Benet counts out Naperville Central
3-goal spurt keeps Redwings in winning form
By Matt Le Cren
LISLE – For 20 minutes it appeared Benet and Naperville Central were engaged in another of their usually close, hard-fought games.
But victory turned out to be as easy as one, two, three for the host Redwings.
Jason Rowaiye, Jacob Graiber and Connor Mote scored on consecutive shots during a 10-minute span as Benet snuffed Naperville Central’s nascent winning streak at two with a 4-2 win Saturday.
The Redwings (12-4-1) have now won three-straight games and eight of their last nine as they head into the final week of the regular season in search of the East Suburban Catholic Conference title and potentially a run at the Class 2A state title.
But they were surprised to have a three-goal halftime lead on Naperville Central, a sound defensive squad that had given up 21 goals, nine of which came in losses to Morton and Neuqua Valley.
“Oh, yeah,” Mote said. “Since last year we were very close (a scoreless tie and a 3-1 Naperville Central win) and then this year it was half-and-half.
“They had more domination over the ball, but then we started putting our opportunities away.
“The past three games we’ve been, I think, better than we have this season. So I think if we keep this rolling, we’ll be set.”
Mote continued his torrid play in helping the Redwings stay in the W column win since a 1-0 loss to Marian Central last Saturday. The junior playmaker scored two goals to earn Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors and now has a team-leading 10 goals, one more than Daniel Morefield.
“First half, certainly, we played well,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “To be up 3-0 against Naperville Central at halftime is not the way I thought this game would go. So it does probably show our quality.
“Obviously Connor Mote is stepping up. He scored the second goal in the Marist game the other night on a free kick that was just unbelievable, so he’s kind of coming into form, and he and Graiber do well for us in the middle.
“They have a good connection and then for them to look up top and see Kelly or look wide and see Morefield and Ryley Guay, it seems to be clicking at the right time.”
It clicked with surprising regularity against Naperville Central. The Redhawks and Redwings both finished with 12 shots, but Benet had the clear edge in play, beating the visitors to many of the 50-50 balls, particularly in the final 20 minutes of the first half and first 15 minutes of the second half.
“They’re faster, and more physical than we are, but that’s been the story of our year,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. “When the other team is faster and more physical than we are, and they have better athletes than we do, we struggle. And they had better athletes that we did.”
Benet’s first goal came with 19:17 left in the first half when Ben Kelly got open in the box and rolled a left-footed shot off the inside of the right post. Rowaiye was there to tap in the rebound.
The Redwings’ next shot came six minutes later, Ryley Guay’s corner kick missed the head of one leaping Benet player but the Redhawks didn’t get to the ball in time and Graiber settled the ball and scored on a six-yard shot.
Three minutes after that, Mote launched a high-arcing volley from outside the penalty area that sailed over Naperville Central goalkeeper Joe Kallikadan’s head.
“The three goals could literally be a microcosm of the season,” Adams said. “We gave up one goal because of a bad decision at midfield. Our decision-making at times is suspect, so we turn the ball over at midfield, that led to the first goal.
“The second goal was not being mentally sharp. I don’t know how a guy brings the ball down in the box, takes a step back and gets a shot off. That’s a mental lapse, and we’ve talked about that.
“And the third goal was just not using correct technique to clear a ball and not being in the right space.
“If you could wrap up our season in a half, that would be it. In my mind at least two-of-the-three goals were bad goals. It takes a lot to score a goal, and it’s a credit to them to score it, but we gave them good opportunities to score those three goals.”
The Redhawks had scoring opportunities but none which were particularly dangerous for the first 65 minutes. Benet goalkeeper Konrad Bayer made three saves in the first half. His replacement Brian Gould made three more after intermission before Neal Hasan got the Redhawks (7-10-0) on the board with 24:07 remaining.
Gould misplayed a ball near the top of the box, and Kyle Forest got to it and took into the left corner under pressure from the defender.
Forest turned back upfield and passed it to Hasan, who scored on a 20-yard shot.
But the joy was short-lived as Benet retaliated 2:11 later on Mote’s second goal of the game.
A good build-up on the left wing led to Kelly sending a short pass inside the box to Mote, who cutback to elude a defender and rifled a 15-yard shot top shelf to make it 4-1. That showcased the way Benet has been trying to play.
“We started off the season a little slow being unable to put the ball in the next but now it’s coming together nicely,” Guay said. “Just kind of possessing the ball in the midfield is big for us, getting it to a target up top and keeping the ball is important.”
The strategy is working as the Redwings have now scored three-or-more goals in eight matches, all but two of which have come in the past 12-game stretch that has seen Benet post a 10-1-1 mark.
“After a game like this we’re feeling pretty good,” Guay admitted.
The same could not be said for the Redhawks, who fell back to earth after wins over Oswego East and Wheaton North.
It was the third time Naperville Central has won back-to-back games this fall, but the team is still searching for its first three-game winning streak.
“It’s the way our season has been,” Adams said. “We cannot get any consistency.
“It takes mental discipline to be consistent. We haven’t had it all year.
“We have young kids that don’t understand it, we have older kids that have never gotten it. Either we fix what we’re doing or we have about a week-and-a-half to play because Plainfield South will beat us (in the first round of the playoffs) if we play the way that we played today.”
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
G Joe Kallikadan
D Frank DeStefano
D Joe Granato
D Griffin Geisler
M Colin Heeneman
M Noah Canlas
M Felix Leyva
M Nate Zain
F Christopher Schwaiger
F Kyle Forest
F Jimmy Kalkofen
Benet
G Konrad Bayer
D Bennett Curtis
D Joe Guay
D Charlie Kane
D Richie Michalik
M Ryley Guay
M Jacob Graiber
M Connor Mote
M Ben Kelly
F Daniel Morefield
F Andrew Knight
Man of the Match – Connor Mote, MF, Benet
3-goal spurt keeps Redwings in winning form
By Matt Le Cren
LISLE – For 20 minutes it appeared Benet and Naperville Central were engaged in another of their usually close, hard-fought games.
But victory turned out to be as easy as one, two, three for the host Redwings.
Jason Rowaiye, Jacob Graiber and Connor Mote scored on consecutive shots during a 10-minute span as Benet snuffed Naperville Central’s nascent winning streak at two with a 4-2 win Saturday.
The Redwings (12-4-1) have now won three-straight games and eight of their last nine as they head into the final week of the regular season in search of the East Suburban Catholic Conference title and potentially a run at the Class 2A state title.
But they were surprised to have a three-goal halftime lead on Naperville Central, a sound defensive squad that had given up 21 goals, nine of which came in losses to Morton and Neuqua Valley.
“Oh, yeah,” Mote said. “Since last year we were very close (a scoreless tie and a 3-1 Naperville Central win) and then this year it was half-and-half.
“They had more domination over the ball, but then we started putting our opportunities away.
“The past three games we’ve been, I think, better than we have this season. So I think if we keep this rolling, we’ll be set.”
Mote continued his torrid play in helping the Redwings stay in the W column win since a 1-0 loss to Marian Central last Saturday. The junior playmaker scored two goals to earn Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors and now has a team-leading 10 goals, one more than Daniel Morefield.
“First half, certainly, we played well,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “To be up 3-0 against Naperville Central at halftime is not the way I thought this game would go. So it does probably show our quality.
“Obviously Connor Mote is stepping up. He scored the second goal in the Marist game the other night on a free kick that was just unbelievable, so he’s kind of coming into form, and he and Graiber do well for us in the middle.
“They have a good connection and then for them to look up top and see Kelly or look wide and see Morefield and Ryley Guay, it seems to be clicking at the right time.”
It clicked with surprising regularity against Naperville Central. The Redhawks and Redwings both finished with 12 shots, but Benet had the clear edge in play, beating the visitors to many of the 50-50 balls, particularly in the final 20 minutes of the first half and first 15 minutes of the second half.
“They’re faster, and more physical than we are, but that’s been the story of our year,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. “When the other team is faster and more physical than we are, and they have better athletes than we do, we struggle. And they had better athletes that we did.”
Benet’s first goal came with 19:17 left in the first half when Ben Kelly got open in the box and rolled a left-footed shot off the inside of the right post. Rowaiye was there to tap in the rebound.
The Redwings’ next shot came six minutes later, Ryley Guay’s corner kick missed the head of one leaping Benet player but the Redhawks didn’t get to the ball in time and Graiber settled the ball and scored on a six-yard shot.
Three minutes after that, Mote launched a high-arcing volley from outside the penalty area that sailed over Naperville Central goalkeeper Joe Kallikadan’s head.
“The three goals could literally be a microcosm of the season,” Adams said. “We gave up one goal because of a bad decision at midfield. Our decision-making at times is suspect, so we turn the ball over at midfield, that led to the first goal.
“The second goal was not being mentally sharp. I don’t know how a guy brings the ball down in the box, takes a step back and gets a shot off. That’s a mental lapse, and we’ve talked about that.
“And the third goal was just not using correct technique to clear a ball and not being in the right space.
“If you could wrap up our season in a half, that would be it. In my mind at least two-of-the-three goals were bad goals. It takes a lot to score a goal, and it’s a credit to them to score it, but we gave them good opportunities to score those three goals.”
The Redhawks had scoring opportunities but none which were particularly dangerous for the first 65 minutes. Benet goalkeeper Konrad Bayer made three saves in the first half. His replacement Brian Gould made three more after intermission before Neal Hasan got the Redhawks (7-10-0) on the board with 24:07 remaining.
Gould misplayed a ball near the top of the box, and Kyle Forest got to it and took into the left corner under pressure from the defender.
Forest turned back upfield and passed it to Hasan, who scored on a 20-yard shot.
But the joy was short-lived as Benet retaliated 2:11 later on Mote’s second goal of the game.
A good build-up on the left wing led to Kelly sending a short pass inside the box to Mote, who cutback to elude a defender and rifled a 15-yard shot top shelf to make it 4-1. That showcased the way Benet has been trying to play.
“We started off the season a little slow being unable to put the ball in the next but now it’s coming together nicely,” Guay said. “Just kind of possessing the ball in the midfield is big for us, getting it to a target up top and keeping the ball is important.”
The strategy is working as the Redwings have now scored three-or-more goals in eight matches, all but two of which have come in the past 12-game stretch that has seen Benet post a 10-1-1 mark.
“After a game like this we’re feeling pretty good,” Guay admitted.
The same could not be said for the Redhawks, who fell back to earth after wins over Oswego East and Wheaton North.
It was the third time Naperville Central has won back-to-back games this fall, but the team is still searching for its first three-game winning streak.
“It’s the way our season has been,” Adams said. “We cannot get any consistency.
“It takes mental discipline to be consistent. We haven’t had it all year.
“We have young kids that don’t understand it, we have older kids that have never gotten it. Either we fix what we’re doing or we have about a week-and-a-half to play because Plainfield South will beat us (in the first round of the playoffs) if we play the way that we played today.”
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
G Joe Kallikadan
D Frank DeStefano
D Joe Granato
D Griffin Geisler
M Colin Heeneman
M Noah Canlas
M Felix Leyva
M Nate Zain
F Christopher Schwaiger
F Kyle Forest
F Jimmy Kalkofen
Benet
G Konrad Bayer
D Bennett Curtis
D Joe Guay
D Charlie Kane
D Richie Michalik
M Ryley Guay
M Jacob Graiber
M Connor Mote
M Ben Kelly
F Daniel Morefield
F Andrew Knight
Man of the Match – Connor Mote, MF, Benet
