NAPERVILLE – Benet played without, arguably, its two best players Saturday.

Sophomore forward Ivana Vukas and sophomore midfielder Annie Fitzgerald attended college ID camps and did not play in the Naperville Invitational semifinals against St. Charles East.

It didn’t matter.

Senior defender Bailey Abbott tallied the game-tying goal late in the first half and freshman midfielder Megan Bergman scored two fantastic goals off of set pieces in the second half to lead Benet to a 3-1 upset win over no. 15 St. Charles East at the Naperville Invitational semifinal at Naperville Central’s Memorial Stadium.

The 10th-consecutive victory for the surging Redwings (11-2-1), who are ranked 23, for now, in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, gained the team a championship game berth for the first time.

Next up is no. 4 New Trier (13-2-3), which beat 14th-ranked Hinsdale Central 2-0 in the second semifinal, at 6 p.m. Monday at the same venue.

“One word for this group is resilient,” Benet coach Gerard Oconer said.  “It doesn’t matter what kind of adversity. It doesn’t matter who is playing for us. It doesn’t matter if we’re down a goal.

“It doesn’t matter what the challenge is. They just keep rising to the challenge.

“The kids just find a way, and that comes from our senior leadership. They will just not let these kids quit.”

Indeed, there was no stopping the Redwings, even after they gave up a poor goal in the fourth minute. Two defenders collided and St. Charles East freshman phenom Sophia Wollenberg pounced on the opportunity and bounced a shot past prone Benet goalkeeper Kate Grubish.

“Often it’s easy to get down when you get scored on that quick,” Benet defender Chloe Sentman said. “But we’re a really resilient group, so it’s easy to rally back.”

Even without their top two scorers?

“Annie and Ivana are great players, and we were definitely missing them,” Sentman said. “They are irreplaceable girls. But we have so much depth, that it didn’t even put a dent in our system.”

Instead, the Redwings enjoyed the better of the possession during a first half in which each side mustered only two shots. And they put an impression in the Saints’ net with 7:07 left before intermission.

Freshman forward Audrey Eiseman, who started in place of Vukas, ran down the right wing and sent a great cross into the box to an open Abbott, who smashed a 12-yard shot into the upper 90 to tie the game at 1-1.

It was more of the same in the second half, when another rookie rose to the occasion – twice.

Bergman, who had one previous goal to her credit, ran onto a corner kick from Sentman and blasted a sensational volley into the upper right corner of the net. The play stunned the Saints – and everyone else in the stadium – and gave the Redwings the lead for good with 23:35 remaining in regulation.

“Nobody is ever saving that,” Oconer said. “That was just perfect timing. Great service, and she hit that pure.”

Sentman was aiming for a particular spot, with no particular head in mind, when she whipped in the corner kick from the right side.

“We usually try to send it in between the six and the PK spot,” Sentman said. “She just happened to be in the right spot.”

Practice made perfect for Bergman.

“I’ve just been working on that all year,” Bergman said. “I’ve tried to hit that many times on corners.

“I’ve just never been able to get them, and I felt it was just awesome to finally get two goals and help contribute to the team.”

Bergman’s second strike came with 7:59 to go and capped the scoring. Sentman again got the assist.

This time, the Redwings were awarded a free kick on the left hash. Instead of putting it on frame, Sentman rolled a short pass to her right to Bergman, who ripped a 30-yard shot under the crossbar to make it 3-1.

“She’s definitely been trying for those long-range shots,” Sentman said. “So, it was really nice to see her get one.”

Bergman’s blast essentially put the game out of reach and ensured Benet’s first tournament semifinal appearance was a successful one.

“It just felt awesome to get that goal and know that we have the chance to go to the Naperville Invitational championship,” Bergman said. “We can just relax now that we weren’t up by one goal. It was nice to know we were up by two.”

It was not so nice for 15th-ranked St. Charles East (13-3-3), who enjoyed an 8-5 edge in shots but had no extra goals to show for it.

“Two set pieces,” St. Charles East coach Vince DiNuzzo said. “That’s how these games are kind of dictated. We didn’t defend well on set pieces, and we got punished for it.

“We weren’t the best version of ourselves. We’re capable of a lot better.”

Senior defender Mackenzie Loomis agreed it wasn’t her side’s best effort.

“It was a very disorganized game,” Loomis said. “I just think we weren’t mentally and physically prepared for this game.

“We’re not going to make any excuses. It was all a team effort today, especially when we weren’t working on our communication.

“It wasn’t the best for us today. But we’re proud of getting to the semifinals.”

That is a big accomplishment in itself. It was the second-straight semifinal appearance for St. Charles East, which upset no. 6 Naperville North 1-0 on the road in the quarterfinals.

The Saints have two more tough matches next week against DuKane Conference rivals 10th-ranked Wheaton North on Tuesday and honorable mention-side Geneva on Thursday.

“Weve got a lot of big games coming up that we’ve got to prepare for mentally and physically,” Loomis said. “So, we can’t take our rest days for granted, and we’ve got to work on communicating in the back when someone’s not feeling the greatest.

“Throughout the tournament I think we’ve been working really well. We were hoping for that win to go to the finals, because it’s been a while for our program.”

Instead, it was Benet that found itself in a place they’ve never been. They’ve been doing just enough offensively while getting solid defense from the Abbott-led backline and Grubish, who made three of her four saves in the second half, including a great effort to tip Alli Saviano’s 22-yard free kick over the crossbar with 15:35 left.

Incredibly, Benet has been outshot in each of the past two games, mustering eight shots total, yet taken down two higher-ranked teams.

“It’s definitely a big statement,” Sentman said. “I feel at the beginning of the season everyone was doubting us, but we definitely worked our way back up.”
 

Starting lineups

St. Charles East
GK: Sidney Lazenby
D: Presley Kannaka
D: Mackenzie Loomis
D: Abbey Petrick
D: Averie Foulkes
M: Georggia Desario
M: Alli Saviano
M: Payton Rivard
M: Tatum Smith
F: Sophia Wollenberg
F: Lilli Margewich
 
Benet
GK: Kate Grubish
D: Chloe Sentman
D: Abby Gits
D: Bailey Abbott
D: Meghan Sarros
M: Rania Fikri
M: Megan Bergman
M: Lily McKenna
F: Johnna Caliendo
F: Eleanor Mahan
F: Audrey Eiseman
 
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Megan Bergman, fr., MF, Benet

 
Scoring summary

First half
St. Charles East: Sophia Wollenberg (unassisted), 4’
Benet: Bailey Abbott (Audrey Eiseman), 33’
 
Second half
Benet: Megan Bergman (Chloe Sentman), 57’
Benet: Bergman (Sentman), 73’