Watt goal lifts Glenbard West

Glenbard West senior midfielder Brooke Shanks thought about dribbling a little farther toward the Benet goal. She's glad she didn't.

"I saw Katie Watt open up at the top, so I thought I'd get it up there," Shanks said. "She had an awesome shot. That was amazing goal. Upper 90, so that was sweet."

Watt's 50th-minute goal was all Glenbard West (3-0-1) needed for a 1-0 nonconference girls soccer victory Thursday in Lisle.

Watt did the one thing Benet (1-1-1) couldn't.

"We played real well except when it came to finishing in the attacking third," said Redwings coach Henry Wind, who nevertheless thought his team played its best game so far this season. "We didn't really threaten their goalkeeper. We put a lot of pressure on them, we won a lot of balls, but we didn't do anything.

"They had one chance really and the girls finished it real well, and that was the game. She shielded her defender real well, let the ball run, made the defender come on her back side, and then she finished it. Very well done on her part."

Meanwhile, the Glenbard West defense get stronger as the game went on, forcing goalkeeper Sara Pinter into just 1 second-half save. Anytime Benet tried to get to the goal, Torri Frappolli, Haverly Snyder, Kari Abromitis and Cameryn Barbeau seemed to sweep the ball out of danger.

"They were tough," Shanks said of the Redwings. "They put the pressure on us hard. They were winning a lot of 50/50 balls, but in the end we did a good job. We played well as a team today."

"They played good, solid defense on us," Wind said.