MSL Soccer Cup: Fremd vs. Wheeling
By Mike Garofola
MSL West Division champion Fremd will welcome East crown winner Wheeling at 7 p.m. to Hildebrandt Field in Palatine for the top of the table clash in the 43rd annual MSL Soccer Cup.
The Vikings will try everything to avoid a repeat of last year's title finale which ended in a 2-0 victory for Buffalo Grove, which marked the 30th anniversary of its last MSL title with a new victory.
"We have a lot of guys back from that team that lost to Buffalo Grove - many of us seniors," said the Vikings terrific central defender Jake Schoffstall in advance of the start of the 2019 campaign. "So the goal is to get back into that final.
"This group of seniors have known each other since we were nine-years old, so we all know this is the last time we'll be together. We have to make it count," added John Kating, who with Schoffstall are among several major players back from a year ago.
Seniors Russell Beaupre, Josh Bennett, Kaelan Conway, Cole Jackson, C.J. Williams, keeper Artur Cholewa along with Kating and Schoffstall have helped the Vikings (10-1-4, 9-0-2) stay unbeaten in league play to make for a comfortable progress into tonight's cup.
Manager Steve Keller has made several changes to his lineup throughout the season, as he customarily does, including a handful of formations. He's varied from a 4-3-3, 4-1-3-2 and 4-4-2.
"A lot of our formations depend on our opponent and what they bring, but (Beaupre) has been our no. 10 and is very good at what he does with our attack," says Kating.
The two sides met nearly three weeks ago with the Vikings edging Wheeling 2-1 in a thrilling overtime encounter in Palatine. Bennett scored in regulation, and Schoffstall struck the game-winner in extra time.
Thanks to short-term memory loss by Wheeling (10-4-3) the Wildcats recovered nicely from its early season blip during the week long tournament played at Glenbrook South's Jim Wolter Titan Invitational, which saw them lose 4-2 to Class A Speer from Chicago.
"We were terrible in our first 4-5 games of the season, all of us wondered just how good or bad we would end up being," admits Luis Aviles, the Wildcats wonderfully gifted outside-midfielder.
"But we came back from being down 2-0 against Stevenson (at) the tournament to win 5-2, and that's the moment I felt we could maybe be a good team before the season was over."
Both clubs enter the match in excellent form.
Fremd enters the night with eight-consecutive victories as part of a 13-game unbeaten streak (11-0-2). The Vikings only loss came on Aug. 30 to Notre Dame (Peoria), which has had a stranglehold on the top spot in the Chicagoland Soccer Illinois 10 poll and has been ranked no. 1 nationally.
Wheeling defeated Conant, Barrington and Buffalo Grove in a span of seven days to grab hold of the MSL East Division title for good.
Fremd knows it will have its hands full.
"We've been resilient during the past couple of weeks (able) to stay the course, even when we might not be playing our best soccer," Keller said. "But we'll have to be at our best in order to have a chance against a very good Wheeling team, who I felt outplayed us the first time around."
The Vikings are playing in their 15th MSL Soccer Cup; the first came in 1976 when this contest was known as the MSL Soccer Bowl.
Fremd has lifted the championship trophy seven times in program history, the last coming in 2014 when it beat Wheeling, 1-0.
By Mike Garofola
MSL West Division champion Fremd will welcome East crown winner Wheeling at 7 p.m. to Hildebrandt Field in Palatine for the top of the table clash in the 43rd annual MSL Soccer Cup.
The Vikings will try everything to avoid a repeat of last year's title finale which ended in a 2-0 victory for Buffalo Grove, which marked the 30th anniversary of its last MSL title with a new victory.
"We have a lot of guys back from that team that lost to Buffalo Grove - many of us seniors," said the Vikings terrific central defender Jake Schoffstall in advance of the start of the 2019 campaign. "So the goal is to get back into that final.
"This group of seniors have known each other since we were nine-years old, so we all know this is the last time we'll be together. We have to make it count," added John Kating, who with Schoffstall are among several major players back from a year ago.
Seniors Russell Beaupre, Josh Bennett, Kaelan Conway, Cole Jackson, C.J. Williams, keeper Artur Cholewa along with Kating and Schoffstall have helped the Vikings (10-1-4, 9-0-2) stay unbeaten in league play to make for a comfortable progress into tonight's cup.
Manager Steve Keller has made several changes to his lineup throughout the season, as he customarily does, including a handful of formations. He's varied from a 4-3-3, 4-1-3-2 and 4-4-2.
"A lot of our formations depend on our opponent and what they bring, but (Beaupre) has been our no. 10 and is very good at what he does with our attack," says Kating.
The two sides met nearly three weeks ago with the Vikings edging Wheeling 2-1 in a thrilling overtime encounter in Palatine. Bennett scored in regulation, and Schoffstall struck the game-winner in extra time.
Thanks to short-term memory loss by Wheeling (10-4-3) the Wildcats recovered nicely from its early season blip during the week long tournament played at Glenbrook South's Jim Wolter Titan Invitational, which saw them lose 4-2 to Class A Speer from Chicago.
"We were terrible in our first 4-5 games of the season, all of us wondered just how good or bad we would end up being," admits Luis Aviles, the Wildcats wonderfully gifted outside-midfielder.
"But we came back from being down 2-0 against Stevenson (at) the tournament to win 5-2, and that's the moment I felt we could maybe be a good team before the season was over."
Both clubs enter the match in excellent form.
Fremd enters the night with eight-consecutive victories as part of a 13-game unbeaten streak (11-0-2). The Vikings only loss came on Aug. 30 to Notre Dame (Peoria), which has had a stranglehold on the top spot in the Chicagoland Soccer Illinois 10 poll and has been ranked no. 1 nationally.
Wheeling defeated Conant, Barrington and Buffalo Grove in a span of seven days to grab hold of the MSL East Division title for good.
Fremd knows it will have its hands full.
"We've been resilient during the past couple of weeks (able) to stay the course, even when we might not be playing our best soccer," Keller said. "But we'll have to be at our best in order to have a chance against a very good Wheeling team, who I felt outplayed us the first time around."
The Vikings are playing in their 15th MSL Soccer Cup; the first came in 1976 when this contest was known as the MSL Soccer Bowl.
Fremd has lifted the championship trophy seven times in program history, the last coming in 2014 when it beat Wheeling, 1-0.