Mayer, Alex account for net income,
lead Fremd to 2-1 win over Prospect
Vikings play adds up to MSL win in front of legendary keeper
By Bill McLean
PALATINE — Former standout Fremd goalkeeper and current bookkeeper Bob LeFevre attended the match between his alma mater and Prospect on Tuesday.
LeFevre helped Fremd’s 1984 Vikings squad — then coached by Gerardo Pagnani who now is a longtime assistant for coach Steve Keller — edge Notre Dame (Quincy) on PKs after a scoreless state championship match.
All LeFevre did that season was amass 19 shutouts, a state record that stood for nine years and still ranks 10th all-time.
Pagnani still trusts him with important decisions. LeFevre, 55 and still living in Palatine, has been Pagnani’s CPA for 30-plus years.
The bottom line Tuesday night? Reigning Class 3A state runnerup Fremd finished on the right side of the ledger with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory. Senior midfielder Will Mayer (goal, assist) and senior forward Kosta Alex (goal, assist) provided the scoring assets.
Vikings senior back and Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Ronan Allord was a valuable commodity on the chilly night. He providing stabilization each time the ball was at his feet and seemed to run the equivalent of at least two marathons in the Mid-Suburban League contest.
“Ronan,” Keller said, “played extremely well. He’s our glue, and he was all over the field tonight. Defense, midfield … he can play anywhere, really. He’s been our best player of late.
“And,” the coach added, “he’s a great kid with a great attitude.”
And he did it all with a massive cast protecting a broken left wrist. The Vike suffered the injury in a 1-0 loss after a visit from West Division-leading Conant on Sept. 6. He didn’t know the extent of it until he got it checked out by a doctor days later.
Tuesday night’s win improved Fremd’s overall record to 7-5-2 and its MSL mark to 5-2-0. Conant (13-3-1, 6-3-0 and ranked no. 6 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25) and Hersey (8-4-1, 6-2-0) top the tightly packed league table ahead of Elk Grove (7-3-3, 5-1-1), Fremd and Rolling Meadows (9-4-0, 5-3-0).
Prospect (2-9-3, 2-5-1) was coming off a listless 3-0 loss to Conant on Sept. 22. Knights coach Michael Andrews wanted to see more energy and resolve from his side Tuesday. He got it — and then some.
“Except for the first five minutes or so, I could not be prouder than I am of the way we competed tonight,” Andrews said. “It’s been a rocky season, but I saw a championship effort from our guys out there along with a much different, much better, effort than we showed against Conant.
“They showed heart and grit,” he continued. “It didn’t go in our favor; credit Fremd for that. Fremd put us under pressure there at the end.”
At the beginning? All Fremd, more or less. Alex sent a lead pass to a sprinting Mayer from about the 25. Mayer caught up to it, beat a Knight and then swung his right leg to blast a 15-yard, near-post shot past goalkeeper Ethan Erickson (10 saves) in the eighth minute.
Prospect tied it up 18 minutes later following a throw-in from marvelous senior defender/co-captain Samuel Heintz. Knights senior midfielder Chris Morys settled it before unleashing a 30-yard blast off the tips of both hands of leaping Fremd senior
keeper and returning Chicagoland Soccer all-stater Robby Remian (five saves).
“Chris played his heart out,” Andrews said. “Everything went through him tonight.
“And Ethan,” he added, “made some excellent saves tonight.”
The potent pair of Mayer and Alex combined for the game-winner with only three minutes left in regulation. Mayer found open acreage near midfield during a rush, drove the ball forward and hammered a 20-yard shot right at Erickson. The ball banged off the keeper and bounded toward Alex, who didn’t hesitate to boom it at the goal. Only the net prevented the ball from rolling to a stop somewhere in Deer Park.
“Big game, big win,” Alex said.
“A win’s a win,” chimed Mayer.
Keller lauded his Vikings’ 80-minute effort, but noted he’d like to see more intelligent play from his booters.
“We talk about it all the time,” said Keller. “We talk about the importance of eliminating mental mistakes. Tonight, in the first five to 10 minutes, you saw some good soccer from us. After that? Wow! What happened to us?
“Our effort, though, you can’t ask for more than that.”
Vikings senior forward Leo Akashi and senior midfielder and co-captain Owen Winegar emerged as constant threats in the second half. Akashi could teach a “Textbook Crosses” course at Futbol U. Winegar headed away a pair of 50/50 balls in less
than a minute following a Prospect corner kick in the 48th minute.
Fremd, an honorable mention team in the Chicagoland SoccerTop 25, battles host and cross-town rival Palatine for the highly desired Kinsella Cup at 6:45 p.m. Thursday and visits Elk Grove on Saturday at 11 a.m..
Prospect hosts Rolling Meadows, which also earned honorable mention recognition in the rankings, at 6:45 p.m. Thursday.
Footnotes
Remian pummeled a punt near the end of the first half Tuesday night that traveled 70-80 yards. Heard from a wide-eyed Knight, spectating from the visitors’ bench: “Goodness.” A rave review sometimes requires only one word. … Fremd senior midfielder Nicky Sapiente executed the most acrobatic move of the night, one that occurred just off the pitch in the 20th minute. It also ranked as the scariest move of the night. He dashed for a going-out-of-bounds ball before colliding with an end of Prospect’s bench near the stadium’s track oval. Sapiente’s frame flipped over the structure, but he somehow controlled his descent before landing on one foot and one knee. It looked a lot like an intricate dismount off the parallel bars at a gymnastics meet. “Nicky bounced back,” Keller said. “That’s what he does.” … Prospect keeper Erickson, after the tough loss, five days after the Knights’ 3-0 setback vs. Conant’s Cougars: “We’re getting better.” … What impressed Morys about his mates Tuesday night was the team’s collective reaction after falling behind 1-0 inside of 10 minutes of play. “We fought back,” the midfielder said. “We didn’t hang our heads.” … Fremd defeated Prospect 3-0 in the teams’ Sept. 25 meeting last season. … Pagnani’s Fremd state championship team in
1984 finished with a 25-4-0 record. Pagnani guided the Vikings to their second state title in 1997, when Illinois staged Class A and Class AA tournaments. Fremd’s runner-up showing at state last year was the program’s ninth top-four finish at state.
Starting lineups
Prospect
GK Ethan Erickson
D Nicholas Casaletto
D Samuel Heintz
D Tymek Czerwiec
D Matthew Fouch
MF Luis DeSantiago
MF Chris Morys
MF Daniel Barbaric
F Massimo Mho
F Adam Toporkiewicz
F Carter Cremascoli
Fremd
GK: Robby Remian
D Ronan Allord
D Genki Wakayama
D Kyle Grasse
D Michael Leonczuk
MF Owen Winegar
MF Nicky Sapiente
MF Will Mayer
MF Joey Rodino
F Kosta Alex
F Leo Akashi
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Ronan Allord, sr., D, Fremd
Scoring summary
First half
Fremd — Mayer (Alex), 8’
Prospect — Morys (Heintz), 26’
Second half
Fremd Alex (Mayer), 77’
lead Fremd to 2-1 win over Prospect
Vikings play adds up to MSL win in front of legendary keeper
By Bill McLean
PALATINE — Former standout Fremd goalkeeper and current bookkeeper Bob LeFevre attended the match between his alma mater and Prospect on Tuesday.
LeFevre helped Fremd’s 1984 Vikings squad — then coached by Gerardo Pagnani who now is a longtime assistant for coach Steve Keller — edge Notre Dame (Quincy) on PKs after a scoreless state championship match.
All LeFevre did that season was amass 19 shutouts, a state record that stood for nine years and still ranks 10th all-time.
Pagnani still trusts him with important decisions. LeFevre, 55 and still living in Palatine, has been Pagnani’s CPA for 30-plus years.
The bottom line Tuesday night? Reigning Class 3A state runnerup Fremd finished on the right side of the ledger with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory. Senior midfielder Will Mayer (goal, assist) and senior forward Kosta Alex (goal, assist) provided the scoring assets.
Vikings senior back and Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Ronan Allord was a valuable commodity on the chilly night. He providing stabilization each time the ball was at his feet and seemed to run the equivalent of at least two marathons in the Mid-Suburban League contest.
“Ronan,” Keller said, “played extremely well. He’s our glue, and he was all over the field tonight. Defense, midfield … he can play anywhere, really. He’s been our best player of late.
“And,” the coach added, “he’s a great kid with a great attitude.”
And he did it all with a massive cast protecting a broken left wrist. The Vike suffered the injury in a 1-0 loss after a visit from West Division-leading Conant on Sept. 6. He didn’t know the extent of it until he got it checked out by a doctor days later.
Tuesday night’s win improved Fremd’s overall record to 7-5-2 and its MSL mark to 5-2-0. Conant (13-3-1, 6-3-0 and ranked no. 6 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25) and Hersey (8-4-1, 6-2-0) top the tightly packed league table ahead of Elk Grove (7-3-3, 5-1-1), Fremd and Rolling Meadows (9-4-0, 5-3-0).
Prospect (2-9-3, 2-5-1) was coming off a listless 3-0 loss to Conant on Sept. 22. Knights coach Michael Andrews wanted to see more energy and resolve from his side Tuesday. He got it — and then some.
“Except for the first five minutes or so, I could not be prouder than I am of the way we competed tonight,” Andrews said. “It’s been a rocky season, but I saw a championship effort from our guys out there along with a much different, much better, effort than we showed against Conant.
“They showed heart and grit,” he continued. “It didn’t go in our favor; credit Fremd for that. Fremd put us under pressure there at the end.”
At the beginning? All Fremd, more or less. Alex sent a lead pass to a sprinting Mayer from about the 25. Mayer caught up to it, beat a Knight and then swung his right leg to blast a 15-yard, near-post shot past goalkeeper Ethan Erickson (10 saves) in the eighth minute.
Prospect tied it up 18 minutes later following a throw-in from marvelous senior defender/co-captain Samuel Heintz. Knights senior midfielder Chris Morys settled it before unleashing a 30-yard blast off the tips of both hands of leaping Fremd senior
keeper and returning Chicagoland Soccer all-stater Robby Remian (five saves).
“Chris played his heart out,” Andrews said. “Everything went through him tonight.
“And Ethan,” he added, “made some excellent saves tonight.”
The potent pair of Mayer and Alex combined for the game-winner with only three minutes left in regulation. Mayer found open acreage near midfield during a rush, drove the ball forward and hammered a 20-yard shot right at Erickson. The ball banged off the keeper and bounded toward Alex, who didn’t hesitate to boom it at the goal. Only the net prevented the ball from rolling to a stop somewhere in Deer Park.
“Big game, big win,” Alex said.
“A win’s a win,” chimed Mayer.
Keller lauded his Vikings’ 80-minute effort, but noted he’d like to see more intelligent play from his booters.
“We talk about it all the time,” said Keller. “We talk about the importance of eliminating mental mistakes. Tonight, in the first five to 10 minutes, you saw some good soccer from us. After that? Wow! What happened to us?
“Our effort, though, you can’t ask for more than that.”
Vikings senior forward Leo Akashi and senior midfielder and co-captain Owen Winegar emerged as constant threats in the second half. Akashi could teach a “Textbook Crosses” course at Futbol U. Winegar headed away a pair of 50/50 balls in less
than a minute following a Prospect corner kick in the 48th minute.
Fremd, an honorable mention team in the Chicagoland SoccerTop 25, battles host and cross-town rival Palatine for the highly desired Kinsella Cup at 6:45 p.m. Thursday and visits Elk Grove on Saturday at 11 a.m..
Prospect hosts Rolling Meadows, which also earned honorable mention recognition in the rankings, at 6:45 p.m. Thursday.
Footnotes
Remian pummeled a punt near the end of the first half Tuesday night that traveled 70-80 yards. Heard from a wide-eyed Knight, spectating from the visitors’ bench: “Goodness.” A rave review sometimes requires only one word. … Fremd senior midfielder Nicky Sapiente executed the most acrobatic move of the night, one that occurred just off the pitch in the 20th minute. It also ranked as the scariest move of the night. He dashed for a going-out-of-bounds ball before colliding with an end of Prospect’s bench near the stadium’s track oval. Sapiente’s frame flipped over the structure, but he somehow controlled his descent before landing on one foot and one knee. It looked a lot like an intricate dismount off the parallel bars at a gymnastics meet. “Nicky bounced back,” Keller said. “That’s what he does.” … Prospect keeper Erickson, after the tough loss, five days after the Knights’ 3-0 setback vs. Conant’s Cougars: “We’re getting better.” … What impressed Morys about his mates Tuesday night was the team’s collective reaction after falling behind 1-0 inside of 10 minutes of play. “We fought back,” the midfielder said. “We didn’t hang our heads.” … Fremd defeated Prospect 3-0 in the teams’ Sept. 25 meeting last season. … Pagnani’s Fremd state championship team in
1984 finished with a 25-4-0 record. Pagnani guided the Vikings to their second state title in 1997, when Illinois staged Class A and Class AA tournaments. Fremd’s runner-up showing at state last year was the program’s ninth top-four finish at state.
Starting lineups
Prospect
GK Ethan Erickson
D Nicholas Casaletto
D Samuel Heintz
D Tymek Czerwiec
D Matthew Fouch
MF Luis DeSantiago
MF Chris Morys
MF Daniel Barbaric
F Massimo Mho
F Adam Toporkiewicz
F Carter Cremascoli
Fremd
GK: Robby Remian
D Ronan Allord
D Genki Wakayama
D Kyle Grasse
D Michael Leonczuk
MF Owen Winegar
MF Nicky Sapiente
MF Will Mayer
MF Joey Rodino
F Kosta Alex
F Leo Akashi
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Ronan Allord, sr., D, Fremd
Scoring summary
First half
Fremd — Mayer (Alex), 8’
Prospect — Morys (Heintz), 26’
Second half
Fremd Alex (Mayer), 77’