Kaiser’s quick strikes boost Benet past St. Viator
Spurred by 3 unanswered goals in the first half — including a pair just 60 seconds apart from sophomore Amanda Kaiser — visiting Benet swept away host St. Viator 5-1 Monday afternoon to help keep its slim ESCC hopes alive and all but end the Lions’ chances.
The Redwings (15-4-3, 6-2-0) will wait to see if either Marist or Nazareth can upend Fenwick, which entered the day 6-1-0 and atop the conference ladder with two regular-season matches left.
“We’ve been struggling to get into the back of the net for most of the season, but today it all came together and things went our way and we were able to finish our chances that we created for ourselves,” said Benet coach Henry Wind, whose Redwings cannot claim an outright title after a 1-0 loss to Fenwick on Saturday.
“When you don’t come ready to play, this is what happens to your ballclub,” said coach Mike Taylor of St. Viator (11-8-1, 5-2-1). “Benet didn’t dominate, and the first 20 or so minutes belonged to us. But giving away those 2 goals before the half, then playing like we did in the second half tells me we have to sort some things out and get ourselves back on track very soon with the playoffs about to begin.”
The Lions scored first when Taylor Skala tucked a shot just inside the near post after Chloe Luthringshausen and Siobhan Klinkenberg did the set-up work to help their teammate finish past Benet keeper Claire Munaretto at 14 minutes.
The Redwings drew even at 25 minutes when a Lions hand ball inside the box led to Brittany Pullen converting her spot kick.
“We were unlucky on that play, but it proved to be the turning point in this game today,” Taylor said.
In the final quarter-hour of the first half, the Redwings enjoyed the run of play thanks in part to some dynamic work from Kaiser and Maria Schwabe. The sophomore Kaiser gave the Red Wings the lead for good just before the halftime break when she converted a well-aimed ball from the left side by Sara Riedy into the upper right corner.
Moments later, Kaiser side-footed a nice touch past keeper Morgan Hess on a ball which had fallen free near the spot following Kaite Liber’s corner.
“St. Viator had a few chances to score in that first half, which could have changed things all around, but instead, we did — and Amanda’s 2 late goals turned out to be really big for us,” Wind said.
The Lions took the initiative just after the break and nearly stunned their guests when Klinkenberg sent Lutheringhausen through. But an alert Munaretto raced off her line to challenge the sophomore — and her quick response may have persuaded the striker to shoot sooner than she would have liked. Her attempt lacked enough pace to get to over the end line and allowed Colleen Lewellyan to clear the area of danger.
Four minutes later, the Redwings put a dagger into the hearts of the Lions’ faithful when Rachel Lovely put a superb ball over the top and onto the foot of Jamei Borges, who finished in sensational style.
Munaretto turned away Katherine Petrovich, then Skala after a nice 1-2 combination with Katie Gavin.
The Redwings completed the scoring in the 68th minute when Meaghan O’Hara delivered a shot past keeper Melissa Stawicki, whom Taylor brought on for Hess at 52 minutes.
“St. Viator is one of biggest rivals year after year, and we really wanted to come here today and play well and beat them — so it felt good to do so,” said Schwabe, a co-captain with fellow defender Kelly Diedrich, Pullen and Katie Kaufman.
Benet completes its regular ESCC schedule today against Providence Catholic, while the Lions close on the road Wednesday at Marist.