Benet looks impressive beating Downers South
The expectations for the Benet boys soccer team have been pretty high this season, but unsteady play and injuries have kept the Redwings from putting it all together.
In Monday's non-conference game in Lisle, the Redwings displayed some of the signs of the excellence that they're capable of, jumping on visiting Downers Grove South with 3 first-half goals to come away with a 3-1 victory.
"It feels like we've waited all season for a game like this where we shot the ball four times in the first half and we score three times," said Redwings coach Sean Wesley. "It looks like we know what we're doing."
Hunter Miller played a big role in all 3 Redwings goals.
"Technique-wise, Hunter Miller is fantastic, he's a player," Wesley said. "He brings a lot to the team."
Miller first got Benet on the board in the 10th minute when he dribbled to the left of the penalty area and lofted a shot over Downers Grove South goalkeeper Sam Hadley.
Miller later displayed impressive dribbling ability to create a powerful shot that Hadley couldn't handle and Brian Morefield was in position to clean up the rebound to put the Redwings ahead 2-0 in the 23rd minute.
Lastly, Miller passed to senior midfielder Sean Mogan, who assisted on a goal in the 28th minute by Sean O'Hara.
"Not to take anything away from what Benet did today, but I'm just real disappointed," Downers Grove South coach Jon Stapleton said. "We can't win head balls, we can't defend, we can't make passes."
The Redwings (7-6-1) welcomed the return of Ryan Reilly, who like five of his teammates, has missed action this season because of an injury. Reilly's presence was felt in back as the Redhawks limited the scoring chances of the Mustangs, yielding only a Kyle Wolf goal in the second half.
"Ryan Reilly is that lynchpin that connects it all, that keeps everybody organized, everybody respects, and everbody listens to," Wesley said. "When we don't have him, although the kids can play soccer, we're just not organized.
"He's like a coach on the field. This was the least stressful game I've had all season and its because he's back."
Wesley also praised the play of Kevin Doyle and Mogan, among others.
"A lot of role players did a really good job today," he said. "It's promising leading into the next couple weeks."
The Redwings haven't won more than two games in a row this season, but they've faced quite a difficult schedule that includes losses to Naperville Central and Naperville North and a draw with Downers Grove North. Perhaps this will be the springboard they need with five matches remaining in the regular season.
"We're moving the in the right direction, without a doubt, and there's an urgency now that we didn't have before," Wesley said. "We played very well for the first couple of games and expected teams to kind of rollover for us and that doesn't happen, not in this area."