New heroes help Fremd edge Prospect
Cox, Conway goals extend Vikings’ win streak to six
By Dave Owen
PALATINE – Add another nip-and-tuck battle to the recent history between Prospect and Fremd.
After a Fremd overtime win in 2015 and a 1-0 Prospect win last year, the Vikings and Knights again engaged in a closely-fought match Friday in Palatine.
With the score tied 1-1 through 67 minutes, Fremd (8-7-0, 6-3-0 in the Mid-Suburban League) produced an unexpected deciding score with 12:08 left.
Off a Jake Schoffstall throw-in, Prospect goalkeeper Kevin Shane came off his line to try to make a catch in the crowd. When the ball sprung loose, defender Kaelan Conway powered a six-yard drive inside the right post for an eventual 2-1 win -- Fremd’s sixth victory in a row.
The goal was Conway’s first of the year, and capped a trend of unexpected offense -- the earlier scorers in the match (Fremd’s Ryan Cox and Prospect’s Tengis Tolga) have two and one goals respectively this fall.
“At halftime coach P (Fremd assistant Gerardo Pagnani) told me to just stay on the keeper (on set pieces), because I was a little bit taller than the guy we had on him before,” said Conway, who was selected the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his huge hustle finish.
“I just tried to stay in his way. I knew he came out, so when I saw the ball bounce out I tried to hit it on frame because I knew the keeper wasn’t in position.”
The strike repelled a big challenge to Fremd’s recent tear.
“A great goal,” Fremd coach Steve Keller said. “We moved him up there to get a little more height on a long throw, and he was in the right place right time and hit a nice strike – left-footed too.”
To Prospect (5-8-0, 2-7-0), the origins of the loss lay squarely in the first 40 minutes.
“Those things are going to happen in soccer,” Prospect coach Mike Andrews said of Conway’s goal off the loose ball. “If we did more to create opportunities in the first half and not be so panicky with the ball, it would have been a different result.
“We’ve seen this before this season where we’re slow to start in the first half. I told them after the game that the takeaway from this game was, ‘If you play like you did in the second half for all 80 minutes, you’ll win.’
“But we’ve struggled with inconsistency,” Andrews added. “I sincerely believe when we play our best we can beat anybody, but we only did it for a half tonight and got punished for it.”
Fremd came out generating first half chances, as Angel Virgos and Jake Scesniak sent shots just wide of the net in the first four minutes.
Then in the 16th minute came the ultimate near miss – after Prospect defender Jacob Keil’s deflection of a Russell Beaupre shot, Max Clark sent the 10-yard rebound try off the right post. After Shane batted the loose ball out of the box, the ensuing scramble yielded a Scesniak score off a Clark pass that was nullified by an offsides call.
Outside of those early threats, Fremd’s early control of possession produced few close-up chances.
“We didn’t look as sharp as we have the last five games,” Keller said. “Some of our guys looked a little heavy-legged, and it didn’t seem like we had the mental awareness and smarts that we’ve been playing with lately. And we weren’t connecting. We had a lot of shots, but they were from far or we didn’t get a good foot on them.
“I felt the first 20-25 minutes we had possession and had them pinned back. We were a little unfortunate not to score a couple times, and then after that they (Prospect) got more confidence and started the hold the ball more on us.”
Prospect began a volley of back-and-forth quality chances late in the half.
Off a corner kick by Prospect’s Joey Boduch with 12:50 left, Fremd goalkeeper Artur Cholewa made a high reaching grab of Tolga’s well-struck six-yard header.
Then 90 seconds later, a corner kick by Fremd’s Vania Martin led to a Schoffstall 15-yard drive that Shane nicely batted down.
Just as the half appeared to be destined to end nil-nil, three Vikings reserves combined to rewrite that script.
In the 37th minute, Josh Bennett took a Martin pass at the top of the box. Bennett’s touch pass towards the net connected with Cox, whose low six-yarder into the left corner put Fremd up 1-0 with 3:14 left.
“That first goal we scored, Martin won the ball through hustle and then Bennett and Cox had a nice give and go,” Keller said. “That was one of our nicest goals of the year.”
But Prospect made sure Fremd’s momentum was fleeting.
“The second half we were just trying to change the way we played,” Prospect’s Tulga said. “The first half we were just sluggish, nervous. The second half we had to come out with intensity.”
The Knights survived an early Fremd charge – after Schoffstall’s initial shot was blocked by Prospect’s Aaron Whiteman, Shane made the save on Clark’s rebound try off a scramble in front.
“I thought Max Clark had a great effort again up-top tonight,” Keller said. “He just tirelessly runs and creates havoc for the other team.”
But with 31:55 left to play, Tulga’s end-to-end hustle created havoc for Fremd.
A Tulga sequence started with and a steal and led to the equalizer.
“It began at our back where I intercepted the ball and played it forward,” Tulga said. “Patrick played it wide to Chris, Chris played a great ball to the back post and I just followed my run.”
Said Andrews: “A beautiful ball played through the corner, perfect cross and perfect finish.”
The goal was part of a tough trend for Fremd.
“I think we got countered too many times tonight,” Keller said. “Their goal was on a counter, and there were some other times.”
Suddenly, Fremd was locked in a battle.
“We were playing well and then they came back (to tie),” Fremd defender Ben Cuthbert said. “We had to get our momentum back. I thought we didn’t play our best game today. We came out kind of slow and just felt slow throughout the game.”
Tulga’s second half energy knew no bounds. After his midfield steal with 28:40 left crushed a Fremd counterattack, he showed great sportsmanship with 21:16 to go – when Fremd’s Clark suffered a leg injury that briefly knocked him from the game, Tulga helped carry his opponent off the field.
Tulga again was in the center of play with 19:05 left, winning a Schoffstall throw-in and clearing the box with a send to midfield.
Then after dueling saves by Fremd second-half goalkeeper Jack Taraszka (on a Boduch 20-yard free kick with 16:05 to go) and Shane (on a Matt Austin shot two minutes later), Conway emerged with his second-effort score.
“After they tied it, that pushed us to play a little harder,” Conway said. “We were sloppy today, we weren’t the team we normally are. But overall we ground out the result, and it was a good win.”
Wins are becoming a way of life around Fremd. After holding a 2-7-0 record on Sept. 14, the Vikings have won six games in a row (five in MSL play).
“We started off slow which was a little disappointing,” Conway said, “but I think around Palatine (a 1-0 win Sept. 19) we really came together as a team, and that really pushed us to the record that we know we can have and deserve.”
Said senior co-captain Cuthbert: “I feel like we have a chemistry back. We have a lot of younger kids playing at a higher level now, and everyone else is coming together. We’re kind of finding our positions and our roles on the team, and now we’re starting to go.”
The Vikings nearly added to their 2-1 lead with 7:35 to go, when Shane made a diving stop on an Austin 28-yard try. The Fremd defense then denied two late threats, with a Conway win and long clear of a send to the box with 1:45 left and a long Cuthbert clear upfield from 40 yards out with 55 seconds to go.
Its latest win in the books moments later, Fremd knew it had been tested.
“We’ll put this game behind us – it’s still a good win,” Keller said. “They (Prospect) are a physical team, they can knock the ball around and did a lot of nice things. And we ended up doing what we had to do to win, but not our prettiest game.
“It’s been always a tight game with them,” Keller added, “but we’re not thinking about the opponent so much now as moving forward. Even though today was a step back in terms of performance, to still get a win is a positive that the guys can be proud of.
“Sometimes you need a little sense of urgency to creep in, and we didn’t do the hustling and chasing of the ball when we lost it tonight. That along with putting our chances away. We have to do that. But then when we got tied up, I think a little sense of urgency sprung.”
The Vikings know a sharper performance will almost definitely be needed Monday against New Trier.
“I know we have a good win streak going on and we want to keep that alive, but we have a tough week coming up,” Conway said. “We just have to stay focused and keep playing the way we’ve been playing.”
Prospect takes positives from giving red-hot Fremd a big test. But more consistency is needed.
“There were very few personnel changes (in the second half Friday), just a mental shift,” Andrews said. “But we need to do that from the beginning.
“Right now we’re preparing for postseason play, where every team we play will be intense like this. We need to be sharp and quick with our decisions, and physical.”
Said Tulga: “I don’t want to say we’re a second half team, but it’s been like that. I just want us to start stronger.”
Starting lineups
Prospect
GK Kevin Shane
D Jacob Keil
D Tengis Tulga
D Edmund Conroy
D Sid Gaire
M Joey Boduch
M Aaron Whiteman
M Chris Rubio
M Javian Whyte
F Patrick Limanowka
F Nico Mho
Fremd
GK Artur Cholewa
D Kaelan Conway
D Ben Cuthbert
D Cole Jackson
D Dalton Rogers
M Jake Schoffstall
M Russell Beaupre
M Matt Austin
M Angel Virgos
F Jake Scesniak
F Max Clark
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Kaelan Conway, so. D, Fremd
Scoring summary
1st HALF: Fremd – Cox (Bennett).
2nd HALF: Prospect – Tulga (Rubio); Fremd – Conway (Schoffstall)
Cox, Conway goals extend Vikings’ win streak to six
By Dave Owen
PALATINE – Add another nip-and-tuck battle to the recent history between Prospect and Fremd.
After a Fremd overtime win in 2015 and a 1-0 Prospect win last year, the Vikings and Knights again engaged in a closely-fought match Friday in Palatine.
With the score tied 1-1 through 67 minutes, Fremd (8-7-0, 6-3-0 in the Mid-Suburban League) produced an unexpected deciding score with 12:08 left.
Off a Jake Schoffstall throw-in, Prospect goalkeeper Kevin Shane came off his line to try to make a catch in the crowd. When the ball sprung loose, defender Kaelan Conway powered a six-yard drive inside the right post for an eventual 2-1 win -- Fremd’s sixth victory in a row.
The goal was Conway’s first of the year, and capped a trend of unexpected offense -- the earlier scorers in the match (Fremd’s Ryan Cox and Prospect’s Tengis Tolga) have two and one goals respectively this fall.
“At halftime coach P (Fremd assistant Gerardo Pagnani) told me to just stay on the keeper (on set pieces), because I was a little bit taller than the guy we had on him before,” said Conway, who was selected the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his huge hustle finish.
“I just tried to stay in his way. I knew he came out, so when I saw the ball bounce out I tried to hit it on frame because I knew the keeper wasn’t in position.”
The strike repelled a big challenge to Fremd’s recent tear.
“A great goal,” Fremd coach Steve Keller said. “We moved him up there to get a little more height on a long throw, and he was in the right place right time and hit a nice strike – left-footed too.”
To Prospect (5-8-0, 2-7-0), the origins of the loss lay squarely in the first 40 minutes.
“Those things are going to happen in soccer,” Prospect coach Mike Andrews said of Conway’s goal off the loose ball. “If we did more to create opportunities in the first half and not be so panicky with the ball, it would have been a different result.
“We’ve seen this before this season where we’re slow to start in the first half. I told them after the game that the takeaway from this game was, ‘If you play like you did in the second half for all 80 minutes, you’ll win.’
“But we’ve struggled with inconsistency,” Andrews added. “I sincerely believe when we play our best we can beat anybody, but we only did it for a half tonight and got punished for it.”
Fremd came out generating first half chances, as Angel Virgos and Jake Scesniak sent shots just wide of the net in the first four minutes.
Then in the 16th minute came the ultimate near miss – after Prospect defender Jacob Keil’s deflection of a Russell Beaupre shot, Max Clark sent the 10-yard rebound try off the right post. After Shane batted the loose ball out of the box, the ensuing scramble yielded a Scesniak score off a Clark pass that was nullified by an offsides call.
Outside of those early threats, Fremd’s early control of possession produced few close-up chances.
“We didn’t look as sharp as we have the last five games,” Keller said. “Some of our guys looked a little heavy-legged, and it didn’t seem like we had the mental awareness and smarts that we’ve been playing with lately. And we weren’t connecting. We had a lot of shots, but they were from far or we didn’t get a good foot on them.
“I felt the first 20-25 minutes we had possession and had them pinned back. We were a little unfortunate not to score a couple times, and then after that they (Prospect) got more confidence and started the hold the ball more on us.”
Prospect began a volley of back-and-forth quality chances late in the half.
Off a corner kick by Prospect’s Joey Boduch with 12:50 left, Fremd goalkeeper Artur Cholewa made a high reaching grab of Tolga’s well-struck six-yard header.
Then 90 seconds later, a corner kick by Fremd’s Vania Martin led to a Schoffstall 15-yard drive that Shane nicely batted down.
Just as the half appeared to be destined to end nil-nil, three Vikings reserves combined to rewrite that script.
In the 37th minute, Josh Bennett took a Martin pass at the top of the box. Bennett’s touch pass towards the net connected with Cox, whose low six-yarder into the left corner put Fremd up 1-0 with 3:14 left.
“That first goal we scored, Martin won the ball through hustle and then Bennett and Cox had a nice give and go,” Keller said. “That was one of our nicest goals of the year.”
But Prospect made sure Fremd’s momentum was fleeting.
“The second half we were just trying to change the way we played,” Prospect’s Tulga said. “The first half we were just sluggish, nervous. The second half we had to come out with intensity.”
The Knights survived an early Fremd charge – after Schoffstall’s initial shot was blocked by Prospect’s Aaron Whiteman, Shane made the save on Clark’s rebound try off a scramble in front.
“I thought Max Clark had a great effort again up-top tonight,” Keller said. “He just tirelessly runs and creates havoc for the other team.”
But with 31:55 left to play, Tulga’s end-to-end hustle created havoc for Fremd.
A Tulga sequence started with and a steal and led to the equalizer.
“It began at our back where I intercepted the ball and played it forward,” Tulga said. “Patrick played it wide to Chris, Chris played a great ball to the back post and I just followed my run.”
Said Andrews: “A beautiful ball played through the corner, perfect cross and perfect finish.”
The goal was part of a tough trend for Fremd.
“I think we got countered too many times tonight,” Keller said. “Their goal was on a counter, and there were some other times.”
Suddenly, Fremd was locked in a battle.
“We were playing well and then they came back (to tie),” Fremd defender Ben Cuthbert said. “We had to get our momentum back. I thought we didn’t play our best game today. We came out kind of slow and just felt slow throughout the game.”
Tulga’s second half energy knew no bounds. After his midfield steal with 28:40 left crushed a Fremd counterattack, he showed great sportsmanship with 21:16 to go – when Fremd’s Clark suffered a leg injury that briefly knocked him from the game, Tulga helped carry his opponent off the field.
Tulga again was in the center of play with 19:05 left, winning a Schoffstall throw-in and clearing the box with a send to midfield.
Then after dueling saves by Fremd second-half goalkeeper Jack Taraszka (on a Boduch 20-yard free kick with 16:05 to go) and Shane (on a Matt Austin shot two minutes later), Conway emerged with his second-effort score.
“After they tied it, that pushed us to play a little harder,” Conway said. “We were sloppy today, we weren’t the team we normally are. But overall we ground out the result, and it was a good win.”
Wins are becoming a way of life around Fremd. After holding a 2-7-0 record on Sept. 14, the Vikings have won six games in a row (five in MSL play).
“We started off slow which was a little disappointing,” Conway said, “but I think around Palatine (a 1-0 win Sept. 19) we really came together as a team, and that really pushed us to the record that we know we can have and deserve.”
Said senior co-captain Cuthbert: “I feel like we have a chemistry back. We have a lot of younger kids playing at a higher level now, and everyone else is coming together. We’re kind of finding our positions and our roles on the team, and now we’re starting to go.”
The Vikings nearly added to their 2-1 lead with 7:35 to go, when Shane made a diving stop on an Austin 28-yard try. The Fremd defense then denied two late threats, with a Conway win and long clear of a send to the box with 1:45 left and a long Cuthbert clear upfield from 40 yards out with 55 seconds to go.
Its latest win in the books moments later, Fremd knew it had been tested.
“We’ll put this game behind us – it’s still a good win,” Keller said. “They (Prospect) are a physical team, they can knock the ball around and did a lot of nice things. And we ended up doing what we had to do to win, but not our prettiest game.
“It’s been always a tight game with them,” Keller added, “but we’re not thinking about the opponent so much now as moving forward. Even though today was a step back in terms of performance, to still get a win is a positive that the guys can be proud of.
“Sometimes you need a little sense of urgency to creep in, and we didn’t do the hustling and chasing of the ball when we lost it tonight. That along with putting our chances away. We have to do that. But then when we got tied up, I think a little sense of urgency sprung.”
The Vikings know a sharper performance will almost definitely be needed Monday against New Trier.
“I know we have a good win streak going on and we want to keep that alive, but we have a tough week coming up,” Conway said. “We just have to stay focused and keep playing the way we’ve been playing.”
Prospect takes positives from giving red-hot Fremd a big test. But more consistency is needed.
“There were very few personnel changes (in the second half Friday), just a mental shift,” Andrews said. “But we need to do that from the beginning.
“Right now we’re preparing for postseason play, where every team we play will be intense like this. We need to be sharp and quick with our decisions, and physical.”
Said Tulga: “I don’t want to say we’re a second half team, but it’s been like that. I just want us to start stronger.”
Starting lineups
Prospect
GK Kevin Shane
D Jacob Keil
D Tengis Tulga
D Edmund Conroy
D Sid Gaire
M Joey Boduch
M Aaron Whiteman
M Chris Rubio
M Javian Whyte
F Patrick Limanowka
F Nico Mho
Fremd
GK Artur Cholewa
D Kaelan Conway
D Ben Cuthbert
D Cole Jackson
D Dalton Rogers
M Jake Schoffstall
M Russell Beaupre
M Matt Austin
M Angel Virgos
F Jake Scesniak
F Max Clark
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Kaelan Conway, so. D, Fremd
Scoring summary
1st HALF: Fremd – Cox (Bennett).
2nd HALF: Prospect – Tulga (Rubio); Fremd – Conway (Schoffstall)