Boys soccer: Naperville Central's late goal ties Benet
This was the type of game that probably should have ended in a tie, yet when it did, both sides had reason for some disappointment.
Class 2A power Benet Academy came to Naperville Central Tuesday night and left with a 2-2 tie against one of the better 3A programs around.
Both Redwings goals were scored off deflections in front of the Naperville Central goal - one by Andy Nash and the second by forward TJ McVey. The Redhawks, meanwhile, secured the tie after a pretty goal from defender Patrick Bohan, who evened things up at 2-2 with his first varsity goal ever with 5:38 left to play in the nonconference match.
"We came here wanting to win and nothing less," said McVey, who now has 14 goals this season for the 11-4-1 Redwings, who won the Class 2A state title in 2019-20. "We knew it was going to be a tough game. We played our hardest, but it was a tough ending."
Benet opened the night's scoring when a shot by McVey was deflected by Nash past Redhawks keeper Austin Waite with 27:19 left in the first half. Naperville Central (11-6-1) drew even, however, when midfielder Joshua Weigel scored with 13:11 left in the half. Robbie Lloyd-Jones' crossing pass was tipped by a Redwing defender and Weigel pounced on the loose ball and buried the equalizer past Benet goalie Evan Lucas.
The host Redhawks seemed to be getting the better of the play in the second half, only to see McVey notched another deflected goal to put the visitors on top 2-1 with 14:32 left to play. The play started with a free kick by McVey, followed by a teammate's header on goal, and then the ball came back to McVey who used a defender to bank a goal in.
"I got great passes on both of them [scoring chances] and just let it fly," said McVey. "I just put them in a dangerous area [and eventually they went in]."
To the Redhawks' credit, they answered the second goal in fine fashion to pull out the tie. Bohan picked a great time to drive home his first goal, a 22-yard shot in the top left corner.
"I threw it in really deep and it was getting knocked around a bunch and I saw it rolling out nice and slowly for me and I just knew it was my moment," Bohan said. "I had a really nice strike on the ball and I saw it go over. I was actually so shocked it went in. I had like a whole celebration planned. I was super excited."
Benet coach Sean Wesley had no qualms with his team's play and considered the contest a nice tuneup for the impending postseason.
"Their goal, that was a great shot," he said of Bohan's equalizer. "They deserve something out of this game as well. But it was also good for us. We needed a game like this. This was like a playoff game."