Benet pitches 6th shutout
of season in Saint Viator win
Redwings maintain unbeaten league record after 3-0 victory
By Mike Garofola
LISLE -- Since the inception of East Suburban Catholic Conference soccer in 1990, Benet and Saint Viator have had a hand in 25 league championships.
Benet, ranked fourth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top2 5, has lifted the big trophy outright seven times and shared it with others on eight occasions, including thrice with Saint Viator.
The two clubs have the longest running rivalry in the league, so when they meet it's almost like one of the famous London derbies in the English Premier League, despite their nearly 26 miles separation.
Entering the game, the Redwings had been the dominant side, winning the last five matches.
Make that six.
Benet used first period goals from Nick Roe and Hans Hainicke then was at its tactical best while playing into a fierce second half wind to secure a 3-0 home victory Monday afternoon.
"During the last two years our chief rival has been St. Patrick. They have been the team that has challenged us for the conference title," began Haenicke.
"But Saint Viator has a lot of tradition and always has great teams. To come out with a victory over them is big for us, and it helps keep us undefeated heading into our game at St. Patrick next Monday (April 5)."
The talented senior forward, who bagged three goals in his last two games, set up his teammate Roe in the 4th minute. His enterprising run up the left side saw him play a lovely ball across to Roe who finished easily in close.
Haenicke doubled the Redwings (6-1-0, 4-0-0) advantage in the 28th minute when a near identical run up the left ended when his angled shot found the far inside netting.
"Nick had a great back-post run in that first goal, and on my goal I was able to push the ball past their player in order to get free for my shot," said Haenicke, who will play next fall at Division III Macalaster College in St. Paul. Minn.
"We've come to expect one goal, and one assist from Hans this season," joked Anthony Klos, who along with Chris Mankowski, Zach Serafin and Haenicke are four-year varsity players.
"This was the first time this season we played on grass; we weren't as sharp as we could have been at the start. But that first goal from Nick got us going, and shortly thereafter we began to move the ball quickly, play through our guys in the middle and create chances."
Klos, who will attend Indiana University and enter its highly regarded Kelley Business School, was quick to heap plenty of praise on the midfield combo of Sam Hepburn and Nico Picha. The duo’s industry, endurance and purposeful distribution gave Saint Viator (3-2-1, 2-1-0) fits and made them defend far more than the Lions would have liked.
"Benet has so many weapons in their attack. That first goal gave them so much confidence going forward, and our inability to possess and play into the strong wind led to a second mistake and a 2-0 lead for them," said the Lions three-year net star Matt Marchiori, who kept his mates in this contest with a handful of goal-saving stops.
"We have a rebuilt backline, but I thought the guys in front of me did a very good job against one of the best Class AA teams in the state," added Marchiori, who will play next fall at the University of Dubuque and major in sports management.
Just after the Redwings second goal, the referee deemed a hard tackle by Lions senior Conrad Glodz to be worthy of a straight red card. That forced the visitors to play a man down for the final 51 minutes.
Moments afterward, Hepburn had enough time to tee one up from 30 yards. If not for a valiant save from Marchiori who pushed the attempt over the bar, the home side would have taken a three-goal advantage.
With nonstop gusty winds in their faces after the intermission, the Redwings tactical plan kept the ball on the ground and used possession and the width of the field to force their guests to defend in order to keep their attack stalled.
"I thought we managed the second half really well, up until and after we went up 3-0, which really took the wind out of their sails," said Serafin.
The Lions lost manager Mike Taylor after his second yellow card booking at 52 minutes. Moments later Picha ended the scoring after a Preston Wray assist.
Marchiori stopped a pair of quality chances in the final quarter hour.
Teammates David Lavender and Sebastian Howarth each had a go on the Benet frame, but keeper Evan Lucas watched both efforts sail over the bar.
"Our system and style of play doesn't really change a lot from year-to-year - so our returning players already know the expectations and standard that we want to play," began Benet coach Sean Wesley.
"We've been working hard on getting in soccer shape and trying to get the boys touches on the ball.
"Sam and Nico are two our most talented players on the ball. They both are hard working on defense, and dynamic with the ball. Paired with Klos, they form a great partnership which is difficult for other teams to play through. On the flipside, they are very exciting to watch going forward."
The win was Benet's fourth in a row and extended its unbeaten streak to five games.
The Redwings rolled to an 8-0 victory over Marian on Wednesday and set themselves up perfectly for their skirmish with St. Patrick.
"We thought we had the game-winner at the buzzer in overtime here last year against St. Patrick,” said said Haenicke. “It was a crazy game. So we're anxious to erase that 1-1 game with them."
Starting lineups
St. Viator (4-4-2)
G- Matt Marchiori
D- Matt Oleksyk
D- Quinten Parry
D- Riley DiMarco
D- Taylor Petrillo
M- Sebastian Horwath
M- David Lavender
M- Christian Evans
M- Brendan Oleksak
F- Conrad Glodz
F- Connor Giroux
Benet (4-3-3)
G- Evan Lucas
D- Owen McGarry
D- Zach Serafin
D- Nick Roe
D- Jared Plummer
M- Anthony Klos
M- Nico Picha
M- Sam Hepburn
F- Preston Wray
F- Chris Mankowski
F- Hans Haenicke
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Sam Hepburn., sr., MF, Benet;
Nico Picha, so., MF, Benet
Referee: Zachary Richton
Scoring summary
First half
Benet: Roe (Haenicke) 4'
Benet: Haenicke (McGarry) 28'
Second half
Benet: Picha (Wray) 52'
of season in Saint Viator win
Redwings maintain unbeaten league record after 3-0 victory
By Mike Garofola
LISLE -- Since the inception of East Suburban Catholic Conference soccer in 1990, Benet and Saint Viator have had a hand in 25 league championships.
Benet, ranked fourth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top2 5, has lifted the big trophy outright seven times and shared it with others on eight occasions, including thrice with Saint Viator.
The two clubs have the longest running rivalry in the league, so when they meet it's almost like one of the famous London derbies in the English Premier League, despite their nearly 26 miles separation.
Entering the game, the Redwings had been the dominant side, winning the last five matches.
Make that six.
Benet used first period goals from Nick Roe and Hans Hainicke then was at its tactical best while playing into a fierce second half wind to secure a 3-0 home victory Monday afternoon.
"During the last two years our chief rival has been St. Patrick. They have been the team that has challenged us for the conference title," began Haenicke.
"But Saint Viator has a lot of tradition and always has great teams. To come out with a victory over them is big for us, and it helps keep us undefeated heading into our game at St. Patrick next Monday (April 5)."
The talented senior forward, who bagged three goals in his last two games, set up his teammate Roe in the 4th minute. His enterprising run up the left side saw him play a lovely ball across to Roe who finished easily in close.
Haenicke doubled the Redwings (6-1-0, 4-0-0) advantage in the 28th minute when a near identical run up the left ended when his angled shot found the far inside netting.
"Nick had a great back-post run in that first goal, and on my goal I was able to push the ball past their player in order to get free for my shot," said Haenicke, who will play next fall at Division III Macalaster College in St. Paul. Minn.
"We've come to expect one goal, and one assist from Hans this season," joked Anthony Klos, who along with Chris Mankowski, Zach Serafin and Haenicke are four-year varsity players.
"This was the first time this season we played on grass; we weren't as sharp as we could have been at the start. But that first goal from Nick got us going, and shortly thereafter we began to move the ball quickly, play through our guys in the middle and create chances."
Klos, who will attend Indiana University and enter its highly regarded Kelley Business School, was quick to heap plenty of praise on the midfield combo of Sam Hepburn and Nico Picha. The duo’s industry, endurance and purposeful distribution gave Saint Viator (3-2-1, 2-1-0) fits and made them defend far more than the Lions would have liked.
"Benet has so many weapons in their attack. That first goal gave them so much confidence going forward, and our inability to possess and play into the strong wind led to a second mistake and a 2-0 lead for them," said the Lions three-year net star Matt Marchiori, who kept his mates in this contest with a handful of goal-saving stops.
"We have a rebuilt backline, but I thought the guys in front of me did a very good job against one of the best Class AA teams in the state," added Marchiori, who will play next fall at the University of Dubuque and major in sports management.
Just after the Redwings second goal, the referee deemed a hard tackle by Lions senior Conrad Glodz to be worthy of a straight red card. That forced the visitors to play a man down for the final 51 minutes.
Moments afterward, Hepburn had enough time to tee one up from 30 yards. If not for a valiant save from Marchiori who pushed the attempt over the bar, the home side would have taken a three-goal advantage.
With nonstop gusty winds in their faces after the intermission, the Redwings tactical plan kept the ball on the ground and used possession and the width of the field to force their guests to defend in order to keep their attack stalled.
"I thought we managed the second half really well, up until and after we went up 3-0, which really took the wind out of their sails," said Serafin.
The Lions lost manager Mike Taylor after his second yellow card booking at 52 minutes. Moments later Picha ended the scoring after a Preston Wray assist.
Marchiori stopped a pair of quality chances in the final quarter hour.
Teammates David Lavender and Sebastian Howarth each had a go on the Benet frame, but keeper Evan Lucas watched both efforts sail over the bar.
"Our system and style of play doesn't really change a lot from year-to-year - so our returning players already know the expectations and standard that we want to play," began Benet coach Sean Wesley.
"We've been working hard on getting in soccer shape and trying to get the boys touches on the ball.
"Sam and Nico are two our most talented players on the ball. They both are hard working on defense, and dynamic with the ball. Paired with Klos, they form a great partnership which is difficult for other teams to play through. On the flipside, they are very exciting to watch going forward."
The win was Benet's fourth in a row and extended its unbeaten streak to five games.
The Redwings rolled to an 8-0 victory over Marian on Wednesday and set themselves up perfectly for their skirmish with St. Patrick.
"We thought we had the game-winner at the buzzer in overtime here last year against St. Patrick,” said said Haenicke. “It was a crazy game. So we're anxious to erase that 1-1 game with them."
Starting lineups
St. Viator (4-4-2)
G- Matt Marchiori
D- Matt Oleksyk
D- Quinten Parry
D- Riley DiMarco
D- Taylor Petrillo
M- Sebastian Horwath
M- David Lavender
M- Christian Evans
M- Brendan Oleksak
F- Conrad Glodz
F- Connor Giroux
Benet (4-3-3)
G- Evan Lucas
D- Owen McGarry
D- Zach Serafin
D- Nick Roe
D- Jared Plummer
M- Anthony Klos
M- Nico Picha
M- Sam Hepburn
F- Preston Wray
F- Chris Mankowski
F- Hans Haenicke
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Sam Hepburn., sr., MF, Benet;
Nico Picha, so., MF, Benet
Referee: Zachary Richton
Scoring summary
First half
Benet: Roe (Haenicke) 4'
Benet: Haenicke (McGarry) 28'
Second half
Benet: Picha (Wray) 52'