Benet Academy Girls Varsity Soccer Second Game Week

Declan Cadden

Benet Academy and Carmel Catholic Girls Soccer line up before the beginning of their game.

Benet Academy Girls Varsity Soccer has completed another successful week of games, bringing their record to 3 wins and 0 losses in the conference. The Lady Redwings triumphed over Carmel Catholic on April 8 in an exhilarating 2-0 display in which Carmel Catholic could never get a foothold despite the narrow scoreline.

Benet Academy dominated the game from the opening minutes, with a skillful cross by winger Anna Casmere being put just over the bar by forward Ivana Vukas. Cashmere continued to be a force of nature throughout the game but finally opened the scoresheet in the 31st minute with a remarkable through ball from midfielder Keira Petrucelli. She ran onto the ball, beat the keeper one-on-one, and slotted it into the open net to make it 1-0.

For much of the game, this scoreline held, with Benet’s many chances unable to again pierce the back line of Carmel Catholic. For example, in the 70th minute, beautiful bits of skill by Vukas and Rania Fikri allowed Casmere to have a shot, but a skillful save kept the score 1-0. It seemed like this game would finish as a narrow contest, but Casmere thought otherwise. She intercepted it from a Carmel throw in the attacking third, dribbled into the box, and passed it to midfielder Ashley Donovan, who sent it past the keeper to bring the goal deficit up to 2.

Redwing Player of the Match: Anna Casmere

Anna Casmere attributes the W to her team’s winning mentality. After the game, she said, “We really weren’t looking to play it like a state final, and we did just that.” As she reflected on her performance, she noted that the things she did in training had helped prepare her for the game. Her goal, she said, was the product of “so many different scenarios in practice throughout the week that helped us achieve the result we wanted.” Cashmere has plenty to celebrate, as she is this game’s Player of the Match and the Redwing Athlete of the Week.

The second game week only and one match due to rescheduling problems, but that, at the very least, means the Redwings will be well-rested for their three games next week.