Benet won its 18th East Suburban Catholic Conference title after its 5-2 victory Wednesday afternoon in Lisle at the Redwings soccer park over visiting St. Viator.

The Redwings stunned the Lions with two goals in the first six minutes, then tripled their advantage when Brian Mietus bagged his double to send the Redwings (10-3-1, 7-0-1,-22 points) on their way to their ninth solo title in program history.

“This team has worked hard from the very start of the season (and) been able to overcome a lot of injuries to win another conference championship,” said four-year star Mateo Picha, who created several opportunities for his teammates, now undefeated in their last eight games.

“Brian gave us a big lift with his early goal, and when we went up 2-0 a little while later, it seemed to put them (St. Viator) on their heels,” added Picha.

“That obviously was not the way we wanted to start,” said St. Viator coach Byron DeLeon, who is responsible for a remarkable turnaround for the Lions, 3-18-0 a year ago.

“(This) team has a nice mix of young and experienced players who really believe in themselves, and each other. (I’m glad) to see how their hard work and commitment to being better has led to us having the type of year we’ve had so far.”

The loss puts the Lions at 10-4-1 overall, 4-1-1-in the ESCC. They are the No. 1 seed in the 2A sectional at Grayslake Central.

“(Viator) is such an improved team from a year ago. They have some very good players, and I believe will be a real force in the 2A postseason when it begins,” said Redwings coach Matt Klosterman.

“(Brian) Mietus gave us a great start, and it really helped set the tone for the rest of the game. I am really proud of the effort the guys gave today, and all throughout a season that we’ve had to battle so many injuries.”

Mietus found himself at the right place at the right time in order to steer in the opener just 60 seconds into this contest, then watched Sergio Polanco net his 14th of the season with a lovely touch to the back post.

“It all happened so fast. The ball was at my foot, and their keeper really had no chance on my shot from in close,” said Mietus.

The Redwings’ big forward was near the spot when Polanco sent a ball into the box, ready once again to finish in the 19th minute to make it 3-0, which stood when the intermission came.

“It was a very physical first half, and we didn’t deal with that very well. But we came out strong in the second half to score early, but just couldn’t find the back of the net until after they scored a couple more,” said DeLeon.

Juan Vargas pulled one back for the Lions at 43 minutes, but the Redwings answered quickly when Ryan Benka unloaded an unstoppable 20-yard effort in the 65th minute.

Picha made it 5-1 eight minutes later after he carried to his right, then fired in from 22 yards.

Sophomore Owen DeBruyne added one more into the Lions scorebook five minutes from time.

The Redwings have shared nine other ESCC trophies, one of which came back in 2013 when they shared the crown with St. Viator.

Benet is away at Belvidere North on Saturday for a nonconference game, while the Lions host league rival Joliet Catholic Academy Saturday morning.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251008/boys-soccer/boys-soccer-benet-scores-early-clinches-another-escc-title-by-beating-st-viator/