Kindly Fremd accepts gift,
shuts out Prospect
Vikings open Mid-Suburban League slate with 2-0 victory
By Bill McLean
PALATINE — Early in the season Fremd coach Steve Keller knew he’d promote freshman midfielder Ava Catherall to the varsity team.
But none of his established Vikings knew that when several of them urged Keller to name Catherall to the parent club before last week’s win at Saint Viator.
“I thought that was neat how the players recommended Ava,” Keller said. “That’s not normal, with kids fighting for spots on the team and playing time. One of our seniors [forward Abigail Iannuzzelli] told me, ‘She’d help us.’ Our girls showed maturity.
“It’s a kind group,” he added. “It’s something I appreciate.”
Prospect was unintentionally good-hearted in the first minute of the second half in a Mid-Suburban League match at chilly Fremd on Wednesday night. Miscommunication led directly to the Vikes’ first goal in their 2-0 victory.
Fremd senior forward Caeleigh Stone capitalized on the miscue, hustling to catch up to a ball that had own-goal written all over it before nudging it over the line when it was inches from pay dirt.
Home spectators got to cheer 13 seconds after the second half kickoff.
“You want to know how far I was when my foot touched the ball?” Stone said. “Here, I’ll show you.”
Stone then placed a normal-sized stainless steel water bottle near her right foot.
“The distance was about the length of this bottle,” Stone said.
“Caeleigh,” Keller noted, “ran a long way to score that goal.”
Fremd’s second goal — authored by Iannuzzelli, off a snappy delivery from junior forward Lily Spotak in the 74th minute — traveled considerably farther than Stone’s tap-in. It flew about 15 yards before striking the right side of the crossbar, glancing off a post and settling in behind Knights senior goalkeeper Annie Ninness (11 saves).
‘We’d been working on that in practice, a lot,” Iannuzzelli said, referring to the Spotak-Iannuzzelli connection, not the ricochet. “Lily has the wheels, and I have the range.”
Prospect coach Tom Froats dubbed the first goal “unfortunate” and admitted it probably rattled his Knights (1-2-1, 1-1-0 in MSL play) for the next 10-15 minutes. But he was pleased that his squad kept a talented foe scoreless in the first 40 minutes and never thought it was out of it at any point in the second 40.
“Well-played game, evenly played game,” Froats said. “That first goal was a tough one in a tough situation. It certainly tilted the game. But I liked the way we kept battling, and our work rate was good throughout the match.”
Prospect sophomore forward/midfielder Lauren Harrell’s energy never abated Wednesday night, and she emerged as a dangerous threat amid Fremd’s strong defenders and Vikes junior keeper Sam Gary several times.
Junior teammate Jackie Keane, a reliable midfielder/defender, takes her primary role of keeping the Knights’ ‘D’ together seriously.
“I like how we gave it our all, even when we were down 1-0 and trailing 2-0,” Keane said. “Communication … it’s important. There were points in the game tonight when we didn’t do that very well. We’ll work on that.”
Froats lauded Keane for her relentlessness in each half.
“Tough, hard-nosed in the one-on-one environment,” he said. “Jackie doesn’t give any ground.”
Fremd (2-1-0, 1-0-0) — listed as one of 15 teams to “Look out for” in Chicagoland Soccer’s Top 25 honorable mention list — received another sturdy effort from junior defender/midfielder Shannon Moran, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match. It took her only three minutes Wednesday night to thwart a Prospect rush.
“Steady, solid,” Keller said. “That’s the kind of night she had.”
Vikings senior midfielder Ashley Scesniak nearly notched an assist in the second minute, dishing a smooth feed to the swift Spotak, whose ensuing shot missed wide right by a smidge. Scesniak’s savvy and array of dribbling skills put the Knights’ defense on high alert several other times in the first half.
A superb pass from Prospect junior midfielder Abby Knott found the feet of Harrell with a little more than three minutes left in the first half, but an offside call halted the sequence.
A booming header off Fremd senior defender Palak Khera, who was planted inside Fremd’s 18, rocketed at least 15 yards and highlighted the final minute before the break.
Fremd junior forward/midfielder Anna Schmitt stood out in the second half, flying around the pitch and weaving seemingly effortlessly whenever the ball was at her feet.
“Awesome. Awesome stuff,” Keller said to Schmitt as she came of the pitch with 16 minutes remaining in the contest.
Ninness dove to her right to save a 15-yard shot off the foot of Spotak in the 62nd minute. Spotak was in the middle of another foray about a minute later and followed that up by fielding a nice ball from freshman defender/midfielder Gemma Gillespie for yet another chance.
“I was pleased with the scoring opportunities we had, because we did not generate that many in our first game and a half,” said Keller, whose club opened the season with a 3-0 loss to St. Charles East (ranked no. 2 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25) and then topped Saint Viator 4-1.
Prospect’s top chance to tie it at 1 came on a close shot by Harrell in the 71st minute. Senior reserve midfielder Maddie Cowen had set up the promising attempt with a nifty pass.
The shot had significant oomph, but Gary, positioned perfectly, didn’t have to move much to record her biggest save of the night. Fremd’s keeper stopped the fast ball with both hands and nary a bobble.
Three minutes later Spotak and Iannuzzelli collaborated for the goal that put Keller’s kind kids up 2-0.
Fremd hosts Schaumburg on Friday at 7 p.m. Prospect has some practice time at its feet before it hosts Schaumburg May 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Footnotes:
Keller, on the collective personality of his 2021 Vikings crew: “Fun to be around, always giving you reasons to smile.” … Prospect entered Wednesday night’s match with a 1-0-0 mark in the MSL, having downed Conant on April 24.
Starting lineups
Prospect
GK Annie Ninness
D Claire Beattie
D Kaela Salehzadeh
D Jackie Keane
M Abby Knott
M Maggie Rosenburg
M Grace Martin
M Hannah Mekky
F Madison Culli
F Jillian Sawadski
F Lauren Harrell
Fremd
GK Sam Gary
D Shannon Moran
D Palak Khera
D Bella Scesniak
M Ashley Scesniak
M Gemma Gillespie
M Kylie Williams
M Kaitlyn Rodi
F Caeleigh Stone
F Abigail Iannuzzelli
F Lily Spotak
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Shannon Moran, jr., D/M, Fremd
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Fremd — Stone (UA), 41’
Fremd — Iannuzzelli (Spotak), 74’
shuts out Prospect
Vikings open Mid-Suburban League slate with 2-0 victory
By Bill McLean
PALATINE — Early in the season Fremd coach Steve Keller knew he’d promote freshman midfielder Ava Catherall to the varsity team.
But none of his established Vikings knew that when several of them urged Keller to name Catherall to the parent club before last week’s win at Saint Viator.
“I thought that was neat how the players recommended Ava,” Keller said. “That’s not normal, with kids fighting for spots on the team and playing time. One of our seniors [forward Abigail Iannuzzelli] told me, ‘She’d help us.’ Our girls showed maturity.
“It’s a kind group,” he added. “It’s something I appreciate.”
Prospect was unintentionally good-hearted in the first minute of the second half in a Mid-Suburban League match at chilly Fremd on Wednesday night. Miscommunication led directly to the Vikes’ first goal in their 2-0 victory.
Fremd senior forward Caeleigh Stone capitalized on the miscue, hustling to catch up to a ball that had own-goal written all over it before nudging it over the line when it was inches from pay dirt.
Home spectators got to cheer 13 seconds after the second half kickoff.
“You want to know how far I was when my foot touched the ball?” Stone said. “Here, I’ll show you.”
Stone then placed a normal-sized stainless steel water bottle near her right foot.
“The distance was about the length of this bottle,” Stone said.
“Caeleigh,” Keller noted, “ran a long way to score that goal.”
Fremd’s second goal — authored by Iannuzzelli, off a snappy delivery from junior forward Lily Spotak in the 74th minute — traveled considerably farther than Stone’s tap-in. It flew about 15 yards before striking the right side of the crossbar, glancing off a post and settling in behind Knights senior goalkeeper Annie Ninness (11 saves).
‘We’d been working on that in practice, a lot,” Iannuzzelli said, referring to the Spotak-Iannuzzelli connection, not the ricochet. “Lily has the wheels, and I have the range.”
Prospect coach Tom Froats dubbed the first goal “unfortunate” and admitted it probably rattled his Knights (1-2-1, 1-1-0 in MSL play) for the next 10-15 minutes. But he was pleased that his squad kept a talented foe scoreless in the first 40 minutes and never thought it was out of it at any point in the second 40.
“Well-played game, evenly played game,” Froats said. “That first goal was a tough one in a tough situation. It certainly tilted the game. But I liked the way we kept battling, and our work rate was good throughout the match.”
Prospect sophomore forward/midfielder Lauren Harrell’s energy never abated Wednesday night, and she emerged as a dangerous threat amid Fremd’s strong defenders and Vikes junior keeper Sam Gary several times.
Junior teammate Jackie Keane, a reliable midfielder/defender, takes her primary role of keeping the Knights’ ‘D’ together seriously.
“I like how we gave it our all, even when we were down 1-0 and trailing 2-0,” Keane said. “Communication … it’s important. There were points in the game tonight when we didn’t do that very well. We’ll work on that.”
Froats lauded Keane for her relentlessness in each half.
“Tough, hard-nosed in the one-on-one environment,” he said. “Jackie doesn’t give any ground.”
Fremd (2-1-0, 1-0-0) — listed as one of 15 teams to “Look out for” in Chicagoland Soccer’s Top 25 honorable mention list — received another sturdy effort from junior defender/midfielder Shannon Moran, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match. It took her only three minutes Wednesday night to thwart a Prospect rush.
“Steady, solid,” Keller said. “That’s the kind of night she had.”
Vikings senior midfielder Ashley Scesniak nearly notched an assist in the second minute, dishing a smooth feed to the swift Spotak, whose ensuing shot missed wide right by a smidge. Scesniak’s savvy and array of dribbling skills put the Knights’ defense on high alert several other times in the first half.
A superb pass from Prospect junior midfielder Abby Knott found the feet of Harrell with a little more than three minutes left in the first half, but an offside call halted the sequence.
A booming header off Fremd senior defender Palak Khera, who was planted inside Fremd’s 18, rocketed at least 15 yards and highlighted the final minute before the break.
Fremd junior forward/midfielder Anna Schmitt stood out in the second half, flying around the pitch and weaving seemingly effortlessly whenever the ball was at her feet.
“Awesome. Awesome stuff,” Keller said to Schmitt as she came of the pitch with 16 minutes remaining in the contest.
Ninness dove to her right to save a 15-yard shot off the foot of Spotak in the 62nd minute. Spotak was in the middle of another foray about a minute later and followed that up by fielding a nice ball from freshman defender/midfielder Gemma Gillespie for yet another chance.
“I was pleased with the scoring opportunities we had, because we did not generate that many in our first game and a half,” said Keller, whose club opened the season with a 3-0 loss to St. Charles East (ranked no. 2 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25) and then topped Saint Viator 4-1.
Prospect’s top chance to tie it at 1 came on a close shot by Harrell in the 71st minute. Senior reserve midfielder Maddie Cowen had set up the promising attempt with a nifty pass.
The shot had significant oomph, but Gary, positioned perfectly, didn’t have to move much to record her biggest save of the night. Fremd’s keeper stopped the fast ball with both hands and nary a bobble.
Three minutes later Spotak and Iannuzzelli collaborated for the goal that put Keller’s kind kids up 2-0.
Fremd hosts Schaumburg on Friday at 7 p.m. Prospect has some practice time at its feet before it hosts Schaumburg May 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Footnotes:
Keller, on the collective personality of his 2021 Vikings crew: “Fun to be around, always giving you reasons to smile.” … Prospect entered Wednesday night’s match with a 1-0-0 mark in the MSL, having downed Conant on April 24.
Starting lineups
Prospect
GK Annie Ninness
D Claire Beattie
D Kaela Salehzadeh
D Jackie Keane
M Abby Knott
M Maggie Rosenburg
M Grace Martin
M Hannah Mekky
F Madison Culli
F Jillian Sawadski
F Lauren Harrell
Fremd
GK Sam Gary
D Shannon Moran
D Palak Khera
D Bella Scesniak
M Ashley Scesniak
M Gemma Gillespie
M Kylie Williams
M Kaitlyn Rodi
F Caeleigh Stone
F Abigail Iannuzzelli
F Lily Spotak
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Shannon Moran, jr., D/M, Fremd
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Fremd — Stone (UA), 41’
Fremd — Iannuzzelli (Spotak), 74’