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Boys soccer: Benet rolls by short-handed Carmel

Hans Haenicke netted his first haul and Benet had a lot of fun in the rain, beating up on short-handed Carmel, 8-2, in Thursday afternoon's East Suburban Catholic Conference boys soccer game in Lisle.

Haenicke, who has been tearing up opponents all season long, scored 3 goals in the first half and added another in the opening minute of the second half. He has now scored 13 goals in his last 7 games.

"This week has been a good week," he said. "It's been challenging. We've had some tough games, lots of practice and stuff. This was a nice win, but we still have to go out and finish off the season."

Benet (10-1-0, 8-0-0) is in the driver's seat in the ESCC with one game remaining next Monday against second-place Notre Dame.

"It was totally random that it worked out that way on the schedule, but it gives the boys something to play for, finally a trophy in a season like this," Redwings coach Sean Wesley said. "It's funny, normally our rival is St. Viator and we play them at the end of the year, but this season was just so messed up that we couldn't make the schedule work out that way and now it really worked out."

It didn't take Benet long to jump on Carmel as Brandon Forsythe lofted a pass to Preston Wray who crossed it to the dynamic Haenicke who finished it not even five minutes into the action.

"He was on fire tonight," Wesley said. "It's been hard for us to find goals and maybe some of our results don't really reflect that. But early in games when we think we're playing good we feel like we've wasted a lot of chances and Hans has been the guy this year who has really stepped up and scored and put teams away. He's so dynamic out wide. He just gets into the goal every game we play."

Sophomore Nico Picha added a pair of goals and 2 assists for the Redwings while Forsythe and Sam Hepburn also scored.

"Nico is a special talent," Wesley said. "With the ball, he's dynamic."

Wray and John Kolb each added a pair of assists while Hepburn and Daniel Pepping also had assists.

Carmel, which became the first team to score twice on the Redwings since Naperville North did it on Sept. 7, 2019, received goals from Nolan Graham and Eric Miller, but they came after the Corsairs found themselves down 5-0 with 36:27 still to play.

The Corsairs only had 15 players suit up, which included 5 recent JV call-ups.

"It's been a long week and we've had a bunch of players out of town for spring break and a lot of seniors took their trip and missed at least a week and we've got others on a retreat for school," Graham said. "We don't have a lot of chemistry going because there are a bunch of new kids to the program. Everything is just a blur."

  Benet's Preston Wray, left, and Carmel's Riley Pierson battle in front of the Carmel's goal during boys soccer Thursday April 8, 2021 in Lisle. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  Benet's Jared Plummer (15) battles Carmel's Garrett Long (15) for control of the ball during boys soccer Thursday April 8, 2021 in Lisle. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  Benet's Samuel Hepburn (8) and Carmel's Nate Cordova (7) during boys soccer Thursday April 8, 2021 in Lisle. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  Benet's Hans Haenicke (25) celebrates a goal with Preston Wray (21) during boys soccer Thursday April 8, 2021 in Lisle. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  Benet's Preston Wray (21) attempts to score a goal as Carmel's Erik Miller (25) defends his goal during boys soccer Thursday April 8, 2021 in Lisle. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  Benet's Hans Haenicke (25) pressures Carmel's 13 during boys soccer Thursday April 8, 2021 in Lisle. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  Benet's Daniel Pepping (23) passes to his teammate Jared Plummer (15) as Carmel's Nate Cordova (7) Sandro Pineda (4) Riley Pierson (5) put pressure on during boys soccer Thursday April 8, 2021 in Lisle. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  Benet's Samuel Hepburn (8) tries to the keep the ball inbounds as Carmel's Sandro Pineda (4) pressures him during boys soccer Thursday April 8, 2021 in Lisle. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  Carmel's Time Harvey (1) knocks the ball away as Carmel's Aidan Fendal (3) and Benet's Zach Serafin (19) battle for control of a corner kick during boys soccer Thursday April 8, 2021 in Lisle. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  Benet's Zach Serafin (19) and Carmel's Nate Cordova (7) during boys soccer Thursday April 8, 2021 in Lisle. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
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