Benet steamrolls Marian in ESCC opener

By Gary Larsen

Nothing puts the brakes on a losing streak better than lighting up the scoreboard while posting a shutout.

A few stern words from your coach never hurt, either.

“It’s one or two-touch soccer or come and have a seat on the bench,” said Benet coach Henry Wind. “Today we took what they gave us instead of trying to force it.”

After starting the season at 2-0-1 but then dropping three consecutive matches, Benet worked out some kinks in its attack with a 7-0 win over visiting ESCC foe Marian Catholic in Lisle.

“After the Naperville Central game (a 4-1 loss) we kind of got shocked into playing better,” said Benet senior George Elliot. “I think we found some (chemistry) today.”

Elliot assisted on his squad’s first two goals early in the game, and the Redwings were off and running. The win upped their season mark to 3-3-1 and gave them a win in their first conference game of the year.

The time remaining in the contest was cut in half in the second half, once Joe Menconi netted Benet’s seventh goal. The Redwings got a hat-trick from Sean O’Hara, two goals from Brian Morefield, and a goal apiece from Sean Mogan.

After tying Downers Grove North and posting wins over Waubonsie Valley and Lincoln-Way Central to start the year, Benet struggled against top competition.

There’s certainly no shame in losing to top-ranked Neuqua Valley, Naperville North, and Naperville Central. It’s the way Benet dropped those three games that was hard for the Redwings to digest.

“We got cocky,” O’Hara said. “And we didn’t play to our ability.”

Benet was outscored 11 to 4 during the slide, and came out against Marian ready to start sorting out its attack. Elliot found himself starting up top for the first time this season and the move paid off quickly when he centered a ball to the middle of the penalty area early in the contest..

Morefield toe-poked Elliot's feed into net and Benet was off and running. Elliot found Mogan before ten minutes had ticked off the clock and Mogan buried it to make it 2-0.

“Having George (Elliot) and (Sean) Mogan up front, gives us a little more flexibility,” Wind said.

The Redwings showed early against Marian that they’d learned a lesson from their recent rough patch.

“There was too much one-on-one,” Wind said. “We work on one-on-one stuff and that’s fine in the attack, but not in the back and in the middle.”

Morefield struck a second time soon thereafter, bodying home a goal after a play started by a Benet corner kick. The junior also scored a goal versus Naperville Central.

“Morefield is playing well on the outside at midfield,” Wind said. “He didn’t play a lot at the beginning of the year but he kept bugging me to get in.”

“He plays with a lot of heart, a lot of hustle, and he just runs and runs. A lot of guys don’t know when to make their runs but he’s making good ones.”

From there to halftime, O’Hara showed grit in battling his way to three goals, giving Benet a 6-0 halftime lead.

“Sean O’Hara has been hurt a little and we missed him in the last game,” Wind said. “He brings speed, determination, and feistiness. He’s just a pain in the butt for our opponents. He gets in there and he fights.”

When Menconi scored early in the second half, time remaining was halved per IHSA rules and victory for Benet came quickly.

“A game like this helps us figure out how we can play. We can make runs and figure out what people are best suited for,” Mogan said. “We’re still trying to find where we play best.”

Wind was pleased with Elliot’s ability to create up top, and heaped some praise on one of the boys in back after the win.

“I thought Matt Stopka, our outside marking back, did a real nice job,” Wind said. “He made good overlapping runs and he was back on defense. He got it done today.”

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Starters vs. Marian Catholic