Boys soccer: Kelly delivers for Benet against Fenton

In less than a minute, Fenton went from jubilation to sorrow during Saturday night's Class 2A St. Francis boys soccer sectional championship against Benet.

Meanwhile the emotions of the Redwings switched from disbelief to the belief that they were destined to advance to Tuesday's Class 2A Sterling supersectional against Quincy Notre Dame.

Benet won a thriller 1-0.

Fenton (9-11-3) senior Edgar Tamez appeared to score in the 68th minute but the Bison were ruled offside. Benet senior Ben Kelly then delivered on the counterattack, dribbling down the left side of the field before blasting a shot off the fists of Fenton goalkeeper Abel Carrera. He slowed the shot, but not enough to keep it from getting over him and just underneath the crossbar to give Benet the only goal of the game.

Neither team created many changes throughout the contest, so there was a feeling that whoever scored first would win.

"It's a tough one, but that's part of the game," Fenton coach Jim Johns said. "A break here or a break there, especially since this was pretty even. You had the feeling that whoever scored first would probably win, and they managed to break through."

It makes perfect sense that Kelly delivered the game-winner. He's simply been amazing for the Redwings (19-1-2), especially during the postseason, as he's scored eight times in just four games.

"Seeing the ball being put in the back of the net - goal or not - was a big wakeup call," Kelly said. "We stepped it up from there. We got the ball in our attacking third, were able to force a mistake on the defense and the ball popped out. I came up the left side, had it on my left foot and had a good angle to take from there."

Kelly said the team effort has been strong all season, but the Redwings are playing at another level now.

"In the season you can go at 80 to 90 percent and know another game is going to come," he said. "If you don't go 100 percent now, three seconds could mean the difference in winning or losing and that's something in the back of our heads that's driving all of our team."

It wasn't a mere three seconds, but 55, when the game was decided.

"We've flipped on a switch and are playing for our lives," Curtis said. "These games are so intense. It definitely feels great to keep on winning and moving ahead."

While the Redwings advance, Fenton's deep playoff run comes to an end. The Bison will lose 15 players from this year's senior-laden squad.