Girls soccer: Benet bounces back at St. Viator's expense
Benet Academy's girls soccer team had been struggling of late.
The Redwings had dropped three straight, including a key match with league rival Carmel which all but ended their hopes of winning the East Suburban Catholic Conference title.
On the flip side, St. Viator came to Lisle on Wednesday knowing a win over its longtime rival would set up a showdown with Carmel in a week to likely decide the league title.
Betsy Keefe's early strike helped prove the Redwings are still alive.
Her goal at 10 minutes held up the rest of the way to help Benet claim a 1-0 victory.
"We dominated the first 10-15 minutes, put one in, then had a chance to add a couple more - then had to fight hard in the second half to get a much needed win today," said Benet coach Gerard Oconer.
The victory improved Benet's record to 8-5-0 overall and 4-2-0 in the ESCC.
"We could have made it easier on ourselves if we could have finished those chances we created, because you know Mike (Taylor, St. Viator's head coach) always gets his teams fired up at the break and comes at you with so much energy in the second half.
"But we hung in there nonetheless, and it really was a big win for us."
The Lions (6-4-1, 3-1-0) had no answer for the pace of the Redwings. From the opening whistle Benet put the visitors under pressure, getting 4 shots on frame before the the fifth found the back of the net in the 10th minute.
"I told you if we came to play we would win this game," said Taylor. "But we didn't. It was if we were running in quicksand. We played and looked slow, and never looked at all like we're capable of."
After Keefe's goal, Benet junior Erin Flynn nearly doubled the advantage with a looping ball over the top from Kate Flynn, only to have the assistant referee rule it offsides.
"We kept St. Viator in the game by our inability to finish our chances," Erin Flynn said, "which is kind of dangerous thing to do, but we really wanted this game today, and that's the way we played the entire day."
Oconer's concern for a quick second-half start by St. Viator did not materialize.
Instead, Benet's Katie Gesior and Nicole Burns both had short-range shots blocked. With 50 minutes on the clock, Benet fans thought Gesior had beaten the Lions' offside trap before an offsides flag dashed the chance.
St. Viator slowly got into the game near the hour as Caitlin Kenney tested Benet keeper Anna Keefe, whose save spilled free and forced a clearing effort by the Redwings' backline.
Moments later, the best chance of the afternoon for St. Viator came after a Payton McDonnell corner fell to Meagan Vicens at the top of the box. The junior carried forward before unloading a wicked blast that rattled the underside of the bar but bounded away.
"We found and played through our center-midfielders really well today, and found our players out wide a lot, especially in the first half to help us get a win that will give us a lot of momentum and confidence going forward," said Erin Flynn.
The Redwings will play in the Naperville Invite on Thursday against Waubonsie Valley, while St. Viator has a nonconference game with Notre Dame of Green Bay at home on Friday afternoon.