Morefield's big effort carries Benet past St. Viator

It was both captivating and nerve-wracking, and in the end, for Benet Academy's boys soccer team, it was also exhilarating.

Daniel Morefield's third goal ended the day in thrilling fashion in favor of the Redwings, who defeated host St. Viator 3-2 in overtime to grab a share of the East Suburban Catholic Conference crown along with Carmel.

Morefield's spectacular 90th-minute strike at Celtic Park in Palatine stunned the Lions, who entered the match knowing a win would make thm ESCC co-champions.

"This is my third year with the varsity, and each year on the final Friday of the season, we're always playing this type of game with St. Viator to see who either wins the ESCC outright, or shares (it) with each other, or with Carmel," said Morefield, who was mobbed by his teammates after unloading his 20-yard angled shot, which pinged off the far post and made it over the end line just seconds before the center official whistled the match over.

"It was wild and crazy, to say the least," said Benet coach Sean Wesley. "There was a little bit of everything today - a couple of PK calls against us, one of which we didn't agree with, and plenty of up-and-down play for 80 minutes. But in the end, we overcame a terrible start to get a big win and a well-earned piece of the ESCC title."

As good as the Lions (13-10-0, 7-2-0) were in the opening half-hour behind a gung-ho attacking approach inspired by Anthony Pineda and a hard-working midfield, they were equally frustrated in the last few minutes before intermission, which ultimately forced coach Mike Taylor's team to chase a game they appeared to have well in hand.

"We dominated the first 30, 35 minutes, but as we have on several occasions this season, we didn't finish out the half and manage the game," said Taylor. "And we found ourselves in trouble when we shouldn't have been."

A hand ball in the box, which the Lions contended should have resulted in a red card to reduce the Redwings to 10 players, led to a PK conversion from Pineda at 22 minutes.

Benet (14-4-1, 8-1-0) fired back with two goals from Morefield, the first coming in the 38th minute, then another less than sixty seconds later as the senior finished a lovely ball from Jacob Graiber.

The second period began with some lackluster play as the pace appeared to have settled down. But the Lions were awarded a second PK in the 50th minute to draw them even as Miles McDonnell drove in his spot kick.

Keepers Konrad Bayer of Benet and Kevin Napoleon from St. Viator each came up with superb stops to keep things level. Napoleon denied Morefield, while Bayer persuaded a McDonnell free kick up and over the bar.

Both five-minute extra sessions saw little in the way of quality chances until Morefield broke free of his mark and steered home his decisive goal.

"A game like this is the reason these guys play high school soccer," Wesley said. "It was a good game, and for us, a terrific way to end the regular season."