Benet Suffers Loss to St. Viator

The Benet Academy Redwings lost 2-1 to Saint Viator on Friday afternoon at Celtic Field in Palatine.  While Benet Academy created more scoring opportunities (16-9) and outshot their opponents 6-5 on goal, it was the Viator squad that managed to score two goals in the final seven minutes of play. 

The win allows the St. Viator Lions a share of the East Suburban Catholic Conference championship title along with Benet and Carmel.  All three teams went 7-1 in conference. 

Benet put a lot of pressure on the Viator defense in the first half.  In the 30^th minute, sophomore Sam Knapke maneuvered past several Lion midfielders on the right side before sending a long pass to junior Alex Senak in the middle. Senak posted the first goal of the game after drilling the ball top left.   

The talented Benet squad appeared tired as the game wore on and with seven minutes remaining in the game, Viator junior Troy Wheeler found Spencer Moore (So) inside the 6-yard box who headed the ball in the back of the net.

Viator now had the momentum and with only three minutes remaining in the game, senior Adam Fetter was able to tap in Kevin Patzke’s (Sr) initial shot that hit the post and ricocheted around the goal area. 

"We had a solid first half, but we didn't manage our lead well and gave away two goals and the outright conference title," said Benet coach Sean Wesley.  “This is a valuable lesson as to what can happen when we’re not playing a full 80 minutes of soccer. This is a very talented team that can go far, but we need to pull all the elements together in the final stretch.”

Both teams begin tournament play next week.  The Lions will face the Stevenson Patriots on Wednesday.   Benet faces Waubonsie Valley in their regional opener on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.  

Photograph: Junior James Colletti of Benet Academy fights for the ball at midfield during their ESCC match against St. Viator on October 15th at Celtic Park in Palatine.  Viator defeated Benet 2-1.