Girls soccer: Benet breaks school record for wins
Jackie Schuman's name doesn't often show up in the box score.
But that's OK with the Benet senior. She's perfectly comfortable with making opposing players uncomfortable.
Schuman has been the unheralded linchpin of Benet's midfield this season, so her 2 goals and 2 assists do not accurately account for what she means to the Redwings.
But Schuman got a moment in the spotlight on Tuesday when she capped the scoring with a brilliant individual effort as the top-seeded Redwings knocked off Nazareth 3-0 in the Class 2A Hinsdale South sectional semifinals.
"It felt really good, especially because Naz is one of our biggest rivals and we had a really tough conference game against them," Schuman said. "It's always really scrappy on both sides when we play them."
Benet (19-3-1), which broke its school record for wins, led 2-0 when Schuman scrapped her way to her second goal of the season with 7:07 left in the second half. She bulled her way past a couple of defenders into the box before firing a left-footed shot at point-blank range.
Nazareth goalkeeper Sarah Blair made a diving save, but Schuman corralled the rebound and sent a turnaround shot underneath Blair.
"I just muscled my way through," Schuman said. "It happened really fast. I just remember I had it and it redirected and then it would come back to me, then I just pushed my way through."
Schuman continued to push even after Blair's big save.
"She bobbled it because it was such a short distance between us and I cut it back," Schuman said. "Then I was facing the opposite way of the goal and then I shot it behind me."
It was a rare moment of glory for Schuman, whose main role is to stop opposing teams' attacks before they get started. But Benet coach Gerard Oconer wasn't surprised at Schuman's determination on the play.
"That's what Jackie does for us," Oconer said. "She wins all the balls in the middle.
"She's able to drive at defenders with the ball, make them commit (which allows us) to open up people, so she just does a lot of the dirty work in the middle.
"That's why it's been so tough to break us down because she wins so much in there and she covers so much ground."
The fourth-seeded Roadrunners (13-12) had lost 3-2 to the Redwings in East Suburban Catholic Conference play. They battled Benet for every ball but were not able to get a shot off as the Redwings recorded their 15th shutout.
"We knew it wasn't going to be easy," Oconer said. "This is obviously a big conference rival, so we knew it was going to be physical and they were going to test our mental capacities and just make it difficult for us."
But Mia Tommasone scored on a breakaway at the 30:37 mark of the first half, which allowed the Redwings to relax. They broke through again with 29:09 left in the second half thanks to brilliant teamwork from seniors Maddie Becker and Erin Flynn.
Becker got the ball at the top of the box and back-heeled a no-look pass to her left to Flynn, who timed her break perfectly and roofed a one-timer over Blair.
"I'm used to playing with her because we together on club, too, so we're used to that play and I just one-touch finished it," Flynn said. "I saw the opening and took it."
The Redwings will vie for their first sectional championship since 2012 and fourth in the 28-year history of their program on Friday against St. Ignatius, a 3-2 victor against Glenbard South.
"We're really looking forward to it," Flynn said. "We just set the school record for wins, so that's big for us. We're going to work hard over the next couple days in practice."