PK pushes Naperville N. past Fremd
2nd half spot-kick only score in ranked battle
By Mike Garofola
PALATINE -- Leah Shumate's late spot-kick conversion was enough to earn a youthful Naperville North side a 1-0 nonconference victory over Fremd in a Wednesday night clash at Hildebrandt Field.
North, which last played and beat the Vikings in 2016 in overtime, combined with their hosts' to provide one heckuva early season match. It included just about everything anyone would want and gave fans a feeling of postseason soccer despite the March date on the calendar.
"It was just a fantastic, thrilling game to watch. It did feel like postseason soccer out there at times," said Naperville North manager Steve Goletz, who watched a near brand-new first 11 claim its first victory after back-to-back 2-0 losses to open its season.
Goletz's reference to so many fresh faces in his 2019 starting lineup is supported with only four players who remain from the 2018 3A state third place team: Hannah Martin, Reilly Riggs, Paige Sylvester and Shumate.
"Yes, there was a big turnover from our roster," Goletz said. "We not only lost those seven starters, but there were another six more who graduated as well."
On the other side of the near touchline, Steve Keller, who sent out nearly an entire group of freshmen and sophomores for the Vikings a year ago against Stevenson at regionals, welcomed back that bunch, along with three others who returned from club soccer.
"We had a solid core coming back, and the addition of experienced club players is always something you're happy about," began Keller, the Vikings long-time manager.
"With that however, there's that breaking-in period you go through as you blend and mix players, especially if you play them in a different position in order to do what's best for the team."
From the off, Naperville North dominated the ball on a crisp, cold Palatine evening with the first chance falling to Martin, who saw her effort beaten away by Vikings keeper Jennifer Norris.
The Martin opportunity came after a sequence of exchanges led by two names Goletz would praise afterwards and the pair who would share in the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor afterwards.
The aforementioned Shumate, and senior, Maddie Schlecht, who is back from club and on her way to play next fall at the University of Wisconsin.
"Leah has come so far as a player from last year," beamed Goletz. "She was very good in 2018, but this spring the jump in her overall player has been just remarkable
"As far as Maddie, we were thrilled when she decided to come back to play with us in her senior year, and you can see how she's raised the level of play in the midfield already."
This dynamic duo, along with their mates, came out on their collective front feet, and for the first 20 minutes and kept Fremd under pressure.
During the past two seasons, Keller has relied on the wonderfully talented Marta Cholewa as his center back to keep things watertight while pulling together the rest of her backline.
Cholewa has since moved on to college, but in her place the Vikings have two players who, in time, will impress their opponents.
Juniors Lauren Burk and Liz Prigge made quite an impression on this night.
Burk, who played alongside Cholewa at times a year ago, as well as in the middle or even up top for Keller, can go box-to-box. Prigge, a terrific defender in her own right, offers the Vikings something every club wants: an accurate, long-range dead ball provider.
Although the Vikings attack was minimal in the first half hour, Prigge created the two most dangerous chances during that time.
If not for a spectacular late save by Naperville North keeper Amanda Johnson of a 40-yard free kick missile by Prigge, the Vikings would have opened the scoring at 19 minutes.
Moments later, Prigge was at it again and reminded Goletz and his club to keep the free kick attempts to a minimun thereafter.
"Fremd had a lot of very good players, but no. 22 (Prigge) and those free kicks she hit were really dangerous and a tremendous weapon for Steve's team," said Goletz.
Prigge's two close strikes seemed to awaken a sleepy Vikings attack. A nice little one-two combination from Mackenzie Stein and Palak Khera forced another save from Johnson at 28 minutes.
Khera, brought on by Keller in the 24th minute, continued to make her mark on the game when she rattled the bar when she followed a Prigge free kick sent from just outside the box.
Graduation cost Goletz three-fourths of a backline that conceded just 15 goals in 29 games a year ago and provided 18 clean-sheets. The new unit, led by returning senior starters Reilly Riggs and Paige Sylvester, will be asked to shoulder more responsibility in front of Johnson.
"Our defense will need some time to come together, but there's a lot of pride and tradition in the way Naperville North defends in the sport of soccer, so I know things will be fine in time," said Goletz.
Riggs, Sylvester, Jordan Leonard and Emily Magee survived the Fremd advances, and a fast-paced, super-quick 40 minutes came to a goal-less end.
"I know all of us were a little nervous about playing a team that was state and nationally ranked," offered Prigge. "After a real slow start, I thought we came back into the game about midway through the first half, and played really well for the rest of the half."
The 10-minute intermission energized the Huskies, who came out and into the fast lane from the opening whistle and would continue to stay there for the first quarter hour.
The North attack grew in stature as the half wore on. The visitors missed a handful of chances, most notably on a pair of dead ball plays early on.
A sharp tackle from Fremd's Emma Katovich's inside the box prevented Martin from reaching a long throw; moments later, Burk and Prigge combined to block a Emily Dulik shot off a corner kick whipped into the box.
The Huskies faithful thought for sure Fremd keeper Jennifer Norris played Dulik instead of an early ball sent in from Schlecht, but the referee saw none of that when he correctly ruled the Vikings keeper was clean in this bang-bang sequence at 57 minutes.
The play began an ebb and flow of non-stop action from both clubs, which showed style, flair and flat-out exciting attacking football.
"It was clearly the best overall soccer we played thus far," said Shumate of the Huskies second half performance.
Shumate was dynamic with every touch -- the engine in the Huskies attack alongside Schlecht, who looked confident on the ball and in her runs -- never once looking out of place after her time away in club.
"I really like we connected our passes especially in the second half, when our runs and ability to play quick and wide were so good for this being our third game of the year," said Schlecht.
Huskies keeper Johnson was called into action when her mates failed to clear the area and gave up an attempt from Burk in the 57th minute.
Shumate and Michelle Schabacker followed with a nicely pieced together counter. Shumate, on the tail-end of her center-channel run, tested Norris.
Fremd defended smartly a Martin-to-Dulik-to-Schlecht combination, then held its collective breath when Schlecht freely ran onto a Shumate corner to force a save by Norris once again.
It took nearly 65 minutes for the visitors to find the eventual game-winner. After Dulic created pressure inside the box, the referee pointed to the spot after detecting the sophomore to be tripped up.
There was some confusion as to whether a PK has been issued. When it was there was little argument from Keller, who instead was surprised to learn that Burk was shown a straight red for her continued arguing of the call.
With Burk sent off, the Vikings would then be forced to play a player down for the final 16 minutes.
"I wouldn't want to have a call like that made in a really important game late in the season," said Goletz.
"I didn't like the call," said Keller, who at the time of the booking wasn't clear if the referee went straight red or two cautions. "Like Steve (Goletz), it's not one that I'd want to decide a regional, sectional or anything that big."
After a long delay, Shumate stepped up and delivered a cool, composed finish.
"I had to wait so long to take my PK, but I felt confident during the long pause, and right up until the shot," said the junior.
The final quarter hour saw both sides create a chance or two.
Two more long free kicks from Prigge kept the Huskies on edge, as did Caeleigh Stone, who fired an attempt to the back post where Johnson made the save.
Naperville North's Martin cleared a deep throw out of the area five minutes from time, while Prigge did the same on the other side of the park in the dying moments of play.
"We've come a long way since our opening loss to Barrington," began Schlecht, "so I know there's a lot of real good stuff ahead of us if we continue to work hard."
The Huskies, who played Batavia to a 1-1 draw the following evening, will enjoy some time off for spring break before opening play in the DuPage Valley Conference season with Waubonsie Valley on April 2.
"We need a little rest, but this is a game that we all should be happy with," said Goletz. "It came after playing two quality teams, including the defending two-time state champions (Barrington) to begin the season.
"There are so many good things to take from this game going forward, our play in the back, Amanda having a great game in goal, Ellie Gerner, a freshman, handling the defensive mid so well. (We'll) build from this game and continue to work to get better, and I know we will."
For Fremd, now 2-1-0 after victories over St. Charles East (2-0) and Lake Zurich (1-0), a similar message was expressed from both Keller and Liz Prigge.
"We played hard, especially in the second half when we went into the 50/50's and second balls so tough," suggested Prigge.
"It was an evenly played game, and an eye-opener for all of us who felt we might not be able to play with a team like Naperville North."
"It was tough having my backline buddy (Lauren Burk) go off like that, but we pulled together to get the job done."
Keller, who like his counterpart Goletz, will take a few days away from the game to recharge the batteries before opening Mid-Suburban League play against Prospect, which started 4-0-2.
"That first 20-25 minutes of the second half tonight was our best overall effort thus far," Keller said. "We had our chances tonight, and we put North on its heels at times, just as they did with us."
"There were a lot of encouraging signs for us along the back where we always put much of our concentration during the early part of the season. We build from that."
"Burk, Lizzy Prigge, Allie Prigge and Katovich did well together as unit in the back, as did Maggie McCarthy. And we did some good things in our attack with (Caeleigh) Stone, Mackenzie Stein and Emma Spotak, who we'll look to get more involved next time out."
Starting lineups
Naperville North (4-4-2)
G- Amanda Johnson
D- Paige Sylvester
D- Reilly Riggs
D- Emily Magee
D- Jordan Leonard
M- Emily Dulik
M- Leah Shumate
M- Maddie Schlecht
M- Ellie Gerner
F- Katie Murphy
F- Hannah Martin
Fremd (4-4-2)
G- Jennifer Norris
D- Emma Katovich
D- Lauren Burk
D- Liz Prigge
D- Allie Prigge
M- Morgan Perkins
M- Mackenzie Stein
M- Ashley Scesniak
M- Christy Murauskis
F- Kayla Tanner
F- Caeleigh Stone
Chicagoland Soccer co-MVPs of the Match: Maddie Schlecht, sr., MF, Naperville North
Leah Shumate, jr., MF, Naperville North
Referee: Mario Castillo
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Naperville North: Shumate (PK) 64'
2nd half spot-kick only score in ranked battle
By Mike Garofola
PALATINE -- Leah Shumate's late spot-kick conversion was enough to earn a youthful Naperville North side a 1-0 nonconference victory over Fremd in a Wednesday night clash at Hildebrandt Field.
North, which last played and beat the Vikings in 2016 in overtime, combined with their hosts' to provide one heckuva early season match. It included just about everything anyone would want and gave fans a feeling of postseason soccer despite the March date on the calendar.
"It was just a fantastic, thrilling game to watch. It did feel like postseason soccer out there at times," said Naperville North manager Steve Goletz, who watched a near brand-new first 11 claim its first victory after back-to-back 2-0 losses to open its season.
Goletz's reference to so many fresh faces in his 2019 starting lineup is supported with only four players who remain from the 2018 3A state third place team: Hannah Martin, Reilly Riggs, Paige Sylvester and Shumate.
"Yes, there was a big turnover from our roster," Goletz said. "We not only lost those seven starters, but there were another six more who graduated as well."
On the other side of the near touchline, Steve Keller, who sent out nearly an entire group of freshmen and sophomores for the Vikings a year ago against Stevenson at regionals, welcomed back that bunch, along with three others who returned from club soccer.
"We had a solid core coming back, and the addition of experienced club players is always something you're happy about," began Keller, the Vikings long-time manager.
"With that however, there's that breaking-in period you go through as you blend and mix players, especially if you play them in a different position in order to do what's best for the team."
From the off, Naperville North dominated the ball on a crisp, cold Palatine evening with the first chance falling to Martin, who saw her effort beaten away by Vikings keeper Jennifer Norris.
The Martin opportunity came after a sequence of exchanges led by two names Goletz would praise afterwards and the pair who would share in the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor afterwards.
The aforementioned Shumate, and senior, Maddie Schlecht, who is back from club and on her way to play next fall at the University of Wisconsin.
"Leah has come so far as a player from last year," beamed Goletz. "She was very good in 2018, but this spring the jump in her overall player has been just remarkable
"As far as Maddie, we were thrilled when she decided to come back to play with us in her senior year, and you can see how she's raised the level of play in the midfield already."
This dynamic duo, along with their mates, came out on their collective front feet, and for the first 20 minutes and kept Fremd under pressure.
During the past two seasons, Keller has relied on the wonderfully talented Marta Cholewa as his center back to keep things watertight while pulling together the rest of her backline.
Cholewa has since moved on to college, but in her place the Vikings have two players who, in time, will impress their opponents.
Juniors Lauren Burk and Liz Prigge made quite an impression on this night.
Burk, who played alongside Cholewa at times a year ago, as well as in the middle or even up top for Keller, can go box-to-box. Prigge, a terrific defender in her own right, offers the Vikings something every club wants: an accurate, long-range dead ball provider.
Although the Vikings attack was minimal in the first half hour, Prigge created the two most dangerous chances during that time.
If not for a spectacular late save by Naperville North keeper Amanda Johnson of a 40-yard free kick missile by Prigge, the Vikings would have opened the scoring at 19 minutes.
Moments later, Prigge was at it again and reminded Goletz and his club to keep the free kick attempts to a minimun thereafter.
"Fremd had a lot of very good players, but no. 22 (Prigge) and those free kicks she hit were really dangerous and a tremendous weapon for Steve's team," said Goletz.
Prigge's two close strikes seemed to awaken a sleepy Vikings attack. A nice little one-two combination from Mackenzie Stein and Palak Khera forced another save from Johnson at 28 minutes.
Khera, brought on by Keller in the 24th minute, continued to make her mark on the game when she rattled the bar when she followed a Prigge free kick sent from just outside the box.
Graduation cost Goletz three-fourths of a backline that conceded just 15 goals in 29 games a year ago and provided 18 clean-sheets. The new unit, led by returning senior starters Reilly Riggs and Paige Sylvester, will be asked to shoulder more responsibility in front of Johnson.
"Our defense will need some time to come together, but there's a lot of pride and tradition in the way Naperville North defends in the sport of soccer, so I know things will be fine in time," said Goletz.
Riggs, Sylvester, Jordan Leonard and Emily Magee survived the Fremd advances, and a fast-paced, super-quick 40 minutes came to a goal-less end.
"I know all of us were a little nervous about playing a team that was state and nationally ranked," offered Prigge. "After a real slow start, I thought we came back into the game about midway through the first half, and played really well for the rest of the half."
The 10-minute intermission energized the Huskies, who came out and into the fast lane from the opening whistle and would continue to stay there for the first quarter hour.
The North attack grew in stature as the half wore on. The visitors missed a handful of chances, most notably on a pair of dead ball plays early on.
A sharp tackle from Fremd's Emma Katovich's inside the box prevented Martin from reaching a long throw; moments later, Burk and Prigge combined to block a Emily Dulik shot off a corner kick whipped into the box.
The Huskies faithful thought for sure Fremd keeper Jennifer Norris played Dulik instead of an early ball sent in from Schlecht, but the referee saw none of that when he correctly ruled the Vikings keeper was clean in this bang-bang sequence at 57 minutes.
The play began an ebb and flow of non-stop action from both clubs, which showed style, flair and flat-out exciting attacking football.
"It was clearly the best overall soccer we played thus far," said Shumate of the Huskies second half performance.
Shumate was dynamic with every touch -- the engine in the Huskies attack alongside Schlecht, who looked confident on the ball and in her runs -- never once looking out of place after her time away in club.
"I really like we connected our passes especially in the second half, when our runs and ability to play quick and wide were so good for this being our third game of the year," said Schlecht.
Huskies keeper Johnson was called into action when her mates failed to clear the area and gave up an attempt from Burk in the 57th minute.
Shumate and Michelle Schabacker followed with a nicely pieced together counter. Shumate, on the tail-end of her center-channel run, tested Norris.
Fremd defended smartly a Martin-to-Dulik-to-Schlecht combination, then held its collective breath when Schlecht freely ran onto a Shumate corner to force a save by Norris once again.
It took nearly 65 minutes for the visitors to find the eventual game-winner. After Dulic created pressure inside the box, the referee pointed to the spot after detecting the sophomore to be tripped up.
There was some confusion as to whether a PK has been issued. When it was there was little argument from Keller, who instead was surprised to learn that Burk was shown a straight red for her continued arguing of the call.
With Burk sent off, the Vikings would then be forced to play a player down for the final 16 minutes.
"I wouldn't want to have a call like that made in a really important game late in the season," said Goletz.
"I didn't like the call," said Keller, who at the time of the booking wasn't clear if the referee went straight red or two cautions. "Like Steve (Goletz), it's not one that I'd want to decide a regional, sectional or anything that big."
After a long delay, Shumate stepped up and delivered a cool, composed finish.
"I had to wait so long to take my PK, but I felt confident during the long pause, and right up until the shot," said the junior.
The final quarter hour saw both sides create a chance or two.
Two more long free kicks from Prigge kept the Huskies on edge, as did Caeleigh Stone, who fired an attempt to the back post where Johnson made the save.
Naperville North's Martin cleared a deep throw out of the area five minutes from time, while Prigge did the same on the other side of the park in the dying moments of play.
"We've come a long way since our opening loss to Barrington," began Schlecht, "so I know there's a lot of real good stuff ahead of us if we continue to work hard."
The Huskies, who played Batavia to a 1-1 draw the following evening, will enjoy some time off for spring break before opening play in the DuPage Valley Conference season with Waubonsie Valley on April 2.
"We need a little rest, but this is a game that we all should be happy with," said Goletz. "It came after playing two quality teams, including the defending two-time state champions (Barrington) to begin the season.
"There are so many good things to take from this game going forward, our play in the back, Amanda having a great game in goal, Ellie Gerner, a freshman, handling the defensive mid so well. (We'll) build from this game and continue to work to get better, and I know we will."
For Fremd, now 2-1-0 after victories over St. Charles East (2-0) and Lake Zurich (1-0), a similar message was expressed from both Keller and Liz Prigge.
"We played hard, especially in the second half when we went into the 50/50's and second balls so tough," suggested Prigge.
"It was an evenly played game, and an eye-opener for all of us who felt we might not be able to play with a team like Naperville North."
"It was tough having my backline buddy (Lauren Burk) go off like that, but we pulled together to get the job done."
Keller, who like his counterpart Goletz, will take a few days away from the game to recharge the batteries before opening Mid-Suburban League play against Prospect, which started 4-0-2.
"That first 20-25 minutes of the second half tonight was our best overall effort thus far," Keller said. "We had our chances tonight, and we put North on its heels at times, just as they did with us."
"There were a lot of encouraging signs for us along the back where we always put much of our concentration during the early part of the season. We build from that."
"Burk, Lizzy Prigge, Allie Prigge and Katovich did well together as unit in the back, as did Maggie McCarthy. And we did some good things in our attack with (Caeleigh) Stone, Mackenzie Stein and Emma Spotak, who we'll look to get more involved next time out."
Starting lineups
Naperville North (4-4-2)
G- Amanda Johnson
D- Paige Sylvester
D- Reilly Riggs
D- Emily Magee
D- Jordan Leonard
M- Emily Dulik
M- Leah Shumate
M- Maddie Schlecht
M- Ellie Gerner
F- Katie Murphy
F- Hannah Martin
Fremd (4-4-2)
G- Jennifer Norris
D- Emma Katovich
D- Lauren Burk
D- Liz Prigge
D- Allie Prigge
M- Morgan Perkins
M- Mackenzie Stein
M- Ashley Scesniak
M- Christy Murauskis
F- Kayla Tanner
F- Caeleigh Stone
Chicagoland Soccer co-MVPs of the Match: Maddie Schlecht, sr., MF, Naperville North
Leah Shumate, jr., MF, Naperville North
Referee: Mario Castillo
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Naperville North: Shumate (PK) 64'