Benet Soccer Breathes Sigh of Relief After Win

Facing the prospect of its season ending if it could not manage a win Tuesday, Benet's boys soccer team stayed true to its season-long strategy.

In Tuesday's Class 3A Naperville Central Regional semifinals against Batavia, the Redwings put their best players in position to score and peppered the net all night.

"We wanted to win," Benet coach Sean Wesley said. "I don't think it would have suited our personality to play for a tie and hope things happen. We threw everything we had at them."

In the end, that proved to be enough. Brian Morefield scored with 7:08 left in the match to lift sixth-seeded Benet over No. 11 seed Batavia, 1-0, and set up a rematch with No. 3 seed Naperville Central for the regional title Saturday at 2 p.m. Central topped Benet, 1-0, on that field earlier in the season.

"We live to see another day," Morefield said. "It was a huge relief. These games like this, even if you are dominating the game, you could have one unlucky play where the ball bounces their way and that's the season."

Benet (11-8-1) nearly had a few goals earlier in the game. Continuing to press forward and flood the box with scoring chances, Benet had two shots hit the crossbar and bounce out with multiple Redwings trailing the play in rebounding position but inexplicably unable to dent the net.

"As a coach, you're holding your breath the whole game," Wesley said. "We put the ball in the box and it didn't look good for a while — two off the bar — but then suddenly something great happens. The one-and-done is a lot of pressure, but that being said, we played to win."

Morefield is normally an outside midfielder for the Redwings, but Wesley wasted no time getting his best players, regardless of position, up top to try to score on Batavia (8-8-5). Morefield found himself in the right spot for the game's lone goal.

"It was played over the top and I knew I had to beat him, and I just found it on my outside foot and got it past him," Morefield said. "I just didn't want my senior season to end with this game."

An exhausted Morefield was reflective after the game, and relished the chance to get back at it with his team on Saturday with a regional title on the line.

"You think back to when you're just out of eighth grade and you're in your first summer camp," Morefield said. "These are my best friends. You never want it to end, and we worked hard today and we're excited to play Central again Saturday."