Soccer Recaps from Superfans

Glenbard West Boys' Soccer

West: 2, Leyden: 1

Wednesday, Sept. 28: The Glenbard West Boys' Soccer team won 2-1 against Leyden. The first goal was by Zach Venzon, an unassisted goal in the first half. The second goal came in the second half by Brendan Loftus off of a corner kick from Zach Venzon. Our goal keeper, Zach Watson, had several key saves to help us keep our lead.  The boys next game is Tuesday, Oct. 4th at Memorial Field against Downers Grove North.

West: 2, York: 1

Tuesday, Sept. 27: Glenbard West Boys' Soccer 2-1 against the York HS Dukes.

West: 5, Oak Park-River Forest: 4

Thursday, Sept. 22: Glenbard West beat 8th ranked (by the Chicago Tribune) Oak Park River-Forest High School. It was a hard fought game by both teams. After regulation time the score was 0-0. 

Two, over-time periods were played and the score was still 0-0. The game went to penalty kicks, best of five.

Glenbard West won 5-4.

The penalty kicks were taken by Brendan Loftus, Andrew O'Connell, Zach Venzon, Gonzallo Villa, and Ruslan Seyfulov.  

It was a great game!  

That is the second time that Glenbard West has won against a top ten team.

West: 1, Proviso West: 3

Tuesday, Sept. 20: A hard loss at Proviso West on Tuesday. 

Joseph Zaccaria had a second half goal, our only goal of the game.  It came off of a corner kick by Ruslan Seyfulov to Joseph Zaccaria.  

West: 1, Addison Trail: 0

Saturday, Sept. 17: Glenbard West boys' soccer won again on Saturday 1-0 against Addison Trail High School.  

The only goal of the game was by Brendan Loftus, a penalty kick late in the second half.  

Glenbard West was able to play a strong defensive game for the remaining minutes to secure a victory over Addison Trail.  

Zach Watson, our goalkeeper, played incredibly well with several key saves.

That is the fourth consecutive win for Glenbard West.  The next game is on Tuesday AT Proviso West High School. 

West: 2, Willowbrook: 1

Wednesday, Sept. 14: We beat Willowbrook tonight 2-1. The first goal was by forward Shawn Herrera (assisted by forward, Nathan Hall).  The second goal was by midfielder Ruslan Seyfulov.  We will host Addison Trail on Saturday at 1:30 on Memorial Field in Glen Ellyn right across from the high school.

Benet Academy Boys' Varsity Soccer

Benet: 5, Joliet Catholic: 1

Saturday, Sept. 24th: The Benet Academy Redwings (7-3-1, 3-0 ESCC) defeated Joliet Catholic Hilltoppers 5-1 on Saturday, Sept. 24 in their third East Suburban Catholic Conference soccer match. The Redwings came out strong with three quick goals in the first ten minutes of play. Hunter Miller, a senior forward from Aurora, was the first to score for Benet with 32:10 remaining in the first half. Less then one minute later, Miller increased that lead to two, scoring from a difficult angle on the right. Junior Alex Senak of Glen Ellyn, added another goal for Benet after getting taken down in the box and scoring on a penalty kick. Senior Benjamin Kucera of Burr Ridge and Kyle Dal Santo of Bolingbrook also scored for the Redwings. Joliet Catholic put one on the board after Cody Vercellotti scored on a looper over the goalie with 14:54 minutes remaining in the second half. “It was great to see the team come out strong today,” added Benet coach Sean Wesley. “The whole team played well. Offensively, we are creating more scoring opportunities and our defense did a great job limiting Joliet Catholic’s scoring chances.” Senior Thomas Sullivan of Naperville was in goal for Benet and had three saves. Joliet Catholic had two saves. The Redwings have gone unbeaten in their last six games. They hope to extend that lead to seven as they face a strong Metea Valley team in Lisle at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.

Benet: 1, Carmel Catholic (Mundelein): 0  

Monday, Sept. 12: The Benet Academy Redwings defeated the Carmel Catholic Corsairs 1-0 in Mundelein on Monday, Sept. 12. This was the first conference game for Benet. Carmel played a great possession game during the first half, but failed to create any real scoring opportunities. Benet gained momentum in the second half after some offensive adjustments, which included moving senior Benjamin Kucera up top. With 15:48 minutes remaining in the second half, senior Hunter Miller laid a nice ball to Kucera over the Carmel defenders. Kucera executed a nice pull back move leaving the goalie off balance and allowing for an easy tap in shot.  According to Benet coach Sean Wesley, "The team played well. While we didn't keep possession well in the first half, we settled down in the second, held the ball well, and played with good spacing." Wesley added, "Moving Kucera up top made us more dangerous offensively."

Benet registered five shots on goal for the game while Carmel Catholic had three shots. Benet keeper, Kyle Dal Santo (Jr), had three saves while senior Steve Sliwa had four saves for Carmel. 



Benet: 3, Notre Dame (Niles): 0

Wednesday, Sept. 14: The Benet Academy Redwings defeated the Notre Dame Dons 3-0. Benet came out strong with three goals in the first eight minutes of play. The Redwings are now 2-0 in the East Suburban Catholic Conference. 

Benet senior Benjamin Kucera netted the first goal just three minutes into the first half off a cross from Junior Joey Chiariello. With 33 minutes remaining, senior Hunter Miller delivered a nice left-footed cross to Senior Patrick Nemetz who fired on the goal. Less then one minute later, it was Miller who scored on a nice drive up the middle. Kucera had the assist.

"The team played very well. We started the game extremely strong and played one of the better stretches of soccer we've played this year," said Benet varsity coach Sean Wesley. "There were many great combinations and connections. The goal by Nemetz was one of the best goals we've had this year." 

Benet registered fourteen shots on goal for the game while Notre Dame had six shots. Senior Benet keeper, Thomas Sullivan played goal for Benet in the second half and had all six saves. Notre Dame had eleven saves.  

The Redwings also proved they have depth. The early lead gave other players an opportunity in the spotlight and Coach Wesley was pleased with what he saw. "Thomas Sullivan did a great job in goal the second half," commented Wesley. "He had a lot of big saves and didn't give up any rebounds. Jon Markert, another senior, played the best I've ever seen him play. And junior Alex Senak of Glen Ellyn is another player just getting into stride here with us. He really stood out today." 

Benet (Lisle): 1, Metea Valley High School: 0

Monday, Sept. 26: Benet Academy (8-3-1) pulled off a last minute win over Metea Valley High School (5-5-3) on Monday afternoon. The goal was scored by junior Joey Chiariello (Darien) with less than two minutes remaining in the game. Chiarello scored on a corner kick sent in to play by senior Hunter Miller of Aurora.
 
Both teams played hard, but the Redwings ultimately out shot the Mustangs 17-9. They also dominated with shots on frame (9-4) that came mostly from set pieces.

Senior Derek Carothers was in goal for Metea and had eight saves. Junior Kyle Dal Santo of Bolingbrook was in goal for Benet and had four saves. Both goalies took an active part in keeping their teams alive today with some outstanding stops.
 
The Benet-Metea game is important for sectional seedings. For Benet, they have maintained a five game winning streak, suffering early season losses to Naperville North and Neuqua Valley. The Mustangs had a nice performance in the Pepsi Showdown making it to the semifinals where they eventually lost 2-1 to Lyons in double OT.  Metea also started the season with an impressive 4-0-2 start, but has suffered recent losses to teams such as Neuqua, Lake Park, and South Elgin.

The Redwings, now 8-3-1 (3-0 ESCC), will play Marist on their home turf on Wednesday, September 28th at 6:30 pm. Both teams are undefeated in the East Suburban Catholic Conference.