Win No. 20 did not come quickly for Neuqua Valley, but it did come eventually.
It took the top-seeded Wildcats 29 minutes to score on No. 4 Benet, and once they did, they kept scoring until they won the Neuqua Valley Sectional semifinal 4-1.
Junior forward Jaymie Bullard scored twice for the Wildcats, who avenged an early-season tie with Benet during the Best of the West Tournament.
"They came out hard, and we had to move the ball around well," Bullard said of the Redwings. "First they ran the possession in the beginning, but we came out firing in the second half and the second half of the first half. And we really put the balls away when we got opportunities."
Neuqua senior Bryan Gaul broke the scoreless tie on a free kick. Twenty-five yards from goal, Gaul unleashed a left-footed shot that carried through the Redwings' defensive wall, off the right post and into the goal.
Trailing 1-0, Benet (9-11-1) had yet to take a shot on goal. Overall, the Redwings managed two shots on sophomore goalkeeper Jack Turanchik (one save). Senior Erik Warren solved him in the 68th minute to cut the lead to 4-1.
"We had to defend with more than one guy, and we did that," Neuqua coach Jim Johns said. "They covered for each other very well today. It's hard - it's a little slippery out there. (Defender) Asa (Carson) slipped the one time, but we covered up for him. That's the mark of a good defense."
Bullard scored once in each half. He increased the Wildcats' lead to 2-0 off a 55-yard free kick by junior defender Robby Gargaro. The service carried past a Benet defender and Neuqua junior Ian Krol touched it to Gargaro for the 34th-minute goal.
Senior Bret Hruby made it 3-0 in the 60th minute. Hruby challenged sliding goalkeeper Bryan Steigel (nine saves) for a 50-50 ball atop the penalty area and the close contact deflected the ball into the net.
The best goal of the game gave the Wildcats a 4-0 lead in the 66th minute. Gaul curled a corner kick toward the back post and Bullard made sure it went there by heading it past Steigel.
"They played exactly the way we thought they'd play," Benet coach Henry Wind said. "They played direct. They hoped you'd make a mistake, and when you made a mistake they capitalized on it. They love to score, and that's exactly what they did."
Neuqua (20-1-4) will play Naperville Central for the Neuqua Valley Sectional title on Thursday at Neuqua.
The Wildcats, ranked first regionally and fifth in the country by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, defeated Central in the Best of the West championship via penalty kicks and tied them 2-2 one week later in regular-season play.
"It's going be a very difficult match no matter who we play," said Johns, referring to Central and North. "These two teams are classy; so is Benet. This is a really killer group, even the teams that didn't make it here."
The only problem? They wouldn't get to prove that until the Neuqua Valley Sectional semifinals, which took place Tuesday.
And when they finally did, the Redhawks put their best foot forward on a depleted North squad to win 1-0 and advance to Thursday's sectional final at Neuqua.
Central junior Jerry Maddi scored the lone goal on a give-and-go with senior Byard Ebling in the 39th minute.
"We never really talked about it being a revenge game," Central coach Jay Konrad said. "We knew that we gave North our best effort. I knew that the boys were not happy with getting thumped like we did, and I am proud of how we played tonight. They played hard, they played with class and North put out a great effort."
The Huskies (16-4-4) played without senior forward Augustin Celentano, junior midfielder Andrew Menendez and junior midfielder Kevin Wyrostek for various reasons.
At the same time, North senior defender Jordan Baker returned after suffering what was thought to be a season-ending injury against Wheaton Warrenville South on Oct. 4.
"It's been a tough year," North coach Jim Konrad said. "We started the year with injuries and disciplinary issues, and we ended the year on the same note."
The Huskies never tested Central goalkeeper Tyler Kelley, who made his second start in as many games since getting injured Sept. 8. Kelley recorded his seventh shutout in nine games this year.
Maddi got him the win by scoring his 10th goal of the season with one minute to play before halftime.
"At first I thought I was offside. I looked back at the linesman and he just said, 'Play,' so I did what I could," Maddi said. "And they were all complaining about it so I took advantage of it, and the goal was open."
With the win, the all-time series between the Konrad brothers shifts to 4-3-1 in favor of Jim.
Contact Brad Engel at bengel@scn1.com or 630-416-5289.
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