Benet shut out

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ARLINGTON HEIGHTS – Henry Wind is looking for players who can finish.

Benet's veteran coach was aggravated after the Redwings were held without a goal for a second straight game and for the third time in seven matches.

To make matters worse, Benet's 2-0 loss at St. Viator on Friday afternoon prevented the Redwings from sharing the East Suburban Catholic championship with Carmel, dropping Benet to third place.

"We have to finish," Wind said. "The big disappointment is that we play so hard and we play so well that when we get close, we can't put the ball in the net and that is what makes you win games. We don't score."

Wind's biggest area of frustration dealt with the play of his forwards, who failed to find the back of the net.

"You always have a guy who scores close to 20 goals and our best is (Connor Miller)," Wind said. "He is a defensive-minded midfielder that has (a team-high) nine goals and he's got to save our butt on defense and then he's got to score – that is not right."

Forward Brock Bieschke had two great chances in the opening half to give the Redwings (10-6-2, 7-2) the lead, but he failed to seal the deal.

"When we go to the goal we have to attack as a team and finish," Bieschke said. "I had two opportunities to put it away in the first half, but their goalie came out pretty fast and I wasn't expecting that and I should have tried to play the ball high -- especially after the first time when he went low and tried to get the ball."

Bieschke wasn't alone. There was plenty of blame to go around.

Bieschke said some of the offensive players have made the situation worse by not taking practice seriously as of late.

"You have to have a mental mindset to know how to finish," Bieschke said. "You have to want it more than anyone else does and you have to believe in yourself that you can actually do it. In practice we do work on it, but sometimes we take it lightly and screw off and when we go out in the games it is a lot different."

Wind agreed that the Redwings had better start taking practice seriously – and soon.

"That is why I'm upset," Wind said. "The players just think it is funny (in practice), but now you come out (and play in games) and it is not funny. I'm frustrated."

The Redwings wasted a tremendous effort from goalie Alex Senetar, who made several diving saves and was the only reason Benet was in the match.

The teams were evenly matched until the 59th minute when St. Viator struck for the game's first points. The Lions (17-4-1, 7-1-1) tacked on an additional goal in the 78th minute.

Meanwhile, the Redwings mustered six shots on net the entire match.

Benet begins Class 3A postseason competition against Bolingbrook on Tuesday in the Bolingbrook Regional.

"That is why I want to get the boys fired up – because we don't have much time left," Wind said. "We have to start scoring and stop trying to look cute and pretty."