Downers North forces late tie with Benet

By Curt Herron

Even though it played well enough to win, that wasn't going to happen in the late going for Downers Grove North in Tuesday's season opener at Benet Academy.

Entering the final moments of play, the Trojans appeared as if they would suffer a 1-0 loss to a Redwings squad that hadn't had a shot on goal in the second half.

But Downers North's persistence throughout the final half of the nonconference match finally paid off, and it did so with very little time to spare.

The Trojans got the equalizer with just 16 seconds remaining and that helped them walk away a whole lot happier after settling for a 1-1 tie in Lisle.

Freshman A.J. Jeffries was the hero for the Trojans (0-0-1), taking a pass from senior Ben Stein to get off a pair of shots during the final moments.

His first attempt was deflected by Benet keeper Alex Senetar but he corralled the loose ball and put it away from close range to give him a memorable initial goal.

The late-game excitement allowed for Trojans coach Brian Gervase and his squad to walk away with a good feeling about their initial appearance of the campaign.

And it also established a good barometer for North, which saw its season end a year ago by a 5-0 margin at the hands of the Redwings.

"We know that we're going to have to score goals as a team all season," Gervase said. "I don't think we deserved to lose this and we're not walking away with a loss so that's a good thing.

"I don't think that Benet had a shot on goal in the second half, which is what we've been working really hard on with our defense. They only scored a solid goal on a real nice corner play.

"We need to be a little quicker on our shots and I thought that we held the ball a little too long some times. But for the most part, I thought this was a pretty good first match for us."

While the Redwings (0-0-1) didn't do much offensively after the break, they kept the pressure on Trojans keeper Blayne Munar during the early stages of the match.

After North's Thomas Budnik was stopped on the first good shot attempt, Benet got off a series of good tries which ultimately culminated in the first score.

Midway through the first half, John Bagnuolo sent a corner in front of the net and Connor Miller was perfectly positioned to head the ball in for the goal.

While Benet enjoyed the upper hand in the first half, it was a different story after the break as the Trojans shut down the hosts and began attacking.

Paul Hogan had the first good chance with a free kick and Matt Weiss later got off the first serious threat, when his line drive was deflected away.

"At halftime we were kind of bummed since we were down 1-0," Hogan said. "But right before we went back out there we said that we just needed to have some confidence and we'd find a goal.

"At the end we just kept plugging away and said that we'd get one and sure enough it came. We worked hard in the offseason so it's good to see that it's already starting to pay off."

With about 15 minutes remaining, Jeffries got tripped up just outside of the box, but Neil Corcoran's free kick was halted by Benet's wall.

Stein got off a good attempt with about 10 minutes remaining but it was deflected away, resulting in the second of two corners by Jeffries.

The Trojans nearly connected with just over a minute to go when Justin Pickering sent a pass to Weiss, but the ball glanced off him just wide of the net.

With time running out, North made one last spirited attempt to force a tie and it paid off when Jeffries stunned the Redwings with the late score.

"We're happy about having a freshman get that goal," Pickering said. "We just worked really hard and our team just didn't give up. I didn't want to see all of that hard work go to waste.

"Last year we lost 5-0 to these guys so it's good to come out of here with a tie. We've got a good group of guys so I think that we're going to do pretty well this season."

Trojans player of the match: A.J. Jeffries

By Curt Herron

A.J. Jeffries will likely go on to score many more goals during his soccer career at Downers Grove North.

But it's a good bet that few will be as exciting as his first goal that he collected in Tuesday's opener at Benet Academy.

The Trojans freshman capped off his initial high school match by connecting with just 16 remaining in the contest.

As a result of his second-effort tally, Downers North managed to walk away with a 1-1 draw with the Redwings in Lisle.

Downers North had the better of the play offensively in the second half but looked like it still might come up short.

But the freshman made sure that didn't happen and for his efforts, he's North's westsuburbansoccer.com player of the match.

Jeffries was a big part of the revitalized Trojans offensive surge in the second half that paid off with the late score.

After getting an initial effort stopped by Redwings keeper Alex Senetar, Jeffries managed to put the loose ball into the net.

"It's a pretty amazing feeling," Jeffries said of his late tally. "Ben (Stein) flicked it off and then I had my first shot blocked by the keeper but I got to it and it rolled in.

"We had a lot of good chances to score so it would have been pretty bad if we had lost. I don't know about last year, but I think we have a pretty good team this season.

"We have a really good group of upperclassmen and they've welcomed me and the other freshmen."