Boys Soccer: Benet's Franklin Rutkowski saves his best for biggest moment yet again
Senior forward scores a goal, assists two others in 3-1 Redwings' regional win over Wheaton Academy
WEST CHICAGO – Benet forward Franklin Rutkowski doesn’t concern himself with padding his statistics during blowouts against weaker teams.
No, the senior concentrates on saving his best performances for the biggest moments.
Rutkowski demonstrated that again Saturday, scoring a goal and two assists as the seventh-seeded Redwings stunned second-seeded Wheaton Academy 3-1 on its own field to capture the Class 3A Wheaton Academy Regional title.
![Benet (16-3-1) will take a nine-game winning streak into Tuesday’s Addison Trail Sectional semifinals against sixth-seeded Addison Trail (17-5), which ousted third seed York 3-1 on Friday.
“Maybe he’s only got 10 total [goals], but a lot of them are goals in big games,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said of his rugged striker. “You don’t see him scoring in games where we’re up 8-0. He’s more of a passer in those games. In the big games he’s been huge.”
Rutkowski’s latest goal came just four minutes after Seamus Kilgallon got the equalizer for the Warriors against a stiff wind.
A Wheaton Academy defender headed a long ball back out of the box, but Rutkowski intercepted the bouncing ball and fired a sidewinder shot that struck high upon the right post and went into the net with 13:41 left in the second half.](e735d636-2553-4b68-9694-3893d93572ab/image-pv_web.jpg)
Benet (16-3-1) will take a nine-game winning streak into Tuesday’s Addison Trail Sectional semifinals against sixth-seeded Addison Trail (17-5), which ousted third seed York 3-1 on Friday.
“Maybe he’s only got 10 total [goals], but a lot of them are goals in big games,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said of his rugged striker. “You don’t see him scoring in games where we’re up 8-0. He’s more of a passer in those games. In the big games he’s been huge.”
Rutkowski’s latest goal came just four minutes after Seamus Kilgallon got the equalizer for the Warriors against a stiff wind.
A Wheaton Academy defender headed a long ball back out of the box, but Rutkowski intercepted the bouncing ball and fired a sidewinder shot that struck high upon the right post and went into the net with 13:41 left in the second half.
“That was awesome,” Rutkowski said. “That’s probably the best goal I’ve ever scored at Benet.” Rutkowski, who nearly scored again a minute later when his 40-yard rocket hit the crossbar, expertly used the wind to his advantage. All three of the Redwings’ goals came in the second half with the wind at their backs.
“We’d been talking about that wind all day, so I knew I just had to put it on target,” Rutkowski said. “I mishit it a little. I got a little fluff on it but the wind carried it in for me.”
Rutkowski’s goal, coming so soon after Kilgallon and his twin brother Jack had teamed up to tie the game, proved too much for the Warriors, who were held to just three shots.
“I think [the Redwings] do a nice job of having good structure in the back, so we bounded Jack out wide, he gets in and finds his brother,” Wheaton Academy coach Jeff Brooke said. “Feels like we’re right back at it and then we give up one off the post off a pretty impressive strike from [Rutkowski].
“That’s tough. It’s tough to turn and go back into the wind with 14 [minutes] left.”
Benet controlled the play the rest of the way. Sophomore Christopher Mankowski added an insurance goal when he took a pass from Rutkowski and blasted a 23-yard shot off the inside of the right post with 1:22 left.
Rutkowski also assisted on the game’s first goal when he dove into the middle of the box to head the ball to CJ Warren in front of the goal. Warren had his back to the goal, but flicked the ball off the inside of the left post and in for a 1-0 lead at the 35:06 mark of the second half.
“Franklin headed it to me and I just kind of swung around and heel-flicked it in,” Warren said. “We had battled against the wind the whole [first] half, so we knew we were going to get a lot more chances going with the wind and fortunately [Rutkowski and I] were each able to get one on frame.”
For Wheaton Academy, which was seeking its first regional title in its second appearance at the Class 3A level, the ending was tough to take.
“It’s sad because you love your guys and you love your team and you go on a journey together,” Brooke said. “I do think Benet is a really good side.
“It was almost like a sectional final-type feel so it’s tough to run into a team that is that good and get bounced in the regional weekend and run into a team that is that good. But having a 20-win season as a small school is a big deal, so I’m very proud of these guys.”