Fremd tops Schaumburg, takes West crown
Lesiuk hat-trick paves way for 3-1 Vikings victory
By Ken Keenan
SCHAUMBURG -- Powered by stellar senior forward Dorian Lesiuk, Fremd locked up its first Mid-Suburban League West Division title in four years with a 3-1 decision over host Schaumburg Tuesday night.
Lesiuk scored all three of the Vikings' goals, including a pair in the first half to give his team a 2-0 lead at the break. Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match completed the hat-trick on a successful penalty kick try with 27:06 remaining in the second session.
The Saxons, who fell to 4-10-2 overall and 3-7-0 in league play with the loss on Senior Night, scratched back and netted a late goal to break the shutout.
Fremd, ranked no. 10 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, improved to 10-4-1 overall. The Vikings exited the pitch atop the MSL West standings at 8-1-1.
"The (West) title means a lot," said Lesiuk, a first-year member of Fremd's varsity squad after previously playing club ball. "We only play to win, and winning is fun. But we have some stuff to work on. We were sloppy at times (Tuesday night), and that's not how we want to play with big games coming up."
The Vikings play Rolling Meadows on Friday before finishing the regular season against MSL East Division champion Buffalo Grove in the league title match on Oct. 11. Fremd opens IHSA Class 3A tournament play in its own regional against Waukegan at 7 p.m. Oct. 16.
"The (West) title is nice," said Vikings head coach Steve Keller. "But the way we're playing, that's not gonna take us anywhere in the playoffs. I'd trade the title to play better soccer right now. This team has potential ... a lot of talent. But we have to put a game together, a whole game. We need to play hard, smart and simple, and we need to be sharper and more focused."
Such is the case when expectations are high, explaining why Keller and Co. didn't crow too much about securing the MSL West crown.
"We're not done yet," said Fremd senior midfielder Connor Sapiente. "We'd like to win the (MSL Cup) and then keep going."
In an effort to keep Fremd's potent attack at bay, the Saxons came out with a defense-first mentality, rarely sending any players past midfield.
"Fremd is a top team," said Schaumburg skipper Eric Sorby. "They can pick you apart and expose you, so we wanted to see if we could hold 'em."
On the flip-side, that strategy allowed the Vikings to calmly maintain possession and set up shop in the offensive third.
In the 2nd minute, Vikings junior forward Russell Beaupre pounced on a loose ball and fired on the run from 20 yards, but his try sailed high over the crossbar. Six minutes later, Fremd junior defender Jake Schoffstall sent a 35-yard rocket just over the bar.
With 26:50 to go in the first half, Sapiente finished a nice run with a pass to sophomore mid Nick Austin, who released a shot from a sharp angle on the right side that was stopped by Saxons senior goalkeeper Nick Labud. Soon after, a bit of craziness unfolded when a multi-touch Fremd rush ended with Austin's cross to the box pin-balling around in traffic before gently bouncing off of each post.
Another solid Vikings passing sequence in the 16th minute resulted in a header by Beaupre that missed wide-left. Less than 30 seconds later, Lesiuk didn't miss his chance. After taking a feed from Austin, Lesiuk raced ahead untouched on the right side and beat Labud with a low strike inside the far post.
Lesiuk increased the Fremd lead to 2-0 with 16:56 to go before the break, finding the back of the net in spectacular fashion. The play started with freshman forward Eli Schoffstall setting up senior mid Jake Scesniak for a try in-close that hit a defender. Lesiuk then struck the rebound with a bicycle-type kick while falling down to tip the ball over the goal line.
"The ball came across from the left side and took a funny deflection, so I decided to try that kind of kick and it went in," Lesiuk said.
Sorby said, "We make a couple mistakes, and then when you have a clinical finisher on the field, he'll make you pay for that."
Lesiuk added his third goal in the 53rd minute. After being fouled in the box, Lesiuk lined up his PK chance and beat Labud top-left to make it a 3-0 bulge.
"He's been our main goal scorer (11 goals) this year," Keller said. "He understands the game, always works hard and fulfills the goal of being a target player. He's a quality player and a quality captain -- not only his soccer pedigree but his character traits as well. You hope that rubs off on everyone else."
Schaumburg notched its lone goal with 7:38 remaining. First, Fremd junior keeper Artur Cholewa made an outstanding, one-handed save on a bullet by scrappy Saxons senior mid Nick Marino. On the ensuing corner kick, Marino sent a perfect ball to junior mid Arnav Karnik, who finished with a header past Cholewa.
"At that point (down 3-0), we want to keep pressing and trying to get a goal, and try to get back even," Marino said. "We wanted to press and move the ball up, try to get some numbers moving forward."
Added Schaumburg junior mid Edwin Zuniga: "It took us a while to get on our feet. But we fired back in the second half. Not enough, though. A talented team like Fremd, the mistakes got past us. It's frustrating, but in the playoffs we'll put up a fight."
The Saxons will face Conant in the opening round of the Schaumburg Regional at 10 a.m. Oct. 13.
"We'll go out hard vs. Conant," Marino said. "I'm ready for that game ... looking forward to the postseason."
Starting lineups
Fremd
G: Artur Cholewa
D: Kaelen Conway
D: Jake Schoffstall
D: C.J. Williams
D: Aidan Johnston
M: Connor Sapiente
M: Nick Austin
M: Josh Bennett
M: John Kating
F: Dorian Lesiuk
F: Russell Beaupre
Schaumburg
G: Nick Labud
D: Michael Cooper
D: Kyle Chase
D: Sam Bogner
D: Andrew Flight
M: Nick Marino
M: Edwin Zuniga
M: Arnav Karnik
M: Jared Schoo
M: Phil Hassman
F: Luis Vazquez Flores
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Dorian Lesiuk, sr., F, Fremd
Officials: Bill Niemeyer, Rafal Zielinski, Brett Fankhauser
Scoring summary
First half
Fremd: Dorian Lesiuk (Nick Austin), 16th minute
Fremd: Lesiuk (Jake Scesniak), 24th minute
Second half
Fremd: Lesiuk (PK), 53rd minute
Schaumburg: Arnav Karnik (Nick Marino), 73rd minute
Lesiuk hat-trick paves way for 3-1 Vikings victory
By Ken Keenan
SCHAUMBURG -- Powered by stellar senior forward Dorian Lesiuk, Fremd locked up its first Mid-Suburban League West Division title in four years with a 3-1 decision over host Schaumburg Tuesday night.
Lesiuk scored all three of the Vikings' goals, including a pair in the first half to give his team a 2-0 lead at the break. Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match completed the hat-trick on a successful penalty kick try with 27:06 remaining in the second session.
The Saxons, who fell to 4-10-2 overall and 3-7-0 in league play with the loss on Senior Night, scratched back and netted a late goal to break the shutout.
Fremd, ranked no. 10 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, improved to 10-4-1 overall. The Vikings exited the pitch atop the MSL West standings at 8-1-1.
"The (West) title means a lot," said Lesiuk, a first-year member of Fremd's varsity squad after previously playing club ball. "We only play to win, and winning is fun. But we have some stuff to work on. We were sloppy at times (Tuesday night), and that's not how we want to play with big games coming up."
The Vikings play Rolling Meadows on Friday before finishing the regular season against MSL East Division champion Buffalo Grove in the league title match on Oct. 11. Fremd opens IHSA Class 3A tournament play in its own regional against Waukegan at 7 p.m. Oct. 16.
"The (West) title is nice," said Vikings head coach Steve Keller. "But the way we're playing, that's not gonna take us anywhere in the playoffs. I'd trade the title to play better soccer right now. This team has potential ... a lot of talent. But we have to put a game together, a whole game. We need to play hard, smart and simple, and we need to be sharper and more focused."
Such is the case when expectations are high, explaining why Keller and Co. didn't crow too much about securing the MSL West crown.
"We're not done yet," said Fremd senior midfielder Connor Sapiente. "We'd like to win the (MSL Cup) and then keep going."
In an effort to keep Fremd's potent attack at bay, the Saxons came out with a defense-first mentality, rarely sending any players past midfield.
"Fremd is a top team," said Schaumburg skipper Eric Sorby. "They can pick you apart and expose you, so we wanted to see if we could hold 'em."
On the flip-side, that strategy allowed the Vikings to calmly maintain possession and set up shop in the offensive third.
In the 2nd minute, Vikings junior forward Russell Beaupre pounced on a loose ball and fired on the run from 20 yards, but his try sailed high over the crossbar. Six minutes later, Fremd junior defender Jake Schoffstall sent a 35-yard rocket just over the bar.
With 26:50 to go in the first half, Sapiente finished a nice run with a pass to sophomore mid Nick Austin, who released a shot from a sharp angle on the right side that was stopped by Saxons senior goalkeeper Nick Labud. Soon after, a bit of craziness unfolded when a multi-touch Fremd rush ended with Austin's cross to the box pin-balling around in traffic before gently bouncing off of each post.
Another solid Vikings passing sequence in the 16th minute resulted in a header by Beaupre that missed wide-left. Less than 30 seconds later, Lesiuk didn't miss his chance. After taking a feed from Austin, Lesiuk raced ahead untouched on the right side and beat Labud with a low strike inside the far post.
Lesiuk increased the Fremd lead to 2-0 with 16:56 to go before the break, finding the back of the net in spectacular fashion. The play started with freshman forward Eli Schoffstall setting up senior mid Jake Scesniak for a try in-close that hit a defender. Lesiuk then struck the rebound with a bicycle-type kick while falling down to tip the ball over the goal line.
"The ball came across from the left side and took a funny deflection, so I decided to try that kind of kick and it went in," Lesiuk said.
Sorby said, "We make a couple mistakes, and then when you have a clinical finisher on the field, he'll make you pay for that."
Lesiuk added his third goal in the 53rd minute. After being fouled in the box, Lesiuk lined up his PK chance and beat Labud top-left to make it a 3-0 bulge.
"He's been our main goal scorer (11 goals) this year," Keller said. "He understands the game, always works hard and fulfills the goal of being a target player. He's a quality player and a quality captain -- not only his soccer pedigree but his character traits as well. You hope that rubs off on everyone else."
Schaumburg notched its lone goal with 7:38 remaining. First, Fremd junior keeper Artur Cholewa made an outstanding, one-handed save on a bullet by scrappy Saxons senior mid Nick Marino. On the ensuing corner kick, Marino sent a perfect ball to junior mid Arnav Karnik, who finished with a header past Cholewa.
"At that point (down 3-0), we want to keep pressing and trying to get a goal, and try to get back even," Marino said. "We wanted to press and move the ball up, try to get some numbers moving forward."
Added Schaumburg junior mid Edwin Zuniga: "It took us a while to get on our feet. But we fired back in the second half. Not enough, though. A talented team like Fremd, the mistakes got past us. It's frustrating, but in the playoffs we'll put up a fight."
The Saxons will face Conant in the opening round of the Schaumburg Regional at 10 a.m. Oct. 13.
"We'll go out hard vs. Conant," Marino said. "I'm ready for that game ... looking forward to the postseason."
Starting lineups
Fremd
G: Artur Cholewa
D: Kaelen Conway
D: Jake Schoffstall
D: C.J. Williams
D: Aidan Johnston
M: Connor Sapiente
M: Nick Austin
M: Josh Bennett
M: John Kating
F: Dorian Lesiuk
F: Russell Beaupre
Schaumburg
G: Nick Labud
D: Michael Cooper
D: Kyle Chase
D: Sam Bogner
D: Andrew Flight
M: Nick Marino
M: Edwin Zuniga
M: Arnav Karnik
M: Jared Schoo
M: Phil Hassman
F: Luis Vazquez Flores
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Dorian Lesiuk, sr., F, Fremd
Officials: Bill Niemeyer, Rafal Zielinski, Brett Fankhauser
Scoring summary
First half
Fremd: Dorian Lesiuk (Nick Austin), 16th minute
Fremd: Lesiuk (Jake Scesniak), 24th minute
Second half
Fremd: Lesiuk (PK), 53rd minute
Schaumburg: Arnav Karnik (Nick Marino), 73rd minute