Boys soccer: Woodwork is kind to Benet against Wheaton Academy

Snow flurries and a 26-degree wind chill weren't enough to cool off Benet on Saturday.

The Redwings scored 3 goals in the second half and extended their winning streak to nine games by upsetting Wheaton Academy 3-1 to win the Class 3A Wheaton Academy regional championship.

C.J. Warren, Franklin Rutkowski and Christopher Mankowski scored for seventh-seeded Benet (16-3-1), which will play sixth-seeded Addison Trail in Tuesday's Addison Trail sectional semifinals.

All 3 of Benet's goals hit the inside of the goal post before going in.

"When I kept seeing it go off and in I was just amazed," Wheaton Academy coach Jeff Brooke said. "It was almost like a sectional final-type feel, so it's tough to run into a team that is so good and get bounced in the regional. But that's the quality of soccer in this area."

Benet's goals were nothing but quality. Rutkowski got the game-winner with 13:41 remaining in the second half with a sidewinder of a shot from 28 yards out. The ball deflected high off the inside of the right post and in, aided by a howling north wind.

"We'd been talking about that wind all day, so I knew I just had to put it on target," Rutkowski said. "I mis-hit it a little. I got a little fluff on it, but the wind carried it in for me."

Rutkowski carried the Redwings to their 10th regional championship in Class 3A. He set up Warren's goal at the 35:06 mark of the second half when he headed a ball toward the left post, where Warren flicked it in off the woodwork for the game's first goal.

"We had battled against the wind the whole (first) half," Warren said. "So we knew we were going to get a lot more chances going into the wind and fortunately (Rutkowski and I) were each able to get one on frame."

The Redwings were more dominant with the wind than second-seeded Wheaton Academy, but the Warriors (20-3) still managed to tie the game with 17:46 to go.

John Liechty sent a long ball up the right wing to Jack Kilgallon, who took the ball into the corner before crossing it. A Benet defender volleyed it off the crossbar and Seamus Kilgallon buried the rebound.

But Benet was not to be denied and retook the lead four minutes later. Mankowski then iced the game with a 23-yard shot off the inside of the right post with 1:22 remaining.

"We've talked all year about being mentally tough and this group has really proved it over and over and over again," Benet coach Sean Wesley said. "Even after losses to (Naperville) North and Libertyville where we could have hung our head and went the other way, I think we did the exact opposite.

"Even games that are tough and where the weather is not good, like today, you couldn't ask for more. (To score) three great goals in a game like this against a great team with great players at their place, it was perfect."