We didn’t give up, but there’s always room for improvement.”
The Shamrocks did show some improvement by scoring twice on Benet’s home field. McClure would have liked his chances to get a result if someone had told him before the game his team would get two on Benet.
“Benet is always very, very solid defensively,” McClure said. “They always have some very good defenders.
“You look at the last 3-4 years, how many teams score two goals (on them), especially on their field. I thought we played the game we needed to play.
“They finished on a couple more opportunities than we did, but I thought that was a great soccer game between two really good teams.”
The Redwings actually have allowed two or more goals in three home games this season. They lost the other two: 2-0 to Libertyville; and 5-3 to Plainfield East. Benet is on an upward trend since then, and Nash was never worried about a St. Patrick rally.
“I don’t think we were concerned at all,” Nash said. “We’ve made a lot of progress this year getting better, so we were able to pull it out.
“It’s always a competition between us. Last year was pretty close. This year was pretty close, but we’re still a stronger team than them. We fought hard, won a lot of tackles and came out with it.”
The victory was the third straight for Benet, which snapped St. Patrick’s three-game winning streak.
“We’ve been playing a lot of games lately, and we’re really just starting to jell,” Roe said. “Outside of soccer, we’re all really good friends, so I think we have really good chemistry.
“I think that helps a lot. We know how each other plays now.”
The Redwings’ recent hot streak earned them the no. 2 seed in the Morton Sectional and increased their confidence.
“I think we’re playing the best we’ve ever played this season,” Nash said. “We came off a hard weekend against Morton and Lyons and competed really well. It seems like there’s no worries at all.”
Starting lineups
St. Patrick
GK Bryant Alvarez
FP Gale Quinonez
FP Sergio Barron
FP Ben Elvira
FP Ivan Guerrero
FP Rafael Rios
FP Jorge Parra
FP Nicolas Leon
FP Chris Perez
FP Christian Medina
FP Conor Day
Benet
GK Evan Lucas
D Owen McGarry
D Evan Frazier
D Nick Roe
M Danny Boyle
M Nico Picha
M Brendan Forsyth
M Daniel Pepping
F T.J. McVey
F John Kolb
F Andy Nash
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Nick Roe, so., D, Benet
Scoring summary
First half
Benet – TJ McVey (John Kolb) 31:00 remaining
Second half
Benet – Andy Nash (Daniel Pepping) 36:30 remaining
St. Patrick – Xavier Gamez 35:30 remaining
Benet – Nick Roe (Nico Picha) 17:25 remaining
St. Patrick – Gamez (Nicholas Leon) 15:00 remaining
Benet – Roe (McVey) (pp) 7:21 remaining
Defender Roe scores twice to keep Redwings unbeaten in ESCC
By Matt Le Cren
LISLE -- As a freshman last spring, Benet's Nick Roe quickly established himself as a heady player on defense.
Now he’s doing the same at the other end of the field.
Roe headed home a pair of corner kicks late in the second half Saturday, including one with a man advantage, to help the host Redwings knock off St. Patrick 4-2 in a key East Suburban Catholic Conference match.
It was the first two-goal game of Roe’s career and is a result of Benet coach Sean Wesley’s decision to use his ace defender in all parts of the field.
“As a freshman he never really got past midfield except occasionally,” Wesley said. “Now we’re putting him in the box and asking a sophomore to do a little bit more. He came through, for sure.
“He’s a big player in big games and he’s a great teammate and great leader. We need him”
Indeed, the Redwings (10-4-0, 6-0-0) needed every bit of Roe’s contributions to hold off the upset-minded Shamrocks (7-9-0, 5-3-0), who got a defensive brace of their own from center back Xavier Gamez to keep things interesting into the final minutes.
Roe’s first goal came off Nico Picha’s corner kick from the right side. He rose up in the middle of the six-yard box and nodded it off the inside of the left post and to give Benet a 3-1 cushion with 17:25 to go in the second half.
But for the second time in the half, Gamez answered soon after for the Shamrocks, powering a header under the crossbar off a corner kick from Nicholas Leon at the top of the 65th minute to make it 3-2.
Things became more challenging for St. Patrick when Leon received a red card with 12:05 remaining that allowed the Redwings to play with a man advantage.
Even so, St. Patrick had a shot to tie the game while short-handed at the 9:45 mark. Sophomore defender Gael Quinonez's 35-yard free kick was ripped just over the crossbar.
Roe then put the game away with 7:21 remaining with another header. This time senior T.J. McVey took the corner kick from the left side, and Roe flicked it inside the right post.
“We’ve been practicing corners in practice a lot,” Roe said. “We’ve been trying in a lot of games, and it finally went in.
“It was a big time in a big game. It was a really good team we were playing so those really helped us.”
Roe’s height and strength have been an asset in the back for Benet. Those same attributes are helping him make a difference at the opposite end of the field.
“If I have a chance, I’m going to try to put it in,” Rore said. “But any other kind of contact is good, too, just to get it in the danger zone.”
Teams are finding out that when Roe is around, they are always in the danger zone.
“He’s fantastic,” Wesley said. “Anybody who watches one of our games knows he’s one of the best defenders in the state.
“He’s big, he’s strong, he’s athletic and he wins every 50/50 ball.”
St. Patrick coach Ryan McClure knows all about Roe, who has played a big role in beating the Shamrocks in their last two games. Roe had the assist on Hans Haenicke’s game-wining goal last spring, and now the game-winning goal in this one.
“We know how good they are and how well-coached they are,” McClure said. “We know especially when we play them here on their grass field that it turns into one of those games that gets a little heated maybe and gets physical. That’s our best chance to pull off the upset.
“We did a lot of good things, but they are a very physical, strong team, and I think that’s what we’re lacking a little bit. We’re kind of working on that to prepare for the playoffs.
“So this was good for us in that sense because, as you saw, two of their goals we were a little bit soft with our marking. That’s something we’ve been working on all season.”
The Redwings, who remain one of two unbeatens in the league along with Notre Dame, took advantage of those two openings to take a 2-0 lead.
McVey opened the scoring nine minutes in with a perfect volley of John Kolb’s cross from the right wing. That was the only decent scoring chance for either side before intermission.
Andy Nash made it 2-0 when he bagged his fifth goal of the season with 36:30 to go in the second half. He took a lead pass from Daniel Pepping and tucked a shot inside the right post.
“Daniel is very good at finding passes through the midfield, and I know he can slot those through-balls,” Nash said. “I made a run, and he just found me perfectly.”
But Gamez retaliated a minute later with his first goal, signaling a blowout was not imminent. His 35-yard blast was perfectly placed into the extreme upper right corner of the net.
“They tried to pass the ball to the forward,” Gamez said. “I stole it, and I saw the space; and I shot it.
“Then the second one was off a corner kick. Nico sent it in, and I found a space.”
Gamez is one of St. Patrick’s young players who are starting to blip on everyone’s radar.
“He was one of our two all-conference players as a sophomore. He’s a really strong center back, and we try to move him up when we can in the midfield,” McClure said. “As you can see, he’s very good on both ends. He’s very good in the air.
“When you play a really good team like Benet, the best players get exposed. We saw that with Xavier.”
These were Gamez’s first two goals of the season, though he has had several other near-misses. He counts this loss as a near-miss.
“I feel like we played good,” Gamez said. “Everyone gave it their all. We didn’t give up, but there’s always room for improvement.”
The Shamrocks did show some improvement by scoring twice on Benet’s home field. McClure would have liked his chances to get a result if someone had told him before the game his team would get two on Benet.
“Benet is always very, very solid defensively,” McClure said. “They always have some very good defenders.
“You look at the last 3-4 years, how many teams score two goals (on them), especially on their field. I thought we played the game we needed to play.
“They finished on a couple more opportunities than we did, but I thought that was a great soccer game between two really good teams.”
The Redwings actually have allowed two or more goals in three home games this season. They lost the other two: 2-0 to Libertyville; and 5-3 to Plainfield East. Benet is on an upward trend since then, and Nash was never worried about a St. Patrick rally.
“I don’t think we were concerned at all,” Nash said. “We’ve made a lot of progress this year getting better, so we were able to pull it out.
“It’s always a competition between us. Last year was pretty close. This year was pretty close, but we’re still a stronger team than them. We fought hard, won a lot of tackles and came out with it.”
The victory was the third straight for Benet, which snapped St. Patrick’s three-game winning streak.
“We’ve been playing a lot of games lately, and we’re really just starting to jell,” Roe said. “Outside of soccer, we’re all really good friends, so I think we have really good chemistry.
“I think that helps a lot. We know how each other plays now.”
The Redwings’ recent hot streak earned them the no. 2 seed in the Morton Sectional and increased their confidence.
“I think we’re playing the best we’ve ever played this season,” Nash said. “We came off a hard weekend against Morton and Lyons and competed really well. It seems like there’s no worries at all.”
Starting lineups
St. Patrick
GK Bryant Alvarez
FP Gale Quinonez
FP Sergio Barron
FP Ben Elvira
FP Ivan Guerrero
FP Rafael Rios
FP Jorge Parra
FP Nicolas Leon
FP Chris Perez
FP Christian Medina
FP Conor Day
Benet
GK Evan Lucas
D Owen McGarry
D Evan Frazier
D Nick Roe
M Danny Boyle
M Nico Picha
M Brendan Forsyth
M Daniel Pepping
F T.J. McVey
F John Kolb
F Andy Nash
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Nick Roe, so., D, Benet
Scoring summary
First half
Benet – TJ McVey (John Kolb) 31:00 remaining
Second half
Benet – Andy Nash (Daniel Pepping) 36:30 remaining
St. Patrick – Xavier Gamez 35:30 remaining
Benet – Nick Roe (Nico Picha) 17:25 remaining
St. Patrick – Gamez (Nicholas Leon) 15:00 remaining
Benet – Roe (McVey) (pp) 7:21 remaining