Kucera, Benet defeat Naperville Central
Benet’s No. 10 made sure the Redwings got their 10th straight victory.
Senior Ben Kucera punched in a penalty kick with just over 20 minutes left in the game to give Benet a 2-0 chokehold in a contest between two of the top teams in the state. The Redwings notched the 2-0 victory, thanks in large part to a stingy Benet defense.
“I really wanted to take that shot,” Kucera said. “I was fortunate to hit it down the middle. It was a fantastic feeling for not only me, but I’m sure the whole team as well.”
Naperville Central coach Troy Adams talked to his team about playing a full 80 minutes of soccer. Despite dominating the second half, Adams felt a better first-half effort would have yielded a fortuitous result for the Redhawks.
“To be honest it’s the age-old story of not taking advantage,” Adams said. “There were a couple opportunities we should have put away. Give them credit, they took advantage of their opportunities. They played inspired soccer in the first half, and we just went through the motions. You cannot come out and just go through the motions. That’s a thing we’ve been telling them a lot.”
Benet opened the scoring with a quick goal at the third minute of the first half. Junior Alex Senak booted a ball out of midair, placing it in the right corner of the net. Both teams played tight defense for the rest of the half, but both had their respective chances.
Naperville Central found the Benet defense stifling, and perhaps its best chance with 6:52 left in the half. Redhawks junior Pat Flynn rocketed a shot that was deflected to the right of the crossbar by Benet goalie Kyle DalSanto.
The save was one of many DalSanto made during the afternoon.
“We worked hard for most of the game,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “But it wasn’t our best soccer game. We got a good goal from Alex in the beginning, but we made a few things dangerous today.”
The second half was dominated by Naperville Central (13-3), but the Redhawks were unable to break through. Although the Redhawks outshot Benet 14-9, it was timely saves by DalSanto and sure defense by Benet (13-3-1). The Redhawks had a great opportunity on a free kick with 20 minutes left in the game, but Benet senior Dan Coleman deflected the shot to the left sideline. Naperville Central captain Sean Stevens whistled a shot to the right of the Benet net with 18 minutes left in the game.
DalSanto came to the rescue twice in the final 10 minutes, making a sliding save to halt a goal with 8:06 left, and then punching perhaps the best Redhawks chance over the crossbar and out of play with 4:49 left. Benet may have been playing defense more, but they were not without its chances.
Senak and senior Patrick Nemetz missed on a couple close plays to build a larger lead, but it was the defense’s day as Benet made its last home game the 10th win in a row.
“We’ve realized that if you’re going to make it in the playoffs, you’re going to need some momentum,” Kucera said.