Boys soccer: Benet blanks St. Viator

Benet Academy's mastery over St. Viator continued Monday afternoon in Lisle when the Redwings earned a 3-0 boys soccer victory over their longtime East Suburban Catholic Conference rival.

Nick Roe and Hans Haenicke each bagged first-half goals, thanks in part to a strong wind at their back that allowed the home side to enjoy most of the possession during the first period.

"We were careful not to play the ball over the top with the wind at our backs in the first half. Instead we worked the ball around, and played as a team and the way we wanted to in order to control the game," said Benet senior Anthony Klos.

Benet (7-1-1, 5-0-0) won for the fifth consecutive time over the Lions.

The freshman Roe finished a brilliant helper from Haenicke, who roared up the left side before playing a ball to Roe, who finished easily in the 4th minute.

Haenicke doubled the Redwings' advantage at 28 minutes after beating his defender with trickery to get free long enough to send his angled effort into the far right corner of the Lions' (3-2-1, 2-1-1) goal.

"Benet is such a good team. They play a lot of combination through their midfield, and they have a very talented roster. That's one of the reasons they were the (Class) 2A state champions last year," said Viator goalie Matt Marchiori, who was a Daily Herald All-Area selection a year ago.

"I thought we fought hard all throughout the game and the effort was there from the guys, which is something I was very proud of."

The Lions played a man down for nearly one hour after a straight red card was given following a tackle of Roe.

Marchiori would keep his team in the game in the second half with a handful of goal-saving stops but the Lions' captain was unable to turn away a Nico Picha goal in the 52nd minute.

"We did well playing into the wind in the second half. We played smart along the back, and managed the game as best as we could to get the win," said Benet senior Zach Serafin.

The Redwings are on the road Saturday at Marian Catholic, while the Lions play Carmel Catholic on Wednesday.