Hersey stuns Fremd with
comeback win in 2 OTs
Huskies' reversal of fortune comes 4 days after delay
By Brian Thomas
PALATINE -- In a stunning turn of events, Hersey stole what looked to be a sure victory from Fremd in double overtime.
The game-winning goal in the 3-2 contest was scored on a penalty kick by junior midfielder Alex Filian, who saw the goalkeeper diving left as he blasted it into the right side of the net. The penalty kick was awarded because of a Fremd handball in the box after a Hersey corner kick.
What made this victory for the Huskies so improbable were the circumstances they faced. The match was a continuation of a postponed game from last Thursday, in which Fremd jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, courtesy of Luke Schoffstall. The junior forward scored both goals before the postponement. The game was halted due to severe weather and resumed with 10:42 remaining in the first half.
"We started off really slow last game,” said Hersey senior goalkeeper Brett Harris. “Two early goals in the first half, and we knew that down 2-0 we didn’t have much to lose, so we just went out and gave it our all and hoped for the best.”
Many teams facing that deficit would roll over and concede, but not Hersey (3-4-0, 2-2-0).
“We haven’t really been worried about the winning or the losing,” said Hersey coach Darren Llewellyn. “We came in with the attitude of trying to execute and make less mistakes and let the wins and losses take care of themselves. I didn’t even talk about winning this game -- I talked about execution.”
Execute is exactly what the Huskies did in the second 40 minutes. They played in attack mode for the majority of the second half and controlled the ball in Fremd territory. The Huskies got their first goal with 7:17 left in the second half on a redirected header by Filian on a cross from the right side of the box.
That goal gave Hersey the momentum it needed, and two minutes later they tied the game 2-2 on a header by junior midfielder Jack Rasmussen on a corner kick.
“I think as the game went on, it started out in our half. Then we moved to midfield and we really started to get some good chances,” Llewellyn said. “That just builds confidence and a rhythm. I was proud of the fact that they came back and focused on what we were doing and didn’t really try to force anything. They just played.”
In the final minutes of regulation, Fremd had the better chances to score. Schoffstall took a penalty kick, which was read and blocked by Harris with 1:56 left.
“I was just like, ‘I have to save this,’ ” Harris said after the game. “We have to get a save here. I shaded to my right a little bit, and I knew he was going left and I dove and got it out of the net.”
In the first overtime, the Vikings were the team on the attack. In the 10-minute period they put up three corner kicks, but to no avail because of strong defense and goalkeeping from the Huskies.
Harris praised the effort his team gave on the defensive end.
“The only shot was that last PK on me,” Harris said. “We found our feet like coach instructed us to do, and our defense did real well keeping the ball out, so I gotta give it to the players, not me.”
Filian completed the immaculate comeback for the Huskies and finished the game with two goals, including the game-winner.
“We had a really bad game that night,” Filian said. “Then we had a tournament this weekend, and we did pretty good. We got more confident. That tournament gave us momentum, and we came out here to give it our all. We expected to lose, so we decided to just give it our all and see what happens. It worked out, and we won.”
Fremd coach Steve Keller was not pleased with his team’s effort, especially considering the 2-0 lead.
“We wanted to come out and get that third goal; we didn’t come out very strong,” Keller said. “We came out like, ‘Oh, we’re up 2-0 and we’re just going to jog around and see what happens here,’ and we played very poor.”
While Filian and Harris stood out in the box score for the Huskies, Llewellyn said they would not have won the game without the strong play from three other players.
“When I put Danny Gritt up top, it kind of changed the flow of our attack because he’s so fast and aggressive and runs forever,” Llewellyn said. “It forced their defense to play more honest. And then Castro in the middle was amazing, not only defensively but he distributed really well, he controlled the ball really well. ... Schoffstall is a great player, a really heady player, and Colin is my defensive mid. It was his task to deny him the ball, and he did a pretty good job today. Those three, I really felt that they turned the game in different areas of the field, and that’s what it took.”
The postponement looked like it hurt Fremd (4-7-0, 2-1-0), which lost the momentum it gained from its fast start on Thursday night. The Vikings came out flat and looked disinterested at times.
“They worked a lot harder than we did, they hustled, they seemed to want it more,” Keller said. “Not that our kids didn’t want it, but it didn’t show that they wanted it.
"Hersey showed through their work ethic that it seemed like a true team in terms of working for one another. They had a couple of nice combination plays and scored two goals that were pretty nice. We shouldn’t have lost this game, but when you come out the way we did that’s what’s going to happen.”
Starting lineups
Hersey
GK: Brett Harris
D: Steven Custer
D: Daniel Griitt
D: Giuseppe Scaletta
D: Michael Santry
MF: Saul Casillas
MF: Thomas Skiba
MF: Christian Castro
MF: Alex Filian
MF: Jack Rasmussen
F: Matthew Dickey
Fremd
GK: Michael Kramer
D: Ben Cuthbert
D: Michael Labarge
D: Ryan Rowden
D: Max Clark
MF: James Lefevre
MF: Seiya Iguchi
MF: Jake Arbour
MF: Matt Austin
MF: Luke Schoffstall
F: Rohan Menon
Man of the Match: Alex Filian, MF, Hersey
comeback win in 2 OTs
Huskies' reversal of fortune comes 4 days after delay
By Brian Thomas
PALATINE -- In a stunning turn of events, Hersey stole what looked to be a sure victory from Fremd in double overtime.
The game-winning goal in the 3-2 contest was scored on a penalty kick by junior midfielder Alex Filian, who saw the goalkeeper diving left as he blasted it into the right side of the net. The penalty kick was awarded because of a Fremd handball in the box after a Hersey corner kick.
What made this victory for the Huskies so improbable were the circumstances they faced. The match was a continuation of a postponed game from last Thursday, in which Fremd jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, courtesy of Luke Schoffstall. The junior forward scored both goals before the postponement. The game was halted due to severe weather and resumed with 10:42 remaining in the first half.
"We started off really slow last game,” said Hersey senior goalkeeper Brett Harris. “Two early goals in the first half, and we knew that down 2-0 we didn’t have much to lose, so we just went out and gave it our all and hoped for the best.”
Many teams facing that deficit would roll over and concede, but not Hersey (3-4-0, 2-2-0).
“We haven’t really been worried about the winning or the losing,” said Hersey coach Darren Llewellyn. “We came in with the attitude of trying to execute and make less mistakes and let the wins and losses take care of themselves. I didn’t even talk about winning this game -- I talked about execution.”
Execute is exactly what the Huskies did in the second 40 minutes. They played in attack mode for the majority of the second half and controlled the ball in Fremd territory. The Huskies got their first goal with 7:17 left in the second half on a redirected header by Filian on a cross from the right side of the box.
That goal gave Hersey the momentum it needed, and two minutes later they tied the game 2-2 on a header by junior midfielder Jack Rasmussen on a corner kick.
“I think as the game went on, it started out in our half. Then we moved to midfield and we really started to get some good chances,” Llewellyn said. “That just builds confidence and a rhythm. I was proud of the fact that they came back and focused on what we were doing and didn’t really try to force anything. They just played.”
In the final minutes of regulation, Fremd had the better chances to score. Schoffstall took a penalty kick, which was read and blocked by Harris with 1:56 left.
“I was just like, ‘I have to save this,’ ” Harris said after the game. “We have to get a save here. I shaded to my right a little bit, and I knew he was going left and I dove and got it out of the net.”
In the first overtime, the Vikings were the team on the attack. In the 10-minute period they put up three corner kicks, but to no avail because of strong defense and goalkeeping from the Huskies.
Harris praised the effort his team gave on the defensive end.
“The only shot was that last PK on me,” Harris said. “We found our feet like coach instructed us to do, and our defense did real well keeping the ball out, so I gotta give it to the players, not me.”
Filian completed the immaculate comeback for the Huskies and finished the game with two goals, including the game-winner.
“We had a really bad game that night,” Filian said. “Then we had a tournament this weekend, and we did pretty good. We got more confident. That tournament gave us momentum, and we came out here to give it our all. We expected to lose, so we decided to just give it our all and see what happens. It worked out, and we won.”
Fremd coach Steve Keller was not pleased with his team’s effort, especially considering the 2-0 lead.
“We wanted to come out and get that third goal; we didn’t come out very strong,” Keller said. “We came out like, ‘Oh, we’re up 2-0 and we’re just going to jog around and see what happens here,’ and we played very poor.”
While Filian and Harris stood out in the box score for the Huskies, Llewellyn said they would not have won the game without the strong play from three other players.
“When I put Danny Gritt up top, it kind of changed the flow of our attack because he’s so fast and aggressive and runs forever,” Llewellyn said. “It forced their defense to play more honest. And then Castro in the middle was amazing, not only defensively but he distributed really well, he controlled the ball really well. ... Schoffstall is a great player, a really heady player, and Colin is my defensive mid. It was his task to deny him the ball, and he did a pretty good job today. Those three, I really felt that they turned the game in different areas of the field, and that’s what it took.”
The postponement looked like it hurt Fremd (4-7-0, 2-1-0), which lost the momentum it gained from its fast start on Thursday night. The Vikings came out flat and looked disinterested at times.
“They worked a lot harder than we did, they hustled, they seemed to want it more,” Keller said. “Not that our kids didn’t want it, but it didn’t show that they wanted it.
"Hersey showed through their work ethic that it seemed like a true team in terms of working for one another. They had a couple of nice combination plays and scored two goals that were pretty nice. We shouldn’t have lost this game, but when you come out the way we did that’s what’s going to happen.”
Starting lineups
Hersey
GK: Brett Harris
D: Steven Custer
D: Daniel Griitt
D: Giuseppe Scaletta
D: Michael Santry
MF: Saul Casillas
MF: Thomas Skiba
MF: Christian Castro
MF: Alex Filian
MF: Jack Rasmussen
F: Matthew Dickey
Fremd
GK: Michael Kramer
D: Ben Cuthbert
D: Michael Labarge
D: Ryan Rowden
D: Max Clark
MF: James Lefevre
MF: Seiya Iguchi
MF: Jake Arbour
MF: Matt Austin
MF: Luke Schoffstall
F: Rohan Menon
Man of the Match: Alex Filian, MF, Hersey