Fremd comes alive vs. Stevenson
3 2nd half goals give Vikings a 4-1 regional title victory
By Gary Larsen
LINCOLNSHIRE — Fremd’s Josh Bennett chuckled when asked to relay the somewhat-heated message that coach Steve Keller gave the Vikings at halftime of their Class 3A regional title game against Stevenson on Friday.
“He gave us a nice little pep talk at halftime, to say the least,” Bennett said. “He just said we didn’t come prepared to play, and we needed to wake up. He wasn’t wrong. We came out slow.”
Adults who might worry that young people today just don’t listen can take heart: the Vikings took Keller’s advice. They played with urgency and played more effective soccer in the second half and broke open a 1-1 tie with three goals in the game’s final 20 minutes to win 4-1.
The victory gave Fremd the 14th regional championship in program history.
“It feels great,” senior defender Jake Schoffstall said. “Now we’ve got our eyes set on the sectional.”
The fourth-seeded Vikings take on top-seeded sectional host Libertyville in a semifinal on Tuesday.
Schoffstall scored twice and Fremd got one goal apiece from Eli Schoffstall and Nick Austin in the win.
Fremd (13-1-4) fell behind 1-0 at nine minutes when Stevenson (5-9-4) got a goal from Ryan Allen on a feed from the left side sent by Ben Dixon.
Fremd spent the next 20 minutes applying pressure as Stevenson took periodic counterattacking runs at Fremd’s backline.
Fremd’s Russell Beaupre has spent a lot of the 2019 season airmailing long, whistling throw-ins to opponents’ goal lines. The senior mid sent in a steady barrage of throws on Stevenson keeper Itay Gozahani on Friday. Gozahani went after them aggressively throughout.
Beaupre also takes Fremd’s corner kicks, and it was his corner kick at 30 minutes that set up the Vikings’ first goal. The corner was headed back to Beaupre on the right side, and he served it back in to a crowd at the near post.
Bennett touched it to Schoffstall, whose point-blank finish tied the game.
As the sectional’s 12th seed, Stevenson earned a spot in the regional final with a 2-1 win over fifth-seeded Zion-Benton.
After the goal, the Vikings were able to breathe a little easier but felt lucky to draw even at halftime.
“We started off a little tight, and the ball wasn’t moving,” Schoffstall said. “We’ve got to be sharper from the get-go.”
With the game tied 1-1, Keller didn’t only challenge his players at halftime. He also urged them to lighten up and just play.
Soccer is supposed to be fun, after all.
“I think sometimes you can get stuck in the ‘don’t want to make a mistake’ mentality,” Keller said. “To win, you’ve got to play loose. We backed up a little too much, gave up a little too much room in the first half.”
Fremd found another gear and more sharpness in its attack after halftime. Stevenson faced a steady stream of Beaupre throw-ins for the first 20 minutes of the second half, but Gozahani and the Patriots defended them well.
At 61 minutes, Bennett made his presence felt again. The senior played a ball from the middle to the right side for Nick Austin, who got behind the defense and fired from 14 yards.
Gozahani got a piece of Austin’s shot, but it had enough on it to squirt past him and find its way inside the far post. Austin’s goal stood up as the game-winner which gave Bennett assists on the game-tying and game-winning goals.
That timeliness earned Bennett the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor.
The senior has made a mark on the program in his final varsity season.
“He doesn’t get enough credit,” Keller said of Bennett. “He’s a marked player because of his pace and speed, and he puts pressure on the opposing defense.
“We’ve talked a lot about getting our team to join him, but he goes so fast that becomes hard to do. He’s a worker. He continues to fight, and he’s one of those players you want on your team.
"He plays up-top. If we get a lead we can move him to outside mid, and he holds down the fort on that side of the field.”
Stevenson fought hard to answer Austin’s goal but the Fremd backline of Jake Schoffstall, Kaelan Conway, Andrew Clark, and Cole Jackson handled anything the Patriots’ attack had to offer in front of keeper Artur Cholewa.
Eli Schoffstall stamped his name in the scorebook at 66 minutes. Bennett fired a shot that Gozahani stopped, but Schoffstall was on the spot to bury the rebound to make it 3-1.
The night’s final goal came when Conway served a free kick in from 50 yards at 72 minutes. Jake Schoffstall elevated at the goalmouth and headed it home for his 15th goal of the season.
“I almost didn’t send him up,” Keller said. “He’s our leading scorer, playing center back. He has lot of set piece goals, a lot of free kick goals and a lot of scrappy goals.”
Tuesday’s game against Libertyville will be a rematch of last year’s state playoff game between the teams. Libertyville won on penalty kicks over Fremd and went on to reach the 3A state title game.
Fremd is glad to be in a position to make another run at a state finals berth, largely courtesy of the oldest ingredient in sports.
“I think it’s the chemistry. Every guy’s fighting for every other guy,” Schoffstall said.
Bennett agreed.
“A lot of us have known each other a long time,” he said. “I’ve known some of these guys since I was eight or nine. And I think we complement each others’ skills.”
Starting lineups
Fremd
GK: Artur Cholewa
D: Kaelan Conway
D: Andrew Clark
D: Jake Schoffstall
D: Cole Jackson
M: C.J. Williams
M: Russell Beaupre
M: Josh Bennett
M: Nick Austin
M: John Kating
F: Eli Schoffstall
Stevenson
GK: Itay Gozahani
D: Rei Kutoba
D: Kevin Yan
D: Ryan Allen
D: Evan Paldrmic
M: Ben Dixon
M: Nick Brickman
M: Austin Kody
M: Camron Mahdavian
F: Anthony Skoridils
F: Alem Duratovic
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Josh Bennett, sr., F/M, Fremd
Scoring summary
First half
Stevenson — Allen (Dixon) 9 minutes
Fremd — J. Schoffstall (Bennett) 30 minutes
Second half
Fremd — Austin (Bennett) 61 minutes
Fremd — E. Schoffstall (Bennett) 66 minutes
Fremd — J. Schoffstall (Conway) 72 minutes
3 2nd half goals give Vikings a 4-1 regional title victory
By Gary Larsen
LINCOLNSHIRE — Fremd’s Josh Bennett chuckled when asked to relay the somewhat-heated message that coach Steve Keller gave the Vikings at halftime of their Class 3A regional title game against Stevenson on Friday.
“He gave us a nice little pep talk at halftime, to say the least,” Bennett said. “He just said we didn’t come prepared to play, and we needed to wake up. He wasn’t wrong. We came out slow.”
Adults who might worry that young people today just don’t listen can take heart: the Vikings took Keller’s advice. They played with urgency and played more effective soccer in the second half and broke open a 1-1 tie with three goals in the game’s final 20 minutes to win 4-1.
The victory gave Fremd the 14th regional championship in program history.
“It feels great,” senior defender Jake Schoffstall said. “Now we’ve got our eyes set on the sectional.”
The fourth-seeded Vikings take on top-seeded sectional host Libertyville in a semifinal on Tuesday.
Schoffstall scored twice and Fremd got one goal apiece from Eli Schoffstall and Nick Austin in the win.
Fremd (13-1-4) fell behind 1-0 at nine minutes when Stevenson (5-9-4) got a goal from Ryan Allen on a feed from the left side sent by Ben Dixon.
Fremd spent the next 20 minutes applying pressure as Stevenson took periodic counterattacking runs at Fremd’s backline.
Fremd’s Russell Beaupre has spent a lot of the 2019 season airmailing long, whistling throw-ins to opponents’ goal lines. The senior mid sent in a steady barrage of throws on Stevenson keeper Itay Gozahani on Friday. Gozahani went after them aggressively throughout.
Beaupre also takes Fremd’s corner kicks, and it was his corner kick at 30 minutes that set up the Vikings’ first goal. The corner was headed back to Beaupre on the right side, and he served it back in to a crowd at the near post.
Bennett touched it to Schoffstall, whose point-blank finish tied the game.
As the sectional’s 12th seed, Stevenson earned a spot in the regional final with a 2-1 win over fifth-seeded Zion-Benton.
After the goal, the Vikings were able to breathe a little easier but felt lucky to draw even at halftime.
“We started off a little tight, and the ball wasn’t moving,” Schoffstall said. “We’ve got to be sharper from the get-go.”
With the game tied 1-1, Keller didn’t only challenge his players at halftime. He also urged them to lighten up and just play.
Soccer is supposed to be fun, after all.
“I think sometimes you can get stuck in the ‘don’t want to make a mistake’ mentality,” Keller said. “To win, you’ve got to play loose. We backed up a little too much, gave up a little too much room in the first half.”
Fremd found another gear and more sharpness in its attack after halftime. Stevenson faced a steady stream of Beaupre throw-ins for the first 20 minutes of the second half, but Gozahani and the Patriots defended them well.
At 61 minutes, Bennett made his presence felt again. The senior played a ball from the middle to the right side for Nick Austin, who got behind the defense and fired from 14 yards.
Gozahani got a piece of Austin’s shot, but it had enough on it to squirt past him and find its way inside the far post. Austin’s goal stood up as the game-winner which gave Bennett assists on the game-tying and game-winning goals.
That timeliness earned Bennett the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor.
The senior has made a mark on the program in his final varsity season.
“He doesn’t get enough credit,” Keller said of Bennett. “He’s a marked player because of his pace and speed, and he puts pressure on the opposing defense.
“We’ve talked a lot about getting our team to join him, but he goes so fast that becomes hard to do. He’s a worker. He continues to fight, and he’s one of those players you want on your team.
"He plays up-top. If we get a lead we can move him to outside mid, and he holds down the fort on that side of the field.”
Stevenson fought hard to answer Austin’s goal but the Fremd backline of Jake Schoffstall, Kaelan Conway, Andrew Clark, and Cole Jackson handled anything the Patriots’ attack had to offer in front of keeper Artur Cholewa.
Eli Schoffstall stamped his name in the scorebook at 66 minutes. Bennett fired a shot that Gozahani stopped, but Schoffstall was on the spot to bury the rebound to make it 3-1.
The night’s final goal came when Conway served a free kick in from 50 yards at 72 minutes. Jake Schoffstall elevated at the goalmouth and headed it home for his 15th goal of the season.
“I almost didn’t send him up,” Keller said. “He’s our leading scorer, playing center back. He has lot of set piece goals, a lot of free kick goals and a lot of scrappy goals.”
Tuesday’s game against Libertyville will be a rematch of last year’s state playoff game between the teams. Libertyville won on penalty kicks over Fremd and went on to reach the 3A state title game.
Fremd is glad to be in a position to make another run at a state finals berth, largely courtesy of the oldest ingredient in sports.
“I think it’s the chemistry. Every guy’s fighting for every other guy,” Schoffstall said.
Bennett agreed.
“A lot of us have known each other a long time,” he said. “I’ve known some of these guys since I was eight or nine. And I think we complement each others’ skills.”
Starting lineups
Fremd
GK: Artur Cholewa
D: Kaelan Conway
D: Andrew Clark
D: Jake Schoffstall
D: Cole Jackson
M: C.J. Williams
M: Russell Beaupre
M: Josh Bennett
M: Nick Austin
M: John Kating
F: Eli Schoffstall
Stevenson
GK: Itay Gozahani
D: Rei Kutoba
D: Kevin Yan
D: Ryan Allen
D: Evan Paldrmic
M: Ben Dixon
M: Nick Brickman
M: Austin Kody
M: Camron Mahdavian
F: Anthony Skoridils
F: Alem Duratovic
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Josh Bennett, sr., F/M, Fremd
Scoring summary
First half
Stevenson — Allen (Dixon) 9 minutes
Fremd — J. Schoffstall (Bennett) 30 minutes
Second half
Fremd — Austin (Bennett) 61 minutes
Fremd — E. Schoffstall (Bennett) 66 minutes
Fremd — J. Schoffstall (Conway) 72 minutes