Hernandez, Waubonsie upend Benet

Updated: August 25, 2011 9:38PM

If Waubonsie Valley is going to be a threat on the boys soccer scene this season, it will be because of its junior class.

Then it should come as no surprise that three juniors were instrumental in tallying the lone goal scored in Waubonsie’s 1-0 win against Benet on Thursday evening in Aurora.

Waubonsie’s Jesus Hernandez slipped past the Redwings defense on a restart and netted the winning goal in the 4th minute.

Junior defender Jack Cicchini put the goal in motion when he played a restart from just inside the midfield line deep in to the Redwings’ penalty area. Waubonsie junior Michael Mueller managed to get his head on enough of the ball to deflect it past charging Benet goalie Kyle Dal Santo. Hernandez did the rest as he redirected the ball into the net.

“I just made a run around the defender and Michael got a flick on the ball and I saw the ball right there,” said Hernandez, who is one of nine juniors on Waubonsie’s 20-man roster. “I just went for the ball and toe-poked it a little bit. Their goalie didn’t grab it and I had the open goal.”

Waubonsie (1-0) continued to apply pressure as juniors Sam Bell and Frankie Saiz created great scoring chances in the final portion of the first half.

“I thought we played well for the first 25 minutes and from then on, it was just kick ball — from a soccer standpoint,” Waubonsie coach Angelo DiBernardo. “I’m happy with the effort and our kids played with a lot of energy and they played hard. We’ll take it for our opener.”

For Benet (1-1), it was a setback considering how well the Redwings looked in their season opening win against Downers North earlier this week.

The Redwings placed two shots on Waubonsie sophomore goalie Jordan Ward. Benet had a series of good chances, but it was a struggle for the Redwings to place shots on frame. Benet’s best chance came in the opening minutes of the second half when Brendon Gesior ripped a shot, but Ward managed to get a few fingers on it to redirect the ball over the net.

“In the box, instead of having that killer instinct, we’re trying to make the perfect pass,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “There is nothing wrong with throwing the ball on goal and seeing what happens, but we didn’t do that.”

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