Fremd ends Palatine's hold on Kinsella Cup
Vikings regain rivalry trophy after 5-year absence with 2-0 win
By Mike Garofola
PALATINE -- Between them, Willie Filian and Steve Keller have nearly 1,200 career victories during their memorable years as managers respectively at Palatine and Fremd.
To win on the night when one club lifts the Kinsella Cup and carries it home for 12 months is a big deal for all but not so big as to lose sight of what sport and competition is all about.
Fremd, ranked seventh in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, ended the five-year hold its crosstown rival had on the coveted trophy with its 2-0 victory late Friday night at Hildebrandt Field. In doing so, celebrated its 16th victory in this remarkable series which began in 1995.
What made this wonderful night nearly perfect was an act of friendship and sportsmanship by Jamie Henning, whose younger sister Allie plays for Filians' Pirates.
Here's how Fremd senior Morgan Perkins describes Hennings' act of kindness after the game.
"We were all taking each other's pictures with our teammates, and Jaime (who played with Perkins Palatine Celtic Soccer Club which sponsors the trophy) walks over and tells us to get together for a group picture, that she will send all of us the pictures that she took.
"That showed great sportsmanship. Really, it was such a nice thing to have someone do, especially on a night when it was us winning the Cup and not Palatine."
Keller, within ear-shot of this conversation, nodded his head in approval, smiled, and then added: "This is what it's all about.
"You go out there and play, compete, and do your best, but in the end, it's still a game. And on a night like this, you're likely playing against girls you've known for quite some time.
"You want to win, but you want to respect your opponent also. And although we got the result tonight, each side played hard but all the time showed respect for one another."
The Kinsella Cup, named after Palatine Celtic Soccer Club co-founder Jimmy Kinsella has enjoyed its five-year residence at Palatine since 2014 when the Pirates claimed a 2-0 victory at Chic Anderson Stadium.
Since then, the series had featured hard-fought, one-goal results, the last two ending 1-0 in favor of Filian's club.
"It's always an important game on our schedule, there are so many seasons when it is the biggest game of the year for us," said Filian, who after the loss, remained at 299 career victories as the girls manager.
His near 375-career wins in the fall with the boys is far and away the most of any manager in the MSL, passing 2006 Hall of Fame inductee, Gerardo Pagnani, who he battled for years when Pagnani managed these same Vikings before Keller took over.
Pagnani, who was on vacation Friday, remains Keller's assistant.
Just two days after playing 100 minutes of high-energy soccer in a 0-0 draw with division rival Prospect, the Vikings came out after the opening whistle and appeared play at far slower pace than they did Wednesday.
"It was a different type of game for us, especially in the first half," said Emma Spotak, who earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor for her play.
This was Spotak's first Kinsella Cup experience after spending previous season playing club for Sockers FC.
"I cannot tell you how excited I was to be playing in this game," she said. "It's my senior year, I'm back playing with all of my friends, and all of us really wanted to bring the Cup back to Fremd."
Spotak struck what turned out to be the game-winner just six minutes into the contest. It was a bit of a soft goal by soccer standards but nonetheless one that's often seen.
"No. 22 (Liz Prigge) put a great, long-range freekick straight on to (Palatine keeper) Amaya (Rivera) which she saved, but unfortunately was unable to hold onto," recounted Filian. "(After) that it was an easy opening goal for them."
Prigge, the Vikings dead-ball specialist, unloaded her 30-yard missile, then watched Spotak one-time her close-range effort into the back of the net.
"It was all Prigge on that one," Spotak said with a smile.
"Tough goal for anyone to give up," said Keller. "But to be honest, that was about all we could muster in a first half when were tentative, got caught up playing Palatine's style, and were much too frantic.
"We play direct, try to be aggressive on both sides of the ball, create throws and free kicks, and just try to keep our opponents from getting into their game," began Pirates senior Ann Lu, who along with Serena Escalona made their team dangerous each time the ball was at their feet. Unfortunately for the Pirates, during the second half that was nearly never.
"We all wanted to keep the Cup for another year, and our backline did a great job tonight, but with all the pressure Fremd put on us after the break, our legs were getting heavy.
"It was that pressure and possession that forced us to defend and never get out of our own end in the second half."
Ashley Scesniak, Caeleigh Stone, Spotak, Stein and others who made their mark in that 100-minute draw at Prospect, did their best to do the same in the first period. But the combined efforts of the Pirates backline and the Vikings own inability to connect led to a less than appealing opening 40 minutes.
"I thought we played, as a team (offensively) some of our best soccer against Prospect," said Stein. "But Palatine has the ability to take you out of what you do best, and we fell into (it) during the first half."
After the match, Filian credited his back four of Melanie Simon, Julianna Mandarino, Grace Marion and Jennifer Lopez for their 80 minutes of constant defending.
"The did just about everything they could to keep us in the game, especially in the second half," Filian said. "But at that time once Fremd got on its front foot, we just were not able to get our attack going at all."
The aforementioned Lu was indeed a settling influence in the Pirates midfield: distributing, defending, winning balls and playing with confidence from box to box.
Lu would intercept twice near the midline, then find Ashley Donselaar in the Vikings end. That resulted in two deep throws that saw the Fremd defensive unit of Prigge, her sister Allie, Lauren Burk and Christy Murauskis take each ball out of the area with confidence.
Fremd finally got into the game just minutes before the intermission with more time on the ball, and some improved possesion. But it was Palatine (2-4-0, 0-1-0) which created one last chance near the end with Lu driving a free kick on frame after Kelly Bilotas' was fouled.
The Vikings (3-1-1, 1-0-1) showed attacking intent after the break and dominated play with possession, quick touches, width and the pace of its front-runners Scesniak, Smolak and Stein.
"Our forwards were much more involved in the second half, and we got them the ball from either out of the back or from our midfield which was much more active and creative," said Keller.
The manager moved Christy Murauskis from out of the back into the role as a holding midfielder, giving the look of a 3-1-3-3 formation, but the senior was found more often in the Vikings attack making it appear as if the hosts were playing a 3-4-3.
Either way it gave the Pirates too much to handle, and it wasn't long before Rivera would be called into action far more than Filian would have liked.
Spotak earned a corner for Liz Prigge that Murauskis headed wide. Palatine's Marion cleared a lovely early cross attempt in the box from Murauskis to Scesniak in the 51st minute.
Rivera kept things close with a marvelous double save on point-blank attempts from Murauskis and Stone. The second resulted in the Vikings fourth corner before the hour.
"We could not get out of our end for most of the second half," admitted Filian.
"(Their) front line had too much pace for us, and sooner than later, you almost knew another one might be coming, regardless of how hard we defended."
Stone went wide at 58 minutes, before Spotak helped her club earn two more corners. When a pair of defenders were unable to take a neat little ball into the box out of the area, up popped the ever-present Stein.
"Scesniak tapped a nice ball in. When I saw two of their players miss clearing it, it was (there) for me" said Stein, a junior, whose sublime one-timer found an open net at the back post.
The finish all but dashed the hopes of the Pirates, who were valiant in the last quarter hour in their effort to pull one back. But they could only put a half-chance at Jennifer Norris in the 77th minute.
"There is so much tradition in this game, and to be a part of it for the second time was awesome," said Stein. "And to see our hard work pay off with a win makes it so much better."
Added Spotak: "I'm so glad to be a part of this game and to be on the team that brought the Kinsella Cup back to our school."
Fremd hosts Loyola at 7 p.m. Tuesday (April 9) in an early opener for the prestigious Naperville Invitational opener. The Ramblers shocked no. 4 Glenbrook South with a 2-1 win that gave the Titans their first loss of the season.
Palatine travels to defending MSL East champion Elk Grove, which is fresh off an upset of Prospect, on Wednesday (April 10).
"Fremd deserved this win tonight, we played hard, kept it close for awhile, but that second half was played in our end almost the entire time," Filian said.
"Our roster, and formation is still in flux as we continue to sort things out. We might have an entirely different look when we play Elk Grove next week."
Starting lineups
Palatine (4-4-2)
G- Amaya Rivera
D- Grace Marion
D- Julianna Mandarino
D- Melanie Simon
D- Jennifer Lopez
M- Olivia Radtke
M- Ann Lu
M- Allie Henning
M- Brianna Curylo
F- Serena Escalona
F- Ashley Donselaar
Fremd (3-1-3-3)
G- Jennifer Norris
D- Christy Murauskis
D- Lauren Burk
D- Allie Prigge
DM- Liz Prigge
M- Mackenzie Stein
M- Kayla Tanner
M- Emma Katovich
F- Caeleigh Stone
F- Emma Spotak
F- Ashley Scesniak
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Emma Spotak, sr., F, Fremd
Referee: Nikola Aleksic
Scoring summary
First half
Fremd: Spotak (Liz Prigge) 6'
Second half
Stein (Scesniak) 62'
Vikings regain rivalry trophy after 5-year absence with 2-0 win
By Mike Garofola
PALATINE -- Between them, Willie Filian and Steve Keller have nearly 1,200 career victories during their memorable years as managers respectively at Palatine and Fremd.
To win on the night when one club lifts the Kinsella Cup and carries it home for 12 months is a big deal for all but not so big as to lose sight of what sport and competition is all about.
Fremd, ranked seventh in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, ended the five-year hold its crosstown rival had on the coveted trophy with its 2-0 victory late Friday night at Hildebrandt Field. In doing so, celebrated its 16th victory in this remarkable series which began in 1995.
What made this wonderful night nearly perfect was an act of friendship and sportsmanship by Jamie Henning, whose younger sister Allie plays for Filians' Pirates.
Here's how Fremd senior Morgan Perkins describes Hennings' act of kindness after the game.
"We were all taking each other's pictures with our teammates, and Jaime (who played with Perkins Palatine Celtic Soccer Club which sponsors the trophy) walks over and tells us to get together for a group picture, that she will send all of us the pictures that she took.
"That showed great sportsmanship. Really, it was such a nice thing to have someone do, especially on a night when it was us winning the Cup and not Palatine."
Keller, within ear-shot of this conversation, nodded his head in approval, smiled, and then added: "This is what it's all about.
"You go out there and play, compete, and do your best, but in the end, it's still a game. And on a night like this, you're likely playing against girls you've known for quite some time.
"You want to win, but you want to respect your opponent also. And although we got the result tonight, each side played hard but all the time showed respect for one another."
The Kinsella Cup, named after Palatine Celtic Soccer Club co-founder Jimmy Kinsella has enjoyed its five-year residence at Palatine since 2014 when the Pirates claimed a 2-0 victory at Chic Anderson Stadium.
Since then, the series had featured hard-fought, one-goal results, the last two ending 1-0 in favor of Filian's club.
"It's always an important game on our schedule, there are so many seasons when it is the biggest game of the year for us," said Filian, who after the loss, remained at 299 career victories as the girls manager.
His near 375-career wins in the fall with the boys is far and away the most of any manager in the MSL, passing 2006 Hall of Fame inductee, Gerardo Pagnani, who he battled for years when Pagnani managed these same Vikings before Keller took over.
Pagnani, who was on vacation Friday, remains Keller's assistant.
Just two days after playing 100 minutes of high-energy soccer in a 0-0 draw with division rival Prospect, the Vikings came out after the opening whistle and appeared play at far slower pace than they did Wednesday.
"It was a different type of game for us, especially in the first half," said Emma Spotak, who earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor for her play.
This was Spotak's first Kinsella Cup experience after spending previous season playing club for Sockers FC.
"I cannot tell you how excited I was to be playing in this game," she said. "It's my senior year, I'm back playing with all of my friends, and all of us really wanted to bring the Cup back to Fremd."
Spotak struck what turned out to be the game-winner just six minutes into the contest. It was a bit of a soft goal by soccer standards but nonetheless one that's often seen.
"No. 22 (Liz Prigge) put a great, long-range freekick straight on to (Palatine keeper) Amaya (Rivera) which she saved, but unfortunately was unable to hold onto," recounted Filian. "(After) that it was an easy opening goal for them."
Prigge, the Vikings dead-ball specialist, unloaded her 30-yard missile, then watched Spotak one-time her close-range effort into the back of the net.
"It was all Prigge on that one," Spotak said with a smile.
"Tough goal for anyone to give up," said Keller. "But to be honest, that was about all we could muster in a first half when were tentative, got caught up playing Palatine's style, and were much too frantic.
"We play direct, try to be aggressive on both sides of the ball, create throws and free kicks, and just try to keep our opponents from getting into their game," began Pirates senior Ann Lu, who along with Serena Escalona made their team dangerous each time the ball was at their feet. Unfortunately for the Pirates, during the second half that was nearly never.
"We all wanted to keep the Cup for another year, and our backline did a great job tonight, but with all the pressure Fremd put on us after the break, our legs were getting heavy.
"It was that pressure and possession that forced us to defend and never get out of our own end in the second half."
Ashley Scesniak, Caeleigh Stone, Spotak, Stein and others who made their mark in that 100-minute draw at Prospect, did their best to do the same in the first period. But the combined efforts of the Pirates backline and the Vikings own inability to connect led to a less than appealing opening 40 minutes.
"I thought we played, as a team (offensively) some of our best soccer against Prospect," said Stein. "But Palatine has the ability to take you out of what you do best, and we fell into (it) during the first half."
After the match, Filian credited his back four of Melanie Simon, Julianna Mandarino, Grace Marion and Jennifer Lopez for their 80 minutes of constant defending.
"The did just about everything they could to keep us in the game, especially in the second half," Filian said. "But at that time once Fremd got on its front foot, we just were not able to get our attack going at all."
The aforementioned Lu was indeed a settling influence in the Pirates midfield: distributing, defending, winning balls and playing with confidence from box to box.
Lu would intercept twice near the midline, then find Ashley Donselaar in the Vikings end. That resulted in two deep throws that saw the Fremd defensive unit of Prigge, her sister Allie, Lauren Burk and Christy Murauskis take each ball out of the area with confidence.
Fremd finally got into the game just minutes before the intermission with more time on the ball, and some improved possesion. But it was Palatine (2-4-0, 0-1-0) which created one last chance near the end with Lu driving a free kick on frame after Kelly Bilotas' was fouled.
The Vikings (3-1-1, 1-0-1) showed attacking intent after the break and dominated play with possession, quick touches, width and the pace of its front-runners Scesniak, Smolak and Stein.
"Our forwards were much more involved in the second half, and we got them the ball from either out of the back or from our midfield which was much more active and creative," said Keller.
The manager moved Christy Murauskis from out of the back into the role as a holding midfielder, giving the look of a 3-1-3-3 formation, but the senior was found more often in the Vikings attack making it appear as if the hosts were playing a 3-4-3.
Either way it gave the Pirates too much to handle, and it wasn't long before Rivera would be called into action far more than Filian would have liked.
Spotak earned a corner for Liz Prigge that Murauskis headed wide. Palatine's Marion cleared a lovely early cross attempt in the box from Murauskis to Scesniak in the 51st minute.
Rivera kept things close with a marvelous double save on point-blank attempts from Murauskis and Stone. The second resulted in the Vikings fourth corner before the hour.
"We could not get out of our end for most of the second half," admitted Filian.
"(Their) front line had too much pace for us, and sooner than later, you almost knew another one might be coming, regardless of how hard we defended."
Stone went wide at 58 minutes, before Spotak helped her club earn two more corners. When a pair of defenders were unable to take a neat little ball into the box out of the area, up popped the ever-present Stein.
"Scesniak tapped a nice ball in. When I saw two of their players miss clearing it, it was (there) for me" said Stein, a junior, whose sublime one-timer found an open net at the back post.
The finish all but dashed the hopes of the Pirates, who were valiant in the last quarter hour in their effort to pull one back. But they could only put a half-chance at Jennifer Norris in the 77th minute.
"There is so much tradition in this game, and to be a part of it for the second time was awesome," said Stein. "And to see our hard work pay off with a win makes it so much better."
Added Spotak: "I'm so glad to be a part of this game and to be on the team that brought the Kinsella Cup back to our school."
Fremd hosts Loyola at 7 p.m. Tuesday (April 9) in an early opener for the prestigious Naperville Invitational opener. The Ramblers shocked no. 4 Glenbrook South with a 2-1 win that gave the Titans their first loss of the season.
Palatine travels to defending MSL East champion Elk Grove, which is fresh off an upset of Prospect, on Wednesday (April 10).
"Fremd deserved this win tonight, we played hard, kept it close for awhile, but that second half was played in our end almost the entire time," Filian said.
"Our roster, and formation is still in flux as we continue to sort things out. We might have an entirely different look when we play Elk Grove next week."
Starting lineups
Palatine (4-4-2)
G- Amaya Rivera
D- Grace Marion
D- Julianna Mandarino
D- Melanie Simon
D- Jennifer Lopez
M- Olivia Radtke
M- Ann Lu
M- Allie Henning
M- Brianna Curylo
F- Serena Escalona
F- Ashley Donselaar
Fremd (3-1-3-3)
G- Jennifer Norris
D- Christy Murauskis
D- Lauren Burk
D- Allie Prigge
DM- Liz Prigge
M- Mackenzie Stein
M- Kayla Tanner
M- Emma Katovich
F- Caeleigh Stone
F- Emma Spotak
F- Ashley Scesniak
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Emma Spotak, sr., F, Fremd
Referee: Nikola Aleksic
Scoring summary
First half
Fremd: Spotak (Liz Prigge) 6'
Second half
Stein (Scesniak) 62'