Frontrunner Fremd hosts Buffalo Grove
By Ken Keenan
Though Fremd has already secured its spot to represent the West Division in the 2014 Mid-Suburban League Soccer Bowl with a league-best 8-1-1 record, don't expect the Vikings to look past Buffalo Grove when the two teams square off Thursday night in Palatine.
"We're not going to change much," said Fremd head coach Steve Keller, whose club improved to 12-5-1 overall with a 2-0 win over Conant on Tuesday. "We'll focus on ourselves to do the things we're capable of doing. And if we do that, the results will take care of themselves. In our conference, anyone can win on any given day. So we've got to be ready to play.
"Every season, one of our goals is to win conference, so we've completed half of that goal. There's work to be done."
Doing the job on offense for Fremd this season has been the 1-2 punch of brothers Luke and Zach Schoffstall, each a forward/midfielder. The latter, a senior, leads the Vikings in scoring with five goals and 13 assists, followed by his sophomore brother's seven goals and two assists. Senior forward/midfielder Ben Poder has been a key contributor up front as well.
"It has been a mixture," Keller explained. "Zach has been our main creator and orchestrator of our offense. He's got a good feel with the ball -- some vision with the ball at his feet -- and he can find guys open. Plus, he's a good thrower. Luke is a little bit of a different type of player. He's good with his back to the goal ... tough to knock off the ball, and he's an intelligent player with good skills. As brothers, they look for each other out there."
Keller said the Vikings' defense has been led by senior goalkeeper Will Lefevre, and junior counterpart Michael Kramer, who have split time in net throughout the campaign. In the win over Conant, Kramer manned the goal in the first half, and Lefevre took over after the break.
"Will is usually our starter, but I try to get Kramer as much experience as I can," Keller said. "It's a good dilemma to have."
Keller added that senior center backs Tomas Peleckas and Ben Borst, along with senior defenders Luke Kosacz and Danny Burton, provide "a very solid core. It's tough to go through our back four."
Standing in a seventh-place tie in the conference standings with Hersey (16 points each), the Bison -- who battled the Huskies to a 1-1 tie in double overtime on Tuesday -- won't be intimidated by the first-place Vikings, insisted BG head coach Rick Carslon.
"Fremd has the best record, and our record (8-8-2 overall, 5-4-1 conference) is not what we want it to be, but the best team doesn't always win," Carlson said. "We haven't really been outplayed this year, but we've played a tough schedule -- and we've been a victim of some mistakes teams have taken advantage of. So I think we could beat anyone.
"Fremd is dangerous on set pieces, so we have to make sure we defend those -- that's hurt us a few times this year. They're also athletic, so we have to be able to play with some quality, and handle their pressure and athleticism."
Carslon said a mistake led to the tying goal in the draw with Hersey. Buffalo Grove led 1-0 until the Huskies evened the score with seven minutes remaining in regulation.
"We controlled pretty much the whole game, but we just hesitated to clear a ball -- we waited too long in trying to make a good decision -- and boom-boom, the ball's in the goal," Carlson said.
Junior midfielder Drew Brauner tallied BG's lone goal on a 30-yard shot from the left side to give the Bison a 1-0 halftime lead. Brauner and senior midfielder Zach Masciopinto share the team lead in goals with six apiece, followed by junior forward Colin Doyle's five.
"Zach is kind of the quarterback of the team," Carslon said. "Things start and end with his communication and energy."
Junior defenders Ryan Drum and Hans Haller were cited by Carslon as being key components in the back end, along with freshman goalkeeper Daniel Sempoch, who recently assumed a starting role.
"(Sempoch) has done a solid job since he's taken over, and I think our defenders are some of the best around," Carlson said. "As I said, you have to defend set pieces, and if we do that we can do pretty well. We just have to stop (Fremd) -- and score."
By Ken Keenan
Though Fremd has already secured its spot to represent the West Division in the 2014 Mid-Suburban League Soccer Bowl with a league-best 8-1-1 record, don't expect the Vikings to look past Buffalo Grove when the two teams square off Thursday night in Palatine.
"We're not going to change much," said Fremd head coach Steve Keller, whose club improved to 12-5-1 overall with a 2-0 win over Conant on Tuesday. "We'll focus on ourselves to do the things we're capable of doing. And if we do that, the results will take care of themselves. In our conference, anyone can win on any given day. So we've got to be ready to play.
"Every season, one of our goals is to win conference, so we've completed half of that goal. There's work to be done."
Doing the job on offense for Fremd this season has been the 1-2 punch of brothers Luke and Zach Schoffstall, each a forward/midfielder. The latter, a senior, leads the Vikings in scoring with five goals and 13 assists, followed by his sophomore brother's seven goals and two assists. Senior forward/midfielder Ben Poder has been a key contributor up front as well.
"It has been a mixture," Keller explained. "Zach has been our main creator and orchestrator of our offense. He's got a good feel with the ball -- some vision with the ball at his feet -- and he can find guys open. Plus, he's a good thrower. Luke is a little bit of a different type of player. He's good with his back to the goal ... tough to knock off the ball, and he's an intelligent player with good skills. As brothers, they look for each other out there."
Keller said the Vikings' defense has been led by senior goalkeeper Will Lefevre, and junior counterpart Michael Kramer, who have split time in net throughout the campaign. In the win over Conant, Kramer manned the goal in the first half, and Lefevre took over after the break.
"Will is usually our starter, but I try to get Kramer as much experience as I can," Keller said. "It's a good dilemma to have."
Keller added that senior center backs Tomas Peleckas and Ben Borst, along with senior defenders Luke Kosacz and Danny Burton, provide "a very solid core. It's tough to go through our back four."
Standing in a seventh-place tie in the conference standings with Hersey (16 points each), the Bison -- who battled the Huskies to a 1-1 tie in double overtime on Tuesday -- won't be intimidated by the first-place Vikings, insisted BG head coach Rick Carslon.
"Fremd has the best record, and our record (8-8-2 overall, 5-4-1 conference) is not what we want it to be, but the best team doesn't always win," Carlson said. "We haven't really been outplayed this year, but we've played a tough schedule -- and we've been a victim of some mistakes teams have taken advantage of. So I think we could beat anyone.
"Fremd is dangerous on set pieces, so we have to make sure we defend those -- that's hurt us a few times this year. They're also athletic, so we have to be able to play with some quality, and handle their pressure and athleticism."
Carslon said a mistake led to the tying goal in the draw with Hersey. Buffalo Grove led 1-0 until the Huskies evened the score with seven minutes remaining in regulation.
"We controlled pretty much the whole game, but we just hesitated to clear a ball -- we waited too long in trying to make a good decision -- and boom-boom, the ball's in the goal," Carlson said.
Junior midfielder Drew Brauner tallied BG's lone goal on a 30-yard shot from the left side to give the Bison a 1-0 halftime lead. Brauner and senior midfielder Zach Masciopinto share the team lead in goals with six apiece, followed by junior forward Colin Doyle's five.
"Zach is kind of the quarterback of the team," Carslon said. "Things start and end with his communication and energy."
Junior defenders Ryan Drum and Hans Haller were cited by Carslon as being key components in the back end, along with freshman goalkeeper Daniel Sempoch, who recently assumed a starting role.
"(Sempoch) has done a solid job since he's taken over, and I think our defenders are some of the best around," Carlson said. "As I said, you have to defend set pieces, and if we do that we can do pretty well. We just have to stop (Fremd) -- and score."