Benet Academy and Naperville Central boys soccer battle to a draw

Benet Academy boys soccer takes a break from East Suburban play on Tuesday afternoon, hosting nearby Naperville Central in a nonconference tilt of Redwings and Redhawks. Benet enters the day having outscored their last three opponents, 21-1, while Central returns to the pitch for the first time in a week after narrowly losing in double overtime to Metea Valley, 2-1. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.

Nolan Ewanic puts Naperville Central soccer ahead of Benet early on

10 minutes into the contest, Central is throwing in from the corner. After an initial bounce off the head of his teammate, senior Nolan Ewanic slices across his defender and soars up top for the header. 

Benet tries to respond in a hurry, but this shot from Sean Boyle has too soft of a touch, and Redhawk goalkeeper Connor Waite bats it down. 

A few minutes later, a sharp pass sets up a Michael White attack from the right side of the goal but his leftie boot deflects off of Benet’s Jack Kuelthau and out of play. 

Central controls the ball again later on. It’s Ewanic going for his second goal of the night, but again solid defense from the Redwings is on display with senior goalkeeper Patrick Stasch diving to his left for the stop. 

Brendan Bergnach scores 12th goal of the year for Benet Academy boys’ soccer

Now in the second half, Benet’s Brendan Bergnach shimmies by his defender, cuts to the middle and aims for the corner, finding the back of the net to get the Redwings on the board. That’s his team-leading 12th of the year.

Both teams go back and forth vying for the pivotal second goal. Benet’s Ruslan Holubec tries a header of his own but Waite saves it again! 

Central’s Nathan Laird the other way tries to take the lead, but his flashy moves don’t fool sophomore Jack Wesley who shoots it out of bounds. 

After the sun sets, no victor is decided after 80 minutes of regulation. The Redhawks land their third tie of the year, now standing at 10-4-3 while the Redwings are now 8-4-2. Benet returns to conference play at Marian Catholic on October 10th, and Central continues nonconference play against Plainfield South on the 12th.