Poder on the mark to give
Fremd OT win at Palatine
Vikings claim Kinsella Cup for 1st time since 2011
By Mike Garofola
PALATINE-- If you've been around the Mid-Suburban League at all, you know you can expect the unexpected each time Fremd and Palatine play for the Kinsella Cup.
The two longtime crosstown rivals have played for the Cup, named after the Palatine Celtic Club co-founder Jimmy Kinsella, 19 times. Nine of the results were decided by one goal with four draws, including a 0-0 tie last season at Fremd.
Thursday night was no different on a marvelous night for soccer before a big crowd at Chic Anderson Stadium. The visitors continued their high-flying start in the MSL with a stunning overtime strike from Ben Poder to defeat the Pirates 3-2 to lift the Kinsella Cup for the 12th time since 1996.
"What a night," said an exhausted Zach Schoffstall, who raced to meet Poder after the senior finished past Palatine keeper Dylan Ruzbasan, who had the unfortunate luck to allow Schoffstall's long throw from the far touchline to slip through his gloves and go to Poder for the game-winning sitter in the 87th minute.
"It was a great night for the fans and kids to watch, but from our perspective, there wasn't much real soccer to watch, and in fact, a bit of a letdown after coming in here off of three strong performances in a row," said Fremd coach Steve Keller, whose club will take its 3-0-0 league record into Schaumburg this Saturday to meet the MSL West leaders.
"It's hard to say why we played the way we did tonight," Keller continued. "To be fair, I am sure both teams were caught up in this match between friends, club teammates, and just the whole Fremd-Palatine thing. It's not a reason for some of our decision-making and inability to do things we've seen them do.
"But emotions can run pretty high in this match, and sometimes that just takes over when your talking about guys this age -- so with that, we still came away with a win and the three big points that come along with them."
The Vikings (7-4-0) were on the front foot -- instantly grabbing the early lead when Poder tucked the ball into the back of the net at 5 minutes with Schoffstall providing the helper.
"Poder had a very strong game for us all night long," said assistant coach Gerardo Pagnani, who just moments before the game winner yelled to the eventual Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match to get himself stationed in the box in anticipation of Schoffstall's winning heave.
But it wouldn't be a Palatine story without the Pirates striking for a dead-ball goal. When the Pirates' (5-2-1, 2-1-1) Gavin Falotico directed a nicely aimed Kevin Burke corner to equalize, it brought nearly the same response from both Keller and Schoffstall, one of the coach's captains.
"You kind of come to expect Palatine to be dangerous with each and every throw-in and set-piece opportunity, and tonight was no different," said Schoffstall, who has played in four of these matches, going 2-1-1.
Added Keller, "We defended the first six or seven we conceded before they scored, then had another breakdown when they got their second, then did much better after that. But you know what it is, and you have to be ready for it each time you play (Palatine coach) Willie (Filian)."
Schoffstall forced his way through the Pirates defense to have a go -- on the turn -- after Poder's clever work put his mate in position to get something on frame to complete a strong finish to the first period. The Vikings had the better of it during the final 6-7 minutes.
After an intermission filled with small-sided games between many of the younger players from the Celtic Cup on the Pirates stadium floor, the Vikings opened the second half brighter than its host, particularly in the first 10 minutes. But then they found themselves chasing the game in the 54th minute.
That's when Palatine's terrific senior striker, Tyler Curylo, put the ball into the back of the net with a sensational one-timer. It came once again off another long throw from Burke that fell directly onto the right shooting boot of the unmarked Curlyo.
The Pirates' bench wasn't all too pleased with a foul, which put Schoffstall over the ball at 25 yards. But the Vikings faithful was much happier than its counterparts dressed in red when the big striker unloaded a cracker with far too much pace and drive for Ruzbasan to snare, despite a valiant stretch to his right.
"When you take the lead, you know you have to defend and manage it for the next 10 minutes or so, but we just didn't do well with that, and all of a sudden it's even (8) minutes after Tyler's goal, and they grab the momentum back," said a disappointed Filian, the Pirates coach.
Fremd goalkeeper Will Lefevre did well to pull down and hold onto a searing free kick from Falotico at 64 minutes, despite getting roughed up by the Pirates near the spot. Moments later, the Vikings keeper could only watch Liam Obernesser fire a low drive just wide of the post.
Freshman Vania Martin, who gave Fremd quality minutes and pace toward the end of the first period, and again when Keller brought him on to provide fresh legs for his front-runners, had a strong shot on frame, which forced Ruzbasan into action at 69 minutes.
The match turned into a defensive tussle, and each backline tightened its grip in its own end for the final 10 minutes.
"It was the guys along the back who were strong for us most of the night, and especially in the second half when the pressure was up and the game was on the line," Keller said. He pointed to Tomas Peleckas, Jacob Cuthbert and Danny Burton, in particular, for their 80 minutes of work.
Curylo likely should have done better when Alejandro Vidal set him free up the left side. But the senior wasn't able to get enough pace on his low shot to beat the fast-tracking Peleckas, who scurried back to clear the Curylo shot out of danger after Lefevre came off his line to challenge the early ball from Vidal.
Filian and his assistant Charlie Gries thought the Pirates might have found the game winner in the 86th minute, if only one of their players had made a back-post run to meet Burke's long throw. The toss sailed freely over and through the box.
Poder's second goal ended the contest and sent the Pirates big crowd home in silence, while the Vikings celebrated loudly when they lifted the Kinsella Cup to end a two-year hold the Pirates enjoyed.
"It was a tough way to end, but I feel for our young man Dylan Ruzbazan -- to be fair, it wasn't that play at the end, it was everything leading up to their goal that did us in," Filian admitted.
The last time the Vikings enjoyed a Kinsella Cup victory was in 2011, which preceded a third-place finish in the 3A state tournament.
"In our last three games, we created and scored from the run of play ... not tonight," Keller said. "But when you consider that just about any time either team was dangerous it came from dead balls, it wasn't really a surprise that's how this game was decided.
"We're happy with the win, of course, but we have to play better at Schaumburg this weekend."
Starting lineups
Fremd
GK: Will Lefevre
D: Tomas Pelekas
D: Jacob Cuthbert
D: Danny Burton
D: Kurt Rettke
MF: Ben Borst
MF: Ben Poder
MF: Rohan Menon
MF: Luke Schoffstall
MF: Luke Kosacz
F: Zach Schoffstall
Palatine
GK: Michael Jenson
D: Logan Hedrick
D: Kevin Burke
D: Liam Obernesser
D: Evan Braun
MF: Alejandro Vidal
MF: Gavin Falotico
MF: Colin O'Meara
MF: Adan Flores
MF: Tadeo Lara
F: Tyler Curylo
Man of the Match: Ben Poder, Fremd
Referee: Nikola Aleksic
Fremd OT win at Palatine
Vikings claim Kinsella Cup for 1st time since 2011
By Mike Garofola
PALATINE-- If you've been around the Mid-Suburban League at all, you know you can expect the unexpected each time Fremd and Palatine play for the Kinsella Cup.
The two longtime crosstown rivals have played for the Cup, named after the Palatine Celtic Club co-founder Jimmy Kinsella, 19 times. Nine of the results were decided by one goal with four draws, including a 0-0 tie last season at Fremd.
Thursday night was no different on a marvelous night for soccer before a big crowd at Chic Anderson Stadium. The visitors continued their high-flying start in the MSL with a stunning overtime strike from Ben Poder to defeat the Pirates 3-2 to lift the Kinsella Cup for the 12th time since 1996.
"What a night," said an exhausted Zach Schoffstall, who raced to meet Poder after the senior finished past Palatine keeper Dylan Ruzbasan, who had the unfortunate luck to allow Schoffstall's long throw from the far touchline to slip through his gloves and go to Poder for the game-winning sitter in the 87th minute.
"It was a great night for the fans and kids to watch, but from our perspective, there wasn't much real soccer to watch, and in fact, a bit of a letdown after coming in here off of three strong performances in a row," said Fremd coach Steve Keller, whose club will take its 3-0-0 league record into Schaumburg this Saturday to meet the MSL West leaders.
"It's hard to say why we played the way we did tonight," Keller continued. "To be fair, I am sure both teams were caught up in this match between friends, club teammates, and just the whole Fremd-Palatine thing. It's not a reason for some of our decision-making and inability to do things we've seen them do.
"But emotions can run pretty high in this match, and sometimes that just takes over when your talking about guys this age -- so with that, we still came away with a win and the three big points that come along with them."
The Vikings (7-4-0) were on the front foot -- instantly grabbing the early lead when Poder tucked the ball into the back of the net at 5 minutes with Schoffstall providing the helper.
"Poder had a very strong game for us all night long," said assistant coach Gerardo Pagnani, who just moments before the game winner yelled to the eventual Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match to get himself stationed in the box in anticipation of Schoffstall's winning heave.
But it wouldn't be a Palatine story without the Pirates striking for a dead-ball goal. When the Pirates' (5-2-1, 2-1-1) Gavin Falotico directed a nicely aimed Kevin Burke corner to equalize, it brought nearly the same response from both Keller and Schoffstall, one of the coach's captains.
"You kind of come to expect Palatine to be dangerous with each and every throw-in and set-piece opportunity, and tonight was no different," said Schoffstall, who has played in four of these matches, going 2-1-1.
Added Keller, "We defended the first six or seven we conceded before they scored, then had another breakdown when they got their second, then did much better after that. But you know what it is, and you have to be ready for it each time you play (Palatine coach) Willie (Filian)."
Schoffstall forced his way through the Pirates defense to have a go -- on the turn -- after Poder's clever work put his mate in position to get something on frame to complete a strong finish to the first period. The Vikings had the better of it during the final 6-7 minutes.
After an intermission filled with small-sided games between many of the younger players from the Celtic Cup on the Pirates stadium floor, the Vikings opened the second half brighter than its host, particularly in the first 10 minutes. But then they found themselves chasing the game in the 54th minute.
That's when Palatine's terrific senior striker, Tyler Curylo, put the ball into the back of the net with a sensational one-timer. It came once again off another long throw from Burke that fell directly onto the right shooting boot of the unmarked Curlyo.
The Pirates' bench wasn't all too pleased with a foul, which put Schoffstall over the ball at 25 yards. But the Vikings faithful was much happier than its counterparts dressed in red when the big striker unloaded a cracker with far too much pace and drive for Ruzbasan to snare, despite a valiant stretch to his right.
"When you take the lead, you know you have to defend and manage it for the next 10 minutes or so, but we just didn't do well with that, and all of a sudden it's even (8) minutes after Tyler's goal, and they grab the momentum back," said a disappointed Filian, the Pirates coach.
Fremd goalkeeper Will Lefevre did well to pull down and hold onto a searing free kick from Falotico at 64 minutes, despite getting roughed up by the Pirates near the spot. Moments later, the Vikings keeper could only watch Liam Obernesser fire a low drive just wide of the post.
Freshman Vania Martin, who gave Fremd quality minutes and pace toward the end of the first period, and again when Keller brought him on to provide fresh legs for his front-runners, had a strong shot on frame, which forced Ruzbasan into action at 69 minutes.
The match turned into a defensive tussle, and each backline tightened its grip in its own end for the final 10 minutes.
"It was the guys along the back who were strong for us most of the night, and especially in the second half when the pressure was up and the game was on the line," Keller said. He pointed to Tomas Peleckas, Jacob Cuthbert and Danny Burton, in particular, for their 80 minutes of work.
Curylo likely should have done better when Alejandro Vidal set him free up the left side. But the senior wasn't able to get enough pace on his low shot to beat the fast-tracking Peleckas, who scurried back to clear the Curylo shot out of danger after Lefevre came off his line to challenge the early ball from Vidal.
Filian and his assistant Charlie Gries thought the Pirates might have found the game winner in the 86th minute, if only one of their players had made a back-post run to meet Burke's long throw. The toss sailed freely over and through the box.
Poder's second goal ended the contest and sent the Pirates big crowd home in silence, while the Vikings celebrated loudly when they lifted the Kinsella Cup to end a two-year hold the Pirates enjoyed.
"It was a tough way to end, but I feel for our young man Dylan Ruzbazan -- to be fair, it wasn't that play at the end, it was everything leading up to their goal that did us in," Filian admitted.
The last time the Vikings enjoyed a Kinsella Cup victory was in 2011, which preceded a third-place finish in the 3A state tournament.
"In our last three games, we created and scored from the run of play ... not tonight," Keller said. "But when you consider that just about any time either team was dangerous it came from dead balls, it wasn't really a surprise that's how this game was decided.
"We're happy with the win, of course, but we have to play better at Schaumburg this weekend."
Starting lineups
Fremd
GK: Will Lefevre
D: Tomas Pelekas
D: Jacob Cuthbert
D: Danny Burton
D: Kurt Rettke
MF: Ben Borst
MF: Ben Poder
MF: Rohan Menon
MF: Luke Schoffstall
MF: Luke Kosacz
F: Zach Schoffstall
Palatine
GK: Michael Jenson
D: Logan Hedrick
D: Kevin Burke
D: Liam Obernesser
D: Evan Braun
MF: Alejandro Vidal
MF: Gavin Falotico
MF: Colin O'Meara
MF: Adan Flores
MF: Tadeo Lara
F: Tyler Curylo
Man of the Match: Ben Poder, Fremd
Referee: Nikola Aleksic