Naperville Central beats Benet,
celebrates Group A title
Redhawks move on to quarterfinal round
By Matt LeCren
NAPERVILLE – Naperville Central senior Kathleen Conforti gave her father, Harry, a nice present for his birthday Saturday.
Her teammates were thankful for it, too.
Conforti scored a beautiful goal on a first half volley, and that was all the Redhawks needed to beat Benet 1-0 at Memorial Stadium on the final day of group play at the Naperville Invitational.
Naperville Central (8-3-3), which defeated Oswego 2-0 in its tournament opener Thursday, won Group A and advanced to the tournament quarterfinals for the fifth-straight year.
The Redhawks will host Plainfield North in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
“It’s nice,” Naperville Central coach Ed Watson said. “I was just telling the girls, whatever eight teams are there, they’re going to be a good eight.
“This is a good one for us because it finishes up our pre-sectional (meeting) portion of the season. We got to win over two sectional opponents, which is a nice added bonus to the tournament.”
Conforti’s goal, her fourth of the season, was a highlight reel finish that came with 6:45 to go in an evenly played first half. Benet goalkeeper Anna Keefe had no chance to stop Conforti’s volley off a perfect cross from the right wing by Kirsten Dorgan.
“That was a great cross,” Conforti said. “Ryan (Dudycha) was at the near post taking a defender away, and it came right to me.”
Sophomore Madison Redeker also got an assist on the play. She passed it to Dorgan, who was running up the right wing.
“I was just sprinting back when Maddie had the ball,” Dorgan said. “She was in kind of a tough position to cross it, so I just sprinted down, received the ball and looked up as we had practiced.
“Last week we were practicing trying to swing the ball in and hoping someone would get a touch on it, anything to get the ball in the net. It was awesome.”
It was also the death knell for Benet. With the way Naperville Central’s defense has been playing, a 1-0 lead seems insurmountable to opposing teams. The Redhawks have won five of their last six games and three of the victories have been 1-0 decisions.
“That was the type of goal that we need to generate,” Watson said. “All we need is one.”
Indeed, Naperville Central goalkeeper Kinzly Dressler had to make only three saves to record her seventh shutout. The Redhawks’ back line of Caitlin Reece, Isabel
Reedy, Amanda Murphy and Maggie Hillman gave up only seven shots and also helped control possession of the ball and start the offense.
“I feel like it all starts from the defense, just bringing the ball up,” Conforti said. “The defenders did a great job.”
Watson, for once, was happy with his entire line-up.
“On Tuesday night I said to the girls after the (1-0 overtime) loss (to Wheaton Warrenville South), there were just too many of us that played poorly,” Watsons said. “There was no one who played poorly for us today.
“We were collectively slow to start, but I’d say about the 15-minute mark on we started to do some nice pieces.”
Indeed, the Redhawks had another goal on a play similar to Conforti’s waved off by an offsides call and were thwarted on several other chances by Keefe, who made six saves, including a brilliant kick save followed by a reflex stop on a breakaway by Dudycha in the final minute.
“I was very pleased with Conforti’s play,” Watson said. “I thought Madison Redeker off the bench played great, and Rowan and Dorgan (did well) in the middle winning balls.”
Dorgan is making an impact at defensively midfielder after returning from a minor injury.
“Dorgan got hurt at the St. Charles East tournament and we lost her for over a week, and that’s a big difference,” Watson said. “It did give Redeker a chance to slide in and that will be her position next year.”
Benet (6-3-1), which needed to win by at least four goals in order to win the group, has now has lost consecutive games for the first time since 2014.
The Redwings were upset 3-0 by Oswego on Friday.
“We stunk up the joint yesterday,” Benet coach Bob Gros said. “We played the worst game of the year. I have no idea why.
“We had a couple bad goalie mistakes yesterday, each made one. But we were flat-footed and disorganized. You name it, we did it yesterday.
“The only adjustment was we went back to fundamentals, and I explained fundamentally what we do defensively. That was my whole pregame talk. We had to forget about yesterday, and I thought we played a good solid game.”
Keefe and backup Cassidy Latchford each had a mistake that led to a goal against the Panthers. But Keefe, a first-year starter who has been generally solid so far, shook it off.
“I feel like I was super focused on my warm-up,” Keefe said. “I didn’t really let last night affect me too much. I know I played badly but I hoped to bounce back, and I was focused.”
Gros was glad, but not surprised, to see Keefe and her teammates rebound.
“Anna was outstanding, and she needed to be,” Gros said. “She was shaky yesterday but she came back big and strong.
“I’m not disappointed with the way we played. (The Redhawks) are a good team.
“We had a solid performance. I’m very pleased with the effort.”
Conforti was pleased to beat the Redwings in a well-played game.
“Benet is always a rival so it’s nice to beat these teams,” Conforti said. “We know a lot of their players.
“A lot of us play club with their players. They’re a good team.”
Starting line-ups
Benet
GK: Anna Keefe
D: Mary Kate Wilhelm
D: Clare Bumpus
D: Erin Flynn
D: Mary Kate Hansen
MF: Abby Casmere
MF: Ellie Bumpus
MF: Mia Ullmer
F: Maddie Becker
F: Betsy Keefe
F: Kate Gesior
Naperville Central
GK: Kinzly Dressler
D: Amanda Murphy
D: Isabel Reedy
D: Maggie Hillsman
D: Caitlin Reice
MF: Kirsten Dorgan
MF: Julia Irle
MF: Kayla Rowan
F: Meridith Hannan
F: Ryan Dudycha
F: Kathleen Conforti
MVP of the Match: Kathleen Conforti, F, Naperville Central
celebrates Group A title
Redhawks move on to quarterfinal round
By Matt LeCren
NAPERVILLE – Naperville Central senior Kathleen Conforti gave her father, Harry, a nice present for his birthday Saturday.
Her teammates were thankful for it, too.
Conforti scored a beautiful goal on a first half volley, and that was all the Redhawks needed to beat Benet 1-0 at Memorial Stadium on the final day of group play at the Naperville Invitational.
Naperville Central (8-3-3), which defeated Oswego 2-0 in its tournament opener Thursday, won Group A and advanced to the tournament quarterfinals for the fifth-straight year.
The Redhawks will host Plainfield North in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
“It’s nice,” Naperville Central coach Ed Watson said. “I was just telling the girls, whatever eight teams are there, they’re going to be a good eight.
“This is a good one for us because it finishes up our pre-sectional (meeting) portion of the season. We got to win over two sectional opponents, which is a nice added bonus to the tournament.”
Conforti’s goal, her fourth of the season, was a highlight reel finish that came with 6:45 to go in an evenly played first half. Benet goalkeeper Anna Keefe had no chance to stop Conforti’s volley off a perfect cross from the right wing by Kirsten Dorgan.
“That was a great cross,” Conforti said. “Ryan (Dudycha) was at the near post taking a defender away, and it came right to me.”
Sophomore Madison Redeker also got an assist on the play. She passed it to Dorgan, who was running up the right wing.
“I was just sprinting back when Maddie had the ball,” Dorgan said. “She was in kind of a tough position to cross it, so I just sprinted down, received the ball and looked up as we had practiced.
“Last week we were practicing trying to swing the ball in and hoping someone would get a touch on it, anything to get the ball in the net. It was awesome.”
It was also the death knell for Benet. With the way Naperville Central’s defense has been playing, a 1-0 lead seems insurmountable to opposing teams. The Redhawks have won five of their last six games and three of the victories have been 1-0 decisions.
“That was the type of goal that we need to generate,” Watson said. “All we need is one.”
Indeed, Naperville Central goalkeeper Kinzly Dressler had to make only three saves to record her seventh shutout. The Redhawks’ back line of Caitlin Reece, Isabel
Reedy, Amanda Murphy and Maggie Hillman gave up only seven shots and also helped control possession of the ball and start the offense.
“I feel like it all starts from the defense, just bringing the ball up,” Conforti said. “The defenders did a great job.”
Watson, for once, was happy with his entire line-up.
“On Tuesday night I said to the girls after the (1-0 overtime) loss (to Wheaton Warrenville South), there were just too many of us that played poorly,” Watsons said. “There was no one who played poorly for us today.
“We were collectively slow to start, but I’d say about the 15-minute mark on we started to do some nice pieces.”
Indeed, the Redhawks had another goal on a play similar to Conforti’s waved off by an offsides call and were thwarted on several other chances by Keefe, who made six saves, including a brilliant kick save followed by a reflex stop on a breakaway by Dudycha in the final minute.
“I was very pleased with Conforti’s play,” Watson said. “I thought Madison Redeker off the bench played great, and Rowan and Dorgan (did well) in the middle winning balls.”
Dorgan is making an impact at defensively midfielder after returning from a minor injury.
“Dorgan got hurt at the St. Charles East tournament and we lost her for over a week, and that’s a big difference,” Watson said. “It did give Redeker a chance to slide in and that will be her position next year.”
Benet (6-3-1), which needed to win by at least four goals in order to win the group, has now has lost consecutive games for the first time since 2014.
The Redwings were upset 3-0 by Oswego on Friday.
“We stunk up the joint yesterday,” Benet coach Bob Gros said. “We played the worst game of the year. I have no idea why.
“We had a couple bad goalie mistakes yesterday, each made one. But we were flat-footed and disorganized. You name it, we did it yesterday.
“The only adjustment was we went back to fundamentals, and I explained fundamentally what we do defensively. That was my whole pregame talk. We had to forget about yesterday, and I thought we played a good solid game.”
Keefe and backup Cassidy Latchford each had a mistake that led to a goal against the Panthers. But Keefe, a first-year starter who has been generally solid so far, shook it off.
“I feel like I was super focused on my warm-up,” Keefe said. “I didn’t really let last night affect me too much. I know I played badly but I hoped to bounce back, and I was focused.”
Gros was glad, but not surprised, to see Keefe and her teammates rebound.
“Anna was outstanding, and she needed to be,” Gros said. “She was shaky yesterday but she came back big and strong.
“I’m not disappointed with the way we played. (The Redhawks) are a good team.
“We had a solid performance. I’m very pleased with the effort.”
Conforti was pleased to beat the Redwings in a well-played game.
“Benet is always a rival so it’s nice to beat these teams,” Conforti said. “We know a lot of their players.
“A lot of us play club with their players. They’re a good team.”
Starting line-ups
Benet
GK: Anna Keefe
D: Mary Kate Wilhelm
D: Clare Bumpus
D: Erin Flynn
D: Mary Kate Hansen
MF: Abby Casmere
MF: Ellie Bumpus
MF: Mia Ullmer
F: Maddie Becker
F: Betsy Keefe
F: Kate Gesior
Naperville Central
GK: Kinzly Dressler
D: Amanda Murphy
D: Isabel Reedy
D: Maggie Hillsman
D: Caitlin Reice
MF: Kirsten Dorgan
MF: Julia Irle
MF: Kayla Rowan
F: Meridith Hannan
F: Ryan Dudycha
F: Kathleen Conforti
MVP of the Match: Kathleen Conforti, F, Naperville Central
