Team preview: Benet
By Matt Le Cren
Benet is brimming with confidence after winning its first state championship last year.
Jaimee Cibulka’s overtime goal did more than give the Redwings a 2-1 victory over Wauconda in the Class AA state title game. It raised internal expectations, perhaps even more than outside expectations.
“There is just a new bar set and new expectations,” Benet coach Gerard Oconer said. “We pretty much go into every game expecting to win now, so there’s really (no game) where we feel like we have no chance to win. We feel that we’ve gotten our program to the next level.”
Indeed, the Redwings’ AA state championship forced the program to move up to Class 3A this spring. That will make the path to another state championship much steeper, but Oconer believes his team is capable of climbing it and relishes the chance to compete in 3A.
That’s because the Redwings bring back 12 players, including five starters, from a squad that produced a 24-3-1 record, the best in school history.
The headliner is senior defender Kate Flynn, a Chicagoland Soccer All-Stater and the reigning East Suburban Catholic Conference Player of the Year. The Washington University recruit is a dynamic two-way player at outside back who produced three goals and 10 assists last season, including a goal and assist in Benet’s 3-1 state semifinal victory over Triad.
Also back are Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List members Sarah Bozych, Mia Tommasone, Brooke Pullen and Katie Lewellyan.
There should have been one more Watch List member, but Cami Picha, a senior forward, will be idle this season with injuries to both legs. She had eight goals and 11 assists in 2019 and her production will be missed.
But the Redwings still have plenty of firepower, even with the graduation of leading scorer Abby Casmere, who bagged 20 goals and six assists last spring. Cibulka, a junior forward who has committed to Loyola, recorded 14 goals and 14 assists in her first high school campaign.
“She looks really good this year,” Oconer said. “Her confidence is high, and I think having the college situation figured out will ease some of the pressure off of her, so we’re expecting a really big year from her.”
There is senior leadership on all three levels with Bozych up-top, Tommasone and Dani Pullen in the midfield and Flynn in the back.
Tommasone racked up 10 goals and 10 assists last year, while Bozych had a phenomenal 12 goals coming off the bench in a vital reserve role. Pullen tallied the final goal in the win over Triad.
“Sarah Bozych will slide into the Abby Casmere role but is a different kind of player for us,” Oconer said. “She’s kind of your true target forward.
“She’s really good about being able to hold the ball up and really good at distributing. We’ll just have to get her a little bit more confident in being a goal scorer, because she is so unselfish.”
The Redwings will have to replace both center backs and find a replacement for graduated goalkeeper and Chicagoland Soccer All-Stater Eva Frantzen, who had an outstanding playoff run. But Flynn and Brooke Pullen provide Oconer a comfort level few coaches can claim to have with their defenses.
“I wouldn’t trade those two outside backs for any outside back combination in the state,” Oconer said. “They can get forward; they can defend; they can do everything that you would possibly want done from outside backs.
“Their passing is really good. They can play both ways. I couldn’t say anything more about the two of them.”
Flynn, a four-year starter, has been a well-known player for a long time and will eventually join her older sister, Erin, at Washington. But the uncommitted Brooke Pullen is just as valuable in Oconer’s eyes.
“With Kate being such an incredible player for us, Brooke is another kid that kind of got overshadowed over the years, especially last year,” Oconer said. “If Kate wasn’t so good, Brooke would probably be considered one of the best outside backs in the state, in my opinion.”
Those two will help solidify the only real area of concern for the Redwings. Freshman Shannon Clark will start in goal, backed up by sophomore Molly Walsh.
“We’re going to have to piece it together defensively, especially protecting a young goalkeeper,” Oconer said. “Hopefully kids will step up.”
The leading candidates to do so are seniors Emily Mikitka and Karina Krammer.
“(Mikitka) is kind of the definition of that kid who has been waiting for an opportunity,” Oconer said. “(Krammer) dealt with a lot of injuries over the years but was healthy last year.
“This year she looks really good. Her physical ability is good.”
With plenty of talent and confidence in place, the Redwings, like every other team in the state, now wait to see if the coronavirus pandemic can be contained in time for the season to be salvaged.
“These kids have been working so hard over the years, for them to miss out on this opportunity to get recognized, it’s just heartbreaking,” Oconer said. “Especially my seniors, they’ve been waiting for the opportunity.
“We’ve had so much talent over the last couple of years, we’ve had certain kids that have just been stuck behind really good players.”
Click here to see the Redwings team page!
By Matt Le Cren
Benet is brimming with confidence after winning its first state championship last year.
Jaimee Cibulka’s overtime goal did more than give the Redwings a 2-1 victory over Wauconda in the Class AA state title game. It raised internal expectations, perhaps even more than outside expectations.
“There is just a new bar set and new expectations,” Benet coach Gerard Oconer said. “We pretty much go into every game expecting to win now, so there’s really (no game) where we feel like we have no chance to win. We feel that we’ve gotten our program to the next level.”
Indeed, the Redwings’ AA state championship forced the program to move up to Class 3A this spring. That will make the path to another state championship much steeper, but Oconer believes his team is capable of climbing it and relishes the chance to compete in 3A.
That’s because the Redwings bring back 12 players, including five starters, from a squad that produced a 24-3-1 record, the best in school history.
The headliner is senior defender Kate Flynn, a Chicagoland Soccer All-Stater and the reigning East Suburban Catholic Conference Player of the Year. The Washington University recruit is a dynamic two-way player at outside back who produced three goals and 10 assists last season, including a goal and assist in Benet’s 3-1 state semifinal victory over Triad.
Also back are Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List members Sarah Bozych, Mia Tommasone, Brooke Pullen and Katie Lewellyan.
There should have been one more Watch List member, but Cami Picha, a senior forward, will be idle this season with injuries to both legs. She had eight goals and 11 assists in 2019 and her production will be missed.
But the Redwings still have plenty of firepower, even with the graduation of leading scorer Abby Casmere, who bagged 20 goals and six assists last spring. Cibulka, a junior forward who has committed to Loyola, recorded 14 goals and 14 assists in her first high school campaign.
“She looks really good this year,” Oconer said. “Her confidence is high, and I think having the college situation figured out will ease some of the pressure off of her, so we’re expecting a really big year from her.”
There is senior leadership on all three levels with Bozych up-top, Tommasone and Dani Pullen in the midfield and Flynn in the back.
Tommasone racked up 10 goals and 10 assists last year, while Bozych had a phenomenal 12 goals coming off the bench in a vital reserve role. Pullen tallied the final goal in the win over Triad.
“Sarah Bozych will slide into the Abby Casmere role but is a different kind of player for us,” Oconer said. “She’s kind of your true target forward.
“She’s really good about being able to hold the ball up and really good at distributing. We’ll just have to get her a little bit more confident in being a goal scorer, because she is so unselfish.”
The Redwings will have to replace both center backs and find a replacement for graduated goalkeeper and Chicagoland Soccer All-Stater Eva Frantzen, who had an outstanding playoff run. But Flynn and Brooke Pullen provide Oconer a comfort level few coaches can claim to have with their defenses.
“I wouldn’t trade those two outside backs for any outside back combination in the state,” Oconer said. “They can get forward; they can defend; they can do everything that you would possibly want done from outside backs.
“Their passing is really good. They can play both ways. I couldn’t say anything more about the two of them.”
Flynn, a four-year starter, has been a well-known player for a long time and will eventually join her older sister, Erin, at Washington. But the uncommitted Brooke Pullen is just as valuable in Oconer’s eyes.
“With Kate being such an incredible player for us, Brooke is another kid that kind of got overshadowed over the years, especially last year,” Oconer said. “If Kate wasn’t so good, Brooke would probably be considered one of the best outside backs in the state, in my opinion.”
Those two will help solidify the only real area of concern for the Redwings. Freshman Shannon Clark will start in goal, backed up by sophomore Molly Walsh.
“We’re going to have to piece it together defensively, especially protecting a young goalkeeper,” Oconer said. “Hopefully kids will step up.”
The leading candidates to do so are seniors Emily Mikitka and Karina Krammer.
“(Mikitka) is kind of the definition of that kid who has been waiting for an opportunity,” Oconer said. “(Krammer) dealt with a lot of injuries over the years but was healthy last year.
“This year she looks really good. Her physical ability is good.”
With plenty of talent and confidence in place, the Redwings, like every other team in the state, now wait to see if the coronavirus pandemic can be contained in time for the season to be salvaged.
“These kids have been working so hard over the years, for them to miss out on this opportunity to get recognized, it’s just heartbreaking,” Oconer said. “Especially my seniors, they’ve been waiting for the opportunity.
“We’ve had so much talent over the last couple of years, we’ve had certain kids that have just been stuck behind really good players.”
Click here to see the Redwings team page!