Benet‘s girls soccer team used its speed to subdue Oswego on Tuesday night in a Class 3A Naperville Central Sectional semifinal.
The fleet-footed Redwings got two over the line in the first half, then had to hold off a spirited, lay-it-all-on-the-line effort by the Panthers in the second half to score a 2-0 victory.
Third-seeded Benet will now move on to face top-seeded host Naperville Central on Friday at 6 p.m. in the sectional final.
“We were really amped (early on),” said Redwings senior goalkeeper Giada McGlynn, one of the Benet captains. “Emotions were high. Once we settled in the back, we communicated.”
“This is awesome,” she added. “This is the furthest I’ve gone in the playoffs personally, and the furthest we’ve gone in 3A. We’re looking forward to Friday.”
Oswego by far had the better opportunities in the second half, but couldn’t get one past McGlynn.
“We were telling the girls (in the post-match huddle) how proud we are of them,” said Panthers coach Gaspar Arias. “They came out really strong after intermission, used the energy and had a lot of chances, and I’m surprised we didn’t get one or two in.”
Benet’s Ivana Vukas scored the opening goal in the eighth minute off a nice feed from teammate Preslie Petersen. Then Sahana Raju doubled the lead in the 18th minute, assist to Ashley Polanco.
Oswego came out firing in the second half led by sophomore Mane Brolley. Brolley sent three terrific volleys toward the Benet goal in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza — two were saved by McGlynn, and the other attempt was knocked away on a great defensive play from Megan Bergman of the Redwings.
Then in the 70th minute, McGlynn made the save of the game and maybe the season. She stopped a point-blank rocket from Panthers senior striker Jordyn Washington to keep Oswego (19-2-3) off the scoreboard.
“I just made sure, I didn’t want to come off my line,” said McGlynn of the save. “I knew my defense had it covered from up there. I just waited for the shot and it came to me, a little sideways, (and I blocked it away.)
“In the second half we were just trying to stay defensive and relaxed.”
Benet (19-2-0) coach Gerard Oconer said it’s a big plus for his team to have a goalie like McGlynn on their side.
“When we needed her to make the saves, she came up huge for us,” said the coach. “That’s going to help us to advance, for our goalkeeper to make the saves when she needs to.”
Oconer added that he was proud of his team for standing firm in the face of the Oswego challenge in the second half.
“The first 10, 15 minutes, it was all about weathering the storm,” he said. “We were able to do that and get some important clearances and fight for every 50/50 ball. That’s what it takes to beat a good team like Oswego.”
In the first sectional semifinal of the evening, Naperville Central swept past Plainfield North 3-0. Natalie Liesch scored twice for the Redhawks, while Emerson Burke also tallied for NC.
The numbers this season are pretty staggering for the Redhawks. They’re now 19-0-1 on the year, have posted 15 shutouts in 20 matches and have outscored their opponents 100-8.
“This win shows we have confidence, we’re going to come out and fight in the next game (against Benet), because we really want to win state,” said Liesch. “We have a really good connection here with this group of girls, and that’s an attribute for this team. I feel like everybody on this team plays a big role, it’s not just an, ‘I score, so you score’ (situation). We all have good chemistry.”
Teammate Paige Connelly added that the first goal, scored by Burke in the 26th minute, gave her side a big spark. Connelly had the assist on the play.
“We wanted to get one early, in the first five or 10 minutes,” she said. “When that didn’t happen, it was extremely important for us to get the momentum (on the goal by Burke) and keep the energy going.”
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260526/girls-soccer/girls-soccer-benet-naperville-central-advance-to-sectional-final/