Benet, Carmel fight to stay in ESCC race
By Matt Le Cren
When the 2018 schedule came out, most pundits figured Monday’s game between Carmel and host Benet would have huge implications in the race for East Suburban Catholic Conference championship.
It still does, but now only the winner will have a shot at the crown.
Saint Viator (6-0-0) and St. Patrick (4-0-0) are the current conference front-runners, while Marist (4-1-0), Benet (4-1-0) and Carmel (3-2-1) must run the table, and in the case of Carmel get a lot of help.
Benet's already done the math.
“Saint Viator still has to play us and St. Pat’s, so their schedule is kind of backloaded,” Redwings coach Sean Wesley said. “We’re obviously down a game. We have to hope (Viator) beats St. Pat’s; we get a shot at Saint Viator at the end of the year.”
That’s the long-range path for Benet to defend its crown. But none of it matters if they don’t beat Carmel. Benet and Carmel both finished 8-1-0 last season, but the Redwings won the head-to-head battle 1-0 in Mundelein.
Both teams figure to be fired up for the 4:30 p.m. match in Lisle, though for different reasons.
“I would assume we’d get Carmel’s best,” Wesley said. “I know we’re kind of on Carmel’s hit list of teams they would love to beat. We’ve kind of spoiled it for them in the past, so I know we’re going to get their best.
“That said, to some degree I think we’re really excited to play. Our sectional seed is a seven, so I think that’s fired up the boys quite a bit.”
Indeed, the Geneva Sectional has the Redwings (9-3-1) seeded behind the likes of St. Charles East and St. Charles North. That spot turned some heads. Benet is ranked no. 19 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, ahead of the 20th-ranked Saints and the no. 21 North Stars.
Wesley beefed up Benet’s schedule this year in anticipation of the move up to Class 3A. He added state runner-up Libertyville to a slate that already included two-time defending state champion Naperville North.
The Redwings’ losses are to Naperville North, Libertyville and St. Patrick, who are ranked first, second and 17th, respectively, by a combined score of 4-0.
That’s a testament to the Redwings' backline of Kyle Kohlsatt, Jonathan Mitra, Thomas Miskin and Zach Serafin, who have given up only seven goals and helped their squad record eight shutouts.
Wesley said Kohlsatt, the returning center back, has been tremendous, while Mitra and Miskin have been getting forward and helping the offense. Mitra has also become dangerous on free kicks and long throw-ins. But Serafin, a sophomore and the only newcomer, has been a revelation
“He’s kind of the future,” Wesley said. “He’s got a soccer brain; he’s got big feet. He’s a big kid and his defense is tremendous.”
That should give the Redwings the edge against Carmel (6-5-1), which has scored 28 goals, though 15 of them came against ESCC foes Joliet Catholic, Marian and Marian Central, who dwell in the lower half of the league standings.
But the Corsairs took Saint Viator to overtime before losing 2-1 Wednesday and will have four days of rest.
“The team is very excited to play Benet,” Carmel senior defender Michael Handel said. “Last year we lost in heartbreaking fashion although we dominated most of the game.
“The Viator game was tough but we walked away with confidence in our play as we maintained good possession and dominated the 50-50 balls. We are very confident heading into the Benet game and hope to come out with a win.”
This figures to be a low-scoring game, which could favor Carmel because the Corsairs don’t have as much offensive firepower as the Redwings.
“The only scouting reports that I have is that they haven’t found a difference-maker yet,” Wesley said. “Normally they show up with one or two studs that stand out.
“They’re still looking for that, but they’re good from 1 to 11. If we don’t play well, we’re going to get beat, and if we play bad we’re going to get beat badly.”
That behooves the Redwings to score first. Like many teams, they aren’t good at coming from behind. They were shut out in all three of their losses, though they did rally to tie Neuqua Valley.
That might be a challenging task.
“Our defensive backline has been strong,” Handel said. “A couple of underclassmen, including (defender) Riley Pierson and (forward) Matt Duffy have really stepped up in the last couple of games.
"As we face Benet, we need to maintain possession in the midfield and finish our chances.”
Neither team has a Division I prospect, though Benet seniors Nick Renfro and Franklin Rutkowski have been difference-makers at times this fall.
Renfro, a junior midfielder, leads the team in scoring, while Rutkowski, a rugged senior striker who had a huge 2016 season before defenses started doubling him last year, bagged the game-winner in Wednesday’s 1-0 victory over West Chicago.
“Renfro has really been our most consistent guy,” Wesley said. “He plays a holding mid and yet is still getting on the stat sheet, scoring big goals in big games for us this year.”
The key could be Rutkowski.
“Franklin is trending in the right direction,” Wesley said. “He’s huge for us.
“He’s so talented. If he’s going well, kind of like he was two years ago, then we have a great team. If Franklin gets going like we’ve seen in the past, we’re dynamic, a top 10 team in the state.
“If he doesn’t, then we’re counting on a lot of young kids to kind of pick up the slack and be difference-makers in the final third.”
By Matt Le Cren
When the 2018 schedule came out, most pundits figured Monday’s game between Carmel and host Benet would have huge implications in the race for East Suburban Catholic Conference championship.
It still does, but now only the winner will have a shot at the crown.
Saint Viator (6-0-0) and St. Patrick (4-0-0) are the current conference front-runners, while Marist (4-1-0), Benet (4-1-0) and Carmel (3-2-1) must run the table, and in the case of Carmel get a lot of help.
Benet's already done the math.
“Saint Viator still has to play us and St. Pat’s, so their schedule is kind of backloaded,” Redwings coach Sean Wesley said. “We’re obviously down a game. We have to hope (Viator) beats St. Pat’s; we get a shot at Saint Viator at the end of the year.”
That’s the long-range path for Benet to defend its crown. But none of it matters if they don’t beat Carmel. Benet and Carmel both finished 8-1-0 last season, but the Redwings won the head-to-head battle 1-0 in Mundelein.
Both teams figure to be fired up for the 4:30 p.m. match in Lisle, though for different reasons.
“I would assume we’d get Carmel’s best,” Wesley said. “I know we’re kind of on Carmel’s hit list of teams they would love to beat. We’ve kind of spoiled it for them in the past, so I know we’re going to get their best.
“That said, to some degree I think we’re really excited to play. Our sectional seed is a seven, so I think that’s fired up the boys quite a bit.”
Indeed, the Geneva Sectional has the Redwings (9-3-1) seeded behind the likes of St. Charles East and St. Charles North. That spot turned some heads. Benet is ranked no. 19 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, ahead of the 20th-ranked Saints and the no. 21 North Stars.
Wesley beefed up Benet’s schedule this year in anticipation of the move up to Class 3A. He added state runner-up Libertyville to a slate that already included two-time defending state champion Naperville North.
The Redwings’ losses are to Naperville North, Libertyville and St. Patrick, who are ranked first, second and 17th, respectively, by a combined score of 4-0.
That’s a testament to the Redwings' backline of Kyle Kohlsatt, Jonathan Mitra, Thomas Miskin and Zach Serafin, who have given up only seven goals and helped their squad record eight shutouts.
Wesley said Kohlsatt, the returning center back, has been tremendous, while Mitra and Miskin have been getting forward and helping the offense. Mitra has also become dangerous on free kicks and long throw-ins. But Serafin, a sophomore and the only newcomer, has been a revelation
“He’s kind of the future,” Wesley said. “He’s got a soccer brain; he’s got big feet. He’s a big kid and his defense is tremendous.”
That should give the Redwings the edge against Carmel (6-5-1), which has scored 28 goals, though 15 of them came against ESCC foes Joliet Catholic, Marian and Marian Central, who dwell in the lower half of the league standings.
But the Corsairs took Saint Viator to overtime before losing 2-1 Wednesday and will have four days of rest.
“The team is very excited to play Benet,” Carmel senior defender Michael Handel said. “Last year we lost in heartbreaking fashion although we dominated most of the game.
“The Viator game was tough but we walked away with confidence in our play as we maintained good possession and dominated the 50-50 balls. We are very confident heading into the Benet game and hope to come out with a win.”
This figures to be a low-scoring game, which could favor Carmel because the Corsairs don’t have as much offensive firepower as the Redwings.
“The only scouting reports that I have is that they haven’t found a difference-maker yet,” Wesley said. “Normally they show up with one or two studs that stand out.
“They’re still looking for that, but they’re good from 1 to 11. If we don’t play well, we’re going to get beat, and if we play bad we’re going to get beat badly.”
That behooves the Redwings to score first. Like many teams, they aren’t good at coming from behind. They were shut out in all three of their losses, though they did rally to tie Neuqua Valley.
That might be a challenging task.
“Our defensive backline has been strong,” Handel said. “A couple of underclassmen, including (defender) Riley Pierson and (forward) Matt Duffy have really stepped up in the last couple of games.
"As we face Benet, we need to maintain possession in the midfield and finish our chances.”
Neither team has a Division I prospect, though Benet seniors Nick Renfro and Franklin Rutkowski have been difference-makers at times this fall.
Renfro, a junior midfielder, leads the team in scoring, while Rutkowski, a rugged senior striker who had a huge 2016 season before defenses started doubling him last year, bagged the game-winner in Wednesday’s 1-0 victory over West Chicago.
“Renfro has really been our most consistent guy,” Wesley said. “He plays a holding mid and yet is still getting on the stat sheet, scoring big goals in big games for us this year.”
The key could be Rutkowski.
“Franklin is trending in the right direction,” Wesley said. “He’s huge for us.
“He’s so talented. If he’s going well, kind of like he was two years ago, then we have a great team. If Franklin gets going like we’ve seen in the past, we’re dynamic, a top 10 team in the state.
“If he doesn’t, then we’re counting on a lot of young kids to kind of pick up the slack and be difference-makers in the final third.”