Fremd's last line of defense
holds off dangerous Libertyville
Borst, Peleckas help Vikings sink No. 2 seed in 1-0 win
By Mike Garofola
PALATINE -- It's old and true, the adage that defense wins championships. Tuesday night at Chic Anderson Stadium, Fremd proved just that.
The Mid-Suburban League champs defended magnificently against a sometimes-rampant Libertyville (14-4-0) attack, and used Ben Poder's cool finish five minutes after intermission to hold off the No. 2-seeded Wildcats to secure a hard-fought 1-0 sectional semifinal victory.
The third-seeded Vikings advance to the final against No. 13 Highland Park (13-6-4) at 5 p.m. Friday.
Fremd coach Steve Keller explained, "We knew what Libertyville was capable of, and in particular what kind of problems both No. 7 (Cam Fragassi) and No. 10 (Kevin Reilly) could cause. But we allowed them possession and to keep the ball (in the Vikings' final third) and after that, I thought (Ben) Borst and (Tomas) Peleckas and the boys did a great job of keeping them under control.
"Ben played a great game for us from start to finish, and Tomas was exceptional in the air, and when (Libertyville) tried to play direct and over our backline, the guys in front of our back four, Zach Schoffstall and Jacob Cuthbert, were there to head a lot of balls (out). And if they didn't, both Ben and Tomas cleaned up the rest."
Wildcats coach Andy Bitta's charges had started with intent, plenty of technical
proficiency and high-speed action on the ball, and the aforementioned duo of
Fragassi and Reilly were at the heart of most of the play.
Kyle Robson and Ryan Palcholski also came out of the back on several occasions to aid in Libertyville's attack.
"We played so much better than we did the other day when we beat Mundelein in our regional final," said Bitta, who has won more than 400 games and made three trips to the state finals in his illustrious career. "In fact, this was maybe our best half of soccer for the entire year.
"I thought we dominated the first half with some great soccer, playing quick and moving the ball around, but we didn't finish despite all that. Then we give up a bad goal to start the second half, and that's when you saw us shut down for a short while. And (Fremd) got tougher and tougher with their defensive play, especially in the back."
Bitta said the Wildcats attack fizzled when his lads tried to play more direct, and right into the strength of the Vikings backline.
Poder complimented his foes, saying, "They played fast, were physical and tough, and they outplayed us in that first half.
"But we're lucky to have Tomas and Ben in the back, and along with our outside
guys, Danny Burton and Luke Kosacz, and a terrific keeper (Will Lefevre), I knew we could stand up to all of their pressure."
Lefevre was the key to Poder's analysis. The senior handled his position with confidence and composure throughout the match, coming out to collect potentially troublesome serves and early-balls, while barking our encouragement and assignments to his mates in front of him. Then, when called to action, the senior made a magnificent, goal-saving stop to help stymie Libertyville for good.
Peleckas said, "That save by Will was amazing. The looked like it came in kind of late on him -- I am not too sure he saw it all the way -- but he somehow got to the ball and pushed it around the bar."
Both sides traded free kick attempts on frame during the first 20 minutes, with
Lefevre saving against Paul McKeon. Lefevre's counterpart, Sam Muchmore, hauled
one in from Luke Schoffstall.
Later, as intermission approached, the chances were a little more dangerous. McKeon once again tested Lefevre when the Wildcats attacked against the run of play. Next, Fremd's Zach Schoffstall forced a save after Gavin McCarty put the Vikings captain through.
Poder proved to be the perfect poacher when he jumped on top of a ball at the
back post in which Zach Schoffstall flashed into the area off a Libertyville defender.
"I don't know exactly how it all happened, but I saw Zach get to the corner, cut back, then send a ball off one of their guys. It just spun over everyone and fell to me," offered Poder, who nonetheless, finished smartly with a sublime touch in the 45th minute.
The Vikings nearly doubled their advantage against a now-reeling opponent when a
long, wind-aided throw from Zach Schoffstall led to a shot from Peleckas that didn't convert.
Libertyville responded moments later, and if not for a strong tackle by Kurt Rettke on a lovely ball from Reilly, things might have been different.
But the pattern of play changed following this sequence, and with every minute
gone, the Vikings became more difficult to pry open.
"We talked about doing a good job with the little things," said Keller. "And I thought we did just that, and after we withstood that first half or pressure, and especially
20 hard minutes from (Libertyville), we settled in and played the way we wanted
to and managed the game very well after that."
With the Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match duo of Borst and Peleckas preventing countless balls into the area from reaching Lefevre, or with both stepping in on the tackle to stop potential balls sent through, the level of frustration from Libertyville began to grow. That resulted in a trio of bookings from the center official, who
had little patience for dissent from Bitta's team.
"Whether calls were missed or made, which can all be debated, the center
referee has the final say. At times, we let that control our emotions, and
at this time of the year, that cannot be your focus in a big game like this,"
Bitta said.
With that said, there was still time for one last breathtaking moment in this
contest. That fell to Reilly, who wound up and unloaded a filthy seeing-eye bomb that appeared to be headed into the net, if not for Lefevre. The goalkeeper, in full extension to his right, got his gloves on the shot to keep his club in front with four minutes remaining.
"Just a great save," said both Poder and Peleckas, perhaps still in awe of the
shot long after the match was over.
"It was a very good win for us, and one that I thought was well earned with
the guys effort and heart on both sides of the ball," Keller said.
Starting lineups
Fremd
Will Lefevre (GK)
Danny Burton (D)
Ben Borst (D)
Tomas Peleckas (D)
Luke Kosacz (D)
Kurt Rettke (MF)
Rohan Menon (MF)
Jacob Cuthbert (MF)
Zach Schoffstall (MF)
Ben Poder (F)
Luke Schoffstall (F)
Libertyville
Sam Muchmore (GK)
Kyle Robson (D)
Ryan Pacholski (D)
Tucker Goebeler (D)
Paul McKeon (D)
Kenneth Gallagher (MF)
Gerard Eugene Touhey III (MF)
Liam O'Connell (MF)
Sam Kratzer (MF)
Cam Fragassi (F)
Kevin Reilly (F)
Men of the Match: Ben Borst and Tomas Peleckas, Fremd
Officials: Jay Weiss (center), John Anderson, Chris Blenshad.
holds off dangerous Libertyville
Borst, Peleckas help Vikings sink No. 2 seed in 1-0 win
By Mike Garofola
PALATINE -- It's old and true, the adage that defense wins championships. Tuesday night at Chic Anderson Stadium, Fremd proved just that.
The Mid-Suburban League champs defended magnificently against a sometimes-rampant Libertyville (14-4-0) attack, and used Ben Poder's cool finish five minutes after intermission to hold off the No. 2-seeded Wildcats to secure a hard-fought 1-0 sectional semifinal victory.
The third-seeded Vikings advance to the final against No. 13 Highland Park (13-6-4) at 5 p.m. Friday.
Fremd coach Steve Keller explained, "We knew what Libertyville was capable of, and in particular what kind of problems both No. 7 (Cam Fragassi) and No. 10 (Kevin Reilly) could cause. But we allowed them possession and to keep the ball (in the Vikings' final third) and after that, I thought (Ben) Borst and (Tomas) Peleckas and the boys did a great job of keeping them under control.
"Ben played a great game for us from start to finish, and Tomas was exceptional in the air, and when (Libertyville) tried to play direct and over our backline, the guys in front of our back four, Zach Schoffstall and Jacob Cuthbert, were there to head a lot of balls (out). And if they didn't, both Ben and Tomas cleaned up the rest."
Wildcats coach Andy Bitta's charges had started with intent, plenty of technical
proficiency and high-speed action on the ball, and the aforementioned duo of
Fragassi and Reilly were at the heart of most of the play.
Kyle Robson and Ryan Palcholski also came out of the back on several occasions to aid in Libertyville's attack.
"We played so much better than we did the other day when we beat Mundelein in our regional final," said Bitta, who has won more than 400 games and made three trips to the state finals in his illustrious career. "In fact, this was maybe our best half of soccer for the entire year.
"I thought we dominated the first half with some great soccer, playing quick and moving the ball around, but we didn't finish despite all that. Then we give up a bad goal to start the second half, and that's when you saw us shut down for a short while. And (Fremd) got tougher and tougher with their defensive play, especially in the back."
Bitta said the Wildcats attack fizzled when his lads tried to play more direct, and right into the strength of the Vikings backline.
Poder complimented his foes, saying, "They played fast, were physical and tough, and they outplayed us in that first half.
"But we're lucky to have Tomas and Ben in the back, and along with our outside
guys, Danny Burton and Luke Kosacz, and a terrific keeper (Will Lefevre), I knew we could stand up to all of their pressure."
Lefevre was the key to Poder's analysis. The senior handled his position with confidence and composure throughout the match, coming out to collect potentially troublesome serves and early-balls, while barking our encouragement and assignments to his mates in front of him. Then, when called to action, the senior made a magnificent, goal-saving stop to help stymie Libertyville for good.
Peleckas said, "That save by Will was amazing. The looked like it came in kind of late on him -- I am not too sure he saw it all the way -- but he somehow got to the ball and pushed it around the bar."
Both sides traded free kick attempts on frame during the first 20 minutes, with
Lefevre saving against Paul McKeon. Lefevre's counterpart, Sam Muchmore, hauled
one in from Luke Schoffstall.
Later, as intermission approached, the chances were a little more dangerous. McKeon once again tested Lefevre when the Wildcats attacked against the run of play. Next, Fremd's Zach Schoffstall forced a save after Gavin McCarty put the Vikings captain through.
Poder proved to be the perfect poacher when he jumped on top of a ball at the
back post in which Zach Schoffstall flashed into the area off a Libertyville defender.
"I don't know exactly how it all happened, but I saw Zach get to the corner, cut back, then send a ball off one of their guys. It just spun over everyone and fell to me," offered Poder, who nonetheless, finished smartly with a sublime touch in the 45th minute.
The Vikings nearly doubled their advantage against a now-reeling opponent when a
long, wind-aided throw from Zach Schoffstall led to a shot from Peleckas that didn't convert.
Libertyville responded moments later, and if not for a strong tackle by Kurt Rettke on a lovely ball from Reilly, things might have been different.
But the pattern of play changed following this sequence, and with every minute
gone, the Vikings became more difficult to pry open.
"We talked about doing a good job with the little things," said Keller. "And I thought we did just that, and after we withstood that first half or pressure, and especially
20 hard minutes from (Libertyville), we settled in and played the way we wanted
to and managed the game very well after that."
With the Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match duo of Borst and Peleckas preventing countless balls into the area from reaching Lefevre, or with both stepping in on the tackle to stop potential balls sent through, the level of frustration from Libertyville began to grow. That resulted in a trio of bookings from the center official, who
had little patience for dissent from Bitta's team.
"Whether calls were missed or made, which can all be debated, the center
referee has the final say. At times, we let that control our emotions, and
at this time of the year, that cannot be your focus in a big game like this,"
Bitta said.
With that said, there was still time for one last breathtaking moment in this
contest. That fell to Reilly, who wound up and unloaded a filthy seeing-eye bomb that appeared to be headed into the net, if not for Lefevre. The goalkeeper, in full extension to his right, got his gloves on the shot to keep his club in front with four minutes remaining.
"Just a great save," said both Poder and Peleckas, perhaps still in awe of the
shot long after the match was over.
"It was a very good win for us, and one that I thought was well earned with
the guys effort and heart on both sides of the ball," Keller said.
Starting lineups
Fremd
Will Lefevre (GK)
Danny Burton (D)
Ben Borst (D)
Tomas Peleckas (D)
Luke Kosacz (D)
Kurt Rettke (MF)
Rohan Menon (MF)
Jacob Cuthbert (MF)
Zach Schoffstall (MF)
Ben Poder (F)
Luke Schoffstall (F)
Libertyville
Sam Muchmore (GK)
Kyle Robson (D)
Ryan Pacholski (D)
Tucker Goebeler (D)
Paul McKeon (D)
Kenneth Gallagher (MF)
Gerard Eugene Touhey III (MF)
Liam O'Connell (MF)
Sam Kratzer (MF)
Cam Fragassi (F)
Kevin Reilly (F)
Men of the Match: Ben Borst and Tomas Peleckas, Fremd
Officials: Jay Weiss (center), John Anderson, Chris Blenshad.