Beloit trailed 1-0 at halftime, having given up a goal off a corner kick.

“They’re big, all 6-foot or taller so we wanted to eliminate corner kicks as much as we could,” Denu said. “The ball they scored on, our guys weren’t going to be able to do much on that one. It was a beautiful pass.”

The Knights tied it in the 63rd minute when they won a free kick about 45 yards outside of their attacking goal. Banks Denu played a long ball into the box that found the head of Manny Giles who redirected it past a frozen goalkeeper to tie the game.

The Beloit head coach was pleased with how his team reacted. Not only did they blank the Warhawks the rest of the way, they tied it in the 63rd minute when Banks Denu played a long ball into the box that found the head of Manny Giles who redirected it past a frozen goalkeeper.

“To see us bounce back and get one of our own showed a lot of resilience,” the coach said. “Sometimes you put your head down when you give up a goal and one turns into two or three. We certainly didn’t do that.”

It wasn’t like they ambushed Arrowhead.

“I think they knew it was going to be a tougher game,” Denu said. “We go up there and play our preseason scrimmages. We didn’t play them this year, but they had a coach watching one of our games. If we played again I think it would be a similar-type game. They tried to take away what we do. When two teams are really good you tend to try to take their best away. You still have opportunities. We had plenty. Sometimes we were off just a little on the pass. If we’re clicking offensively we’re going to be really tough for anyone to beat. We were able to do some things against them that frustrated them a bit.”

In addition to playing without Banks Denu for a stretch due to an aggravated injury, they had to make do without Miguel Aguilar for much of the game.

“He got completely run over and ended up sitting most of the game,” Denui said. “He’s a big piece of what we have.”

The coach said if the Warhawks were surprised by anything it was likely how well Beloit played defense.

“They probably didn’t expect us to be as solid as we are,” he said. “Our defense has really stepped up the past few games.”

The last line of defense has been goalkeeper Francisco Rebelledo, supported by a back line of Jesse Chavez, Manny Giles, Brandon Aragon and Angel Aguilar.

“He played soccer his freshman and sophomore years and then gave volleyball a try last year before coming back to soccer,” Denu said. “We’re fortunate he came back. He played really well. He has all the athletic qualities. He was struggling a little with his communication, but he has done a great job improving there.”

Offensively, the Knights have had several different players score goals, but they’ve been led by Banks Denu and John Anthony Aburto. Banks is the second-leading scorer in Wisconsin with 12 goals. Alberto has 10.

“Every team has man-marked Banks,” the coach said. “They send one player to follow Banks no matter where he is on the field. That has happened every game except one. That opens up space for everyone else. They did set four guys back which for them is kind of unusual because they normally like to get the two outside guys into the attack more. I think they were a little worried about John Anthony’s speed on the outside. We have plenty of guys who can score. Jared Barajas has four. Perez has two and Miguel can be a scorer, too.”

The Knights will travel to Division 2 top-ranked Union Grove for a Southern Lakes Conference game on Tuesday night. By then the Knights will know if they reached the top 10 in the rankings.

“It doesn’t get any easier,” Denu said. “I thought going into this season it would be us and Union Grove with Elkhorn being right there, too. This is an important one.”

Thursday night they host Waunakee at Jacobson Field.

Denu said the Knights can’t take the foot off the gas for anyone.

“One of the things we’re going to emphasize with the kids is that if people weren’t believing in us before they are going to start now,” he said. “We’re going to get every team’s best game. We have to make sure we are ready for each and every one of those challenges.”

Source: Beloit Daily News