Benet’s Brendan Bergnach receives a pass and surveys the field.
It doesn’t take long for the senior forward to figure out what to do.
“I really just try to do whatever we’re needing on the field,” Bergnach said. “Like sometimes I need to come out wide and play a ball in, and sometimes I just need to make a run.
“Coach lets me almost free-rein it sometimes, just take the best play and go ahead and do that.”
Bergnach, who had 12 goals and eight assists through Tuesday, has rewarded the trust that Benet coach Matt Klosterman has shown in him.
“He works as hard as he can all the time, and he’s very coachable,” Klosterman said. “You just see his confidence growing. I’m really happy with him.”
Bergnach had one of those moments on Tuesday when he took a pass from senior defender Daniel Sterba during the second half of the Redwings’ 1-1 tie against Naperville Central in Lisle.
“I turned, took a touch forward, and I just kept going,” Bergnach said. “I was just kind of waiting until the guy stepped, and no one stepped, so I just kept going.”
Bergnach kept going for nearly 40 yards, weaving his way through several defenders from the left wing into the middle of Naperville Central’s penalty area. Then he ripped a cutback shot from 12 yards out that went inside the near post with 34:28 left.
Bergnach’s goal tied the game and moved him past junior forward Sergio Polanco into the team lead.
“So far this season, that’s probably my best goal,” Bergnach said. “Throughout high school, I’ve just been trying to get better at connecting. But I knew I had their guys on the run, so I kept going.”
Bergnach frequently uses his top-end speed to make runs, but it’s not always how he scores his goals for the Redwings (8-4-2).
“He’s been doing it pretty often, but he got a result out of it this time,” Sterba said. “It’s good he finally got one.”
Naperville Central was clinging to its lead when Sterba won the ball near midfield five minutes into the second half.
“I was kind of looking for someone to make a run,” Sterba said. “No one really was moving, and I saw Brendan come out, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll wait and then play it to him.’
“And then he scored.”
Klosterman said the goal was an example of how Bergnach listens and learns.
“He had a couple of chances in the first half, and we just talked about making sure he took (people) on and not settling,” Klosterman said. “If he makes a mistake or we have a correction to make, he’s always looking to try and get better.
“The second half is kind of proof of that. The first half could have been better, and he made the corrections right away, and he scores a goal out of it.”
It was not just any goal. It was a kind that few players can score against strong defenses like Naperville Central’s.
“It looked really great,” Klosterman said. “I thought he did a great job of staying calm and composed and adjusting. He did awesome.”
The Redwings have come to expect this from Bergnach, a second-year varsity player who is one of their co-captains.
“He brings energy,” Sterba said. “He really motivates everybody, pushes everyone to be their best and to keep going. He’s a really good team player.”
Indeed, while Bergnach’s main role is to score, he’s also adept at facilitating. He has the second-most assists on the team behind Polanco, who has 11.
“His holdup play is really good, he works hard on defense and wins us the ball back,” Klosterman said. “He accepts the responsibility when it’s his time to score, and he’s unselfish when somebody else is in a better position.
“You can’t ask for much more from a forward than that.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
