Gesior rockets Benet past Carmel
Restart lasers beam Redwings to crucial 2-1 ESCC win
By Matt Le Cren
LISLE – Katie Gesior took only three shots Wednesday night.
That was more than enough for the Benet junior midfielder to put a dent in Carmel’s hopes of repeating as East Suburban Catholic Conference champions.
Gesior scored on two powerfully struck free-kicks to lift the host Redwings to a 2-1 victory in a key early-season showdown at Benedictine University.
Benet (5-1-1, 2-0-1) avenged last year’s 1-0 loss to the Corsairs while getting a leg up in the league race. Carmel (5-2-1, 0-1=0) still has six ESCC games left but now must hope the Redwings stumble unexpectedly.
“It makes it very hard,” Carmel coach Ray Krawzak said. “Everything has been going smoothly for (the Corsairs) at this point, minus a tough game against Warren.
“Now we’ll see what we’re made of, how we respond to this situation. It’s hard to win conference in an uphill battle.”
The Corsairs have only themselves to blame. They did a solid job of limiting the Redwings in the run of play but two fouls just outside the penalty box proved to be lethal mistakes.
The first gave Gesior an 18-yard attempt, which she drilled into the upper left corner for a 1-0 lead at the 4:53 mark of the first half.
The second came from nearly the same spot with 21:48 to go in the second half. Carmel put up a six-player wall on that one but Gesior blasted it past the defense and off the hands of Carmel goalkeeper Tina O’Block for her 10th goal of the season.
Gesior has been on a roll lately. She has scored five goals in her last three games and seven in the last five. Half of her goals have come on restarts and three have been game-winners.
“We work on shooting a lot in practice; that’s our main focus,” Gesior said. “We split off into offense and defense and for offense we really work on finishing and being able to put the ball in the back of the net.
“So I think I really focus on that, because I know I’ve had to work on that in the past. I’ve been practicing it a lot and I think that’s what has helped me on the set plays.”
But Gesior almost didn’t take the first shot.
“The first one Katie was a little surprised, but we practiced them in practice,” Benet senior Ellie Bumpus said. “I was like, ‘Geeze, you’ve got this.’
“She was like, ‘no, I’m going to let Erin (Flynn) take it,’ because it was from the left side. I told her to take it.”
The Corsairs, who tied the game when Kathleen Graham sprung Erin Johnston on a breakaway goal with 1:57 remaining in the first half, were ready when they were whistled for a foul just outside the box midway through the second half.
Carmel set up a huge wall as Gesior lined up her 19-yard attempt. The blast got over the wall and even though O’Block got a good look at it and a hand on the ball, Gesior had put too much mustard on the shot for it to be stopped.
“The close range really got to me and (with) the pace of the ball, I wasn’t quick enough,” O’Block said. “(Gesior’s kicks) were shot very hard. It was very difficult (to defend) at very close range.”
But O’Block, who finished with three saves, wasn’t shocked by Gesior’s rockets.
“At this level there is always players that can do that, so it’s not too surprising,” O’Block said. “It’s just hard when the range is that close.”
Krawzak agreed.
“They were most dangerous consistently off set pieces and corners they got a couple good chances,” Krawzak said. “(The referee) was calling those at the top of the box so they were able to put some power behind it. The girl did a good job of finishing.”
The short range and large wall actually could have made it more difficult for Gesior to find an opening, but she succeeded by keeping it simple.
“(Against) the six-man wall it’s a little harder because there’s not as much space,” Gesior said. “Because I’m right-footed, the curve is going the wrong way, so then it’s a little harder to get those. But I just kept the ball straight and hit it straight on, so it was easier to keep it going.”
Carmel’s stiff defense didn’t prevent the Redwings from going hard toward the goal.
Benet only got one other significant scoring chance, that coming when sophomore Maddie Becker made a nice cutback move to free herself in the left side of the box before ripping a 12-yard shot off the underside of the crossbar.
But the Redwings strategy of trying to penetrate the box led to both of Gesior’s free kicks.
“We kept taking shots, getting corners and set plays and then just going hard into the box,” Gesior said. “We couldn’t have gotten those kicks without someone charging the goal and getting a foul called, so it’s just everyone working and keeping attacking.”
Benet coach Bob Gros has been stressing that strategy for every match.
“(Benet coach Bob) Mr. Gros has been telling us to keep pressuring the other team’s backline as hard as we can,” Bumpus said. “We know Geeze can finish those shots if she gets close.
“So Betsy (Keefe), Maddie and myself, we’ve been really trying to get in because we know if we get tripped or fouled, we know Geeze can hit those.”
Ironically, the focus on relentless attacking helped the Redwings limit Carmel’s high-powered offense to only five shots. Benet goalkeeper Anna Keefe had to make only two saves, with Johnston’s breakaway being the only breakdown against a team that had scored 25 goals in its first seven games.
“Coach Gros always says to attack the goal and that’s our main point, more offense than defense, because if you don’t have to play defense then they don’t have a chance to score a goal,” Bumpus noted. “So if we keep it in their half and keep shooting then they don’t have a chance to have any shots.”
But Krawzak was unhappy with his team’s lack of intensity early on.
“We didn’t get many chances at all or many restarts,” Krawzak said. “We waited too long to start attacking.
“We waited until the end of the game . We needed to do a better job of attacking in the first half.”
It was an important lesson for a team that mostly has had its own way so far.
“We just have to keep our heads up,” O’Block said. “We have a whole season ahead of us.
“We have a great team. We just have to keep our heads in the game and play as a team.”
While the Redwings still have four league games left, they know they have already beaten their toughest competition.
“This is huge,” Gesior said. “Carmel has always been a huge competitor of ours and for this game we said we had to come out and win and this has to be our hardest-fought match.”
Starting line-ups
Carmel
GK: Tina O’Block
D: Lisa Harwardt
D: Haley Miller
D: Grace Nolan
D: Lily Sykes
MF: Abby Potter
MF: Kathleen Graham
MF: Ali Cepon
MF: Angela Salvi
F: Erin Johnston
F: Riley Harmon
Benet
GK: Anna Keefe
D: Erin Flynn
D: Mary Kate Hansen
D: Mary Kate Wilhelm
D: Clare Bumpus
MF: Ellie Bumpus
MF: Abby Casmere
MF: Katie Gesior
F: Maddie Becker
F: Betsy Keefe
F: Mia Ullmer
MVP of the Match: Katie Gesior, MF, Benet.
Restart lasers beam Redwings to crucial 2-1 ESCC win
By Matt Le Cren
LISLE – Katie Gesior took only three shots Wednesday night.
That was more than enough for the Benet junior midfielder to put a dent in Carmel’s hopes of repeating as East Suburban Catholic Conference champions.
Gesior scored on two powerfully struck free-kicks to lift the host Redwings to a 2-1 victory in a key early-season showdown at Benedictine University.
Benet (5-1-1, 2-0-1) avenged last year’s 1-0 loss to the Corsairs while getting a leg up in the league race. Carmel (5-2-1, 0-1=0) still has six ESCC games left but now must hope the Redwings stumble unexpectedly.
“It makes it very hard,” Carmel coach Ray Krawzak said. “Everything has been going smoothly for (the Corsairs) at this point, minus a tough game against Warren.
“Now we’ll see what we’re made of, how we respond to this situation. It’s hard to win conference in an uphill battle.”
The Corsairs have only themselves to blame. They did a solid job of limiting the Redwings in the run of play but two fouls just outside the penalty box proved to be lethal mistakes.
The first gave Gesior an 18-yard attempt, which she drilled into the upper left corner for a 1-0 lead at the 4:53 mark of the first half.
The second came from nearly the same spot with 21:48 to go in the second half. Carmel put up a six-player wall on that one but Gesior blasted it past the defense and off the hands of Carmel goalkeeper Tina O’Block for her 10th goal of the season.
Gesior has been on a roll lately. She has scored five goals in her last three games and seven in the last five. Half of her goals have come on restarts and three have been game-winners.
“We work on shooting a lot in practice; that’s our main focus,” Gesior said. “We split off into offense and defense and for offense we really work on finishing and being able to put the ball in the back of the net.
“So I think I really focus on that, because I know I’ve had to work on that in the past. I’ve been practicing it a lot and I think that’s what has helped me on the set plays.”
But Gesior almost didn’t take the first shot.
“The first one Katie was a little surprised, but we practiced them in practice,” Benet senior Ellie Bumpus said. “I was like, ‘Geeze, you’ve got this.’
“She was like, ‘no, I’m going to let Erin (Flynn) take it,’ because it was from the left side. I told her to take it.”
The Corsairs, who tied the game when Kathleen Graham sprung Erin Johnston on a breakaway goal with 1:57 remaining in the first half, were ready when they were whistled for a foul just outside the box midway through the second half.
Carmel set up a huge wall as Gesior lined up her 19-yard attempt. The blast got over the wall and even though O’Block got a good look at it and a hand on the ball, Gesior had put too much mustard on the shot for it to be stopped.
“The close range really got to me and (with) the pace of the ball, I wasn’t quick enough,” O’Block said. “(Gesior’s kicks) were shot very hard. It was very difficult (to defend) at very close range.”
But O’Block, who finished with three saves, wasn’t shocked by Gesior’s rockets.
“At this level there is always players that can do that, so it’s not too surprising,” O’Block said. “It’s just hard when the range is that close.”
Krawzak agreed.
“They were most dangerous consistently off set pieces and corners they got a couple good chances,” Krawzak said. “(The referee) was calling those at the top of the box so they were able to put some power behind it. The girl did a good job of finishing.”
The short range and large wall actually could have made it more difficult for Gesior to find an opening, but she succeeded by keeping it simple.
“(Against) the six-man wall it’s a little harder because there’s not as much space,” Gesior said. “Because I’m right-footed, the curve is going the wrong way, so then it’s a little harder to get those. But I just kept the ball straight and hit it straight on, so it was easier to keep it going.”
Carmel’s stiff defense didn’t prevent the Redwings from going hard toward the goal.
Benet only got one other significant scoring chance, that coming when sophomore Maddie Becker made a nice cutback move to free herself in the left side of the box before ripping a 12-yard shot off the underside of the crossbar.
But the Redwings strategy of trying to penetrate the box led to both of Gesior’s free kicks.
“We kept taking shots, getting corners and set plays and then just going hard into the box,” Gesior said. “We couldn’t have gotten those kicks without someone charging the goal and getting a foul called, so it’s just everyone working and keeping attacking.”
Benet coach Bob Gros has been stressing that strategy for every match.
“(Benet coach Bob) Mr. Gros has been telling us to keep pressuring the other team’s backline as hard as we can,” Bumpus said. “We know Geeze can finish those shots if she gets close.
“So Betsy (Keefe), Maddie and myself, we’ve been really trying to get in because we know if we get tripped or fouled, we know Geeze can hit those.”
Ironically, the focus on relentless attacking helped the Redwings limit Carmel’s high-powered offense to only five shots. Benet goalkeeper Anna Keefe had to make only two saves, with Johnston’s breakaway being the only breakdown against a team that had scored 25 goals in its first seven games.
“Coach Gros always says to attack the goal and that’s our main point, more offense than defense, because if you don’t have to play defense then they don’t have a chance to score a goal,” Bumpus noted. “So if we keep it in their half and keep shooting then they don’t have a chance to have any shots.”
But Krawzak was unhappy with his team’s lack of intensity early on.
“We didn’t get many chances at all or many restarts,” Krawzak said. “We waited too long to start attacking.
“We waited until the end of the game . We needed to do a better job of attacking in the first half.”
It was an important lesson for a team that mostly has had its own way so far.
“We just have to keep our heads up,” O’Block said. “We have a whole season ahead of us.
“We have a great team. We just have to keep our heads in the game and play as a team.”
While the Redwings still have four league games left, they know they have already beaten their toughest competition.
“This is huge,” Gesior said. “Carmel has always been a huge competitor of ours and for this game we said we had to come out and win and this has to be our hardest-fought match.”
Starting line-ups
Carmel
GK: Tina O’Block
D: Lisa Harwardt
D: Haley Miller
D: Grace Nolan
D: Lily Sykes
MF: Abby Potter
MF: Kathleen Graham
MF: Ali Cepon
MF: Angela Salvi
F: Erin Johnston
F: Riley Harmon
Benet
GK: Anna Keefe
D: Erin Flynn
D: Mary Kate Hansen
D: Mary Kate Wilhelm
D: Clare Bumpus
MF: Ellie Bumpus
MF: Abby Casmere
MF: Katie Gesior
F: Maddie Becker
F: Betsy Keefe
F: Mia Ullmer
MVP of the Match: Katie Gesior, MF, Benet.