Season recap: Fremd
By Mike Garofola
The quest for a big finish to the 2017 season came to an abrupt end for Fremd when two late goals left the Vikings with a 2-1 defeat in their regional opener versus Carmel on Oct. 18.
"It was such an intense 80 minutes of soccer that night," said Dalton Rogers, the Vikings superb defensive midfielder, of the battled against Carmel. Rogers was a key figure in the Vikings turnaround that began when manager Steve Keller deployed a different look in his first 11.
"(It's) too bad we let the pressure get to us in those final 15 minutes or so, because that's when the game got away from us."
The tough draw against the 14th-ranked, but only seventh-seeded, regional host was predicated by Fremd's rough opening to the season. Overall, it was a tough spot for the sectional host Vikings or anyone else georgraphically unlucky enough to be in this group which included top three seeds who also Libertyville, Waukegan and Barrington, each of which finished in the top nine in the Chicagoland Soccer Final 50 season-ending poll. The grouping made a strong argument for its crowning as this season's "Sectional of Death."
Before the fateful night at Baker Stadium in Mundelein, the Vikings (12-9-0) had been on a nonstop joy ride that saw the club win 10 of its last 11 games. The run began with six-straight victories after the sting of a four-game slide
Adjustments from the coaching staff spurred the improvement.
"We had tried a lot of different looks throughout the first half of the season," said Keller. "The move of sophomore Jake Schoffstall to center back (alongside Ben Cuthbert) and Max Clark from the midfield to striker gave us the right mix and helped us find our identity."
Rogers, and teammates Clark, Cuthbert and Matt Austin were the four seniors whom Keller depended on when the team needed leadership and direction. All earned plenty of well deserved postseason honors. Austin was named the Mid-Suburban League West Divison Player of the Year by the league coaches.
"I believe all four of us believed we could turn things around despite being at 2-7-0 overall," said Rogers. "(There) was never any complaining or finger pointing going on. And with each win during that six-game win streak, the confidence of everyone began to build as well."
Austin, who finished the season with 13 goals and seven assists, was a big part of the offensive turnaround. After the Vikings sputtering offense only produced nine goals and was shut out five times in its first nine games, things changed.
"That loss to Carmel really stung all of us, but that result did not define the year that we had," said Austin. "We struggled at the start, but our win over Palatine in the Kinsella Cup game (Sept. 19) was a real high point in our season. After that we played our best soccer of the season."
Austin, who will study abroad in Spain and plans to continue his futbol career there as well after his graduation in December, said the experience of playing high school soccer versus club soccer is something he would never trade.
"You never get these years back. Being able to play with guys who have been your friends and teammates for so long is the type of thing you never forget," he said.
"Academy soccer is a good thing, but playing here at Fremd was a must-do for me," said Rogers.
"It was fun being around the team everyday during training and game nights and to become a player that the incoming freshmen and our younger players can look up to as a leader."
Cuthbert, who was part of a stingy backline that recorded eight clean-sheets, including five straight to end the regular season, echoed the sentiment of his classmates Austin and Rogers, and Clark.
"We were all lucky, because we were such a tight bunch. Unlike club, we would see each other five days a week in school, then in training or when we played' Cuthbert said.
"And playing here in our stadium before our friends is something I think all of us will miss about playing high school soccer."
The two-year starter welcomed Schoffstall as his partner in the middle of the Vikings back four. Two newcomers to the varsity roster, sophomores Kaelan Conway and Cole Jackson, handled things on the outside for Keller and his staff.
"Those two were each a pleasant surprise this year," said Keller. "(Kaelan) really solidified himself as a player we would count on at the outside. Cole, brought up from the JV, showed his ability to handle things at this level."
Rogers sat just in front of his defensive mates. He was a brilliant ball-winner, tackler and distributor, while jumping into the attack when required and was "another coach on the pitch," Keller said.
The effervescent Clark became part of the solution to the Vikings scoring woes when Keller pushed him up-top coupled with the move that put Austin in the center of the park.
"I knew this team could have a long run in (us)," said Clark, whose nonstop pace caused opponents plenty of nervous moments throughout the second half of the season.
"I really feel if we got past Carmel, we could have gotten into the supersectional, even if it meant we had to beat Libertyville to get there.
"That Barrington game (Sept. 5) showed what we could do. We came back from a 4-0 deficit, and scored three straight to make it a game. (Then) our 1-0 loss to New Trier (Oct. 2) was, to me, the game that made us all believe we could play with anyone in the state."
Clark hopes to join Austin overseas for his college and soccer careers. But his chosen path would lead to England where his father is from and several of his relatives reside.
Keller agreed the Vikings visitors from Winnetka helped his team show its potential. The Trevians finished fourth in Chicagoland Soccer's Final 50.
"The New Trier game was our best of the season. We played hard, tough and smart soccer, and it was in that game that the guys realized the work rate and physical play was the way we needed to play in order to compete at a high level," said Keller.
"Was it the turning point of our season like the guys said? I don't know for sure, but it definitely gave us confidence, and it was in that game that we made some adjustments which really came together for us.
"It was a testament to the boys that they stayed with (it) and never lost faith in themselves or their abilities."
That was relected in Fremd's conference mark. The Vikings roared back from an 0-3-0 start in Mid-Suburban League table to finish fourth at 8-3-0.
The club found itself in a unique position when it received its only Chicagoland Soccer poll position of the fall in the Final 50. But a look back at the season puts the Vikings rank of 39th in perspective.
Besides the defeats to Barrington, Carmel and New Trier, four more of the club's losses came against teams that had been ranked for at least two weeks in the Top 25: two-time defending state champion Naperville North; MSL East Division champion Buffalo Grove; Glenbrook South; and Wheeling, whom Fremd beat in a cross-over rematch in the last game of the regular season Oct. 10.
The Vikings also lost to Notre Dame (Peoria), a regular member of the Illinois 10 poll, and Hinsdale Central which got a call as an honorable mention team in the Top 25.
Keller has become known as a wizard of sorts as. Year-in and year-out, he regularly finds a solid and reliable first 11 with complementry pieces off the bench. He moved around his players like puzzle pieces until he found a winning picture.
"To have the opportunity to be coached by (Keller) and (assistant) Mr. (Gerardo) Pagnani really helped me grow and a player and a person during the three years I was with the varsity," said Rogers.
The absence of this foursome will leave a leadership void in the 2018 club -- no one can deny the influence of each of them. But Keller will have options from the nine sophomores and five juniors rostered on the club this fall. He will work hard to find the right mix to fill those big boots next fall.
Schoffstall will lead the strong sophomore contingent which earned significant minutes throughout the season. The group includes the aforementioned Conway and Jackson, in addition to Josh Bennett. Artur Cholewa, who shared time between the sticks with senior Jack Taraszka, will be counted on as a Vikings shot stopper.
Jake Scesniak, whom Keller watched become a threat on the outside as the season developed, heads the junior class along with Ryan Cox and Yoshi Otani.
"It was a great group of players to be around and to coach," said Keller, who collected his 250th career win during the campaign. "While it was unfortunate to see our season end the way it did, it still was a successful one on many levels, and one that I enjoyed being a part of."
By Mike Garofola
The quest for a big finish to the 2017 season came to an abrupt end for Fremd when two late goals left the Vikings with a 2-1 defeat in their regional opener versus Carmel on Oct. 18.
"It was such an intense 80 minutes of soccer that night," said Dalton Rogers, the Vikings superb defensive midfielder, of the battled against Carmel. Rogers was a key figure in the Vikings turnaround that began when manager Steve Keller deployed a different look in his first 11.
"(It's) too bad we let the pressure get to us in those final 15 minutes or so, because that's when the game got away from us."
The tough draw against the 14th-ranked, but only seventh-seeded, regional host was predicated by Fremd's rough opening to the season. Overall, it was a tough spot for the sectional host Vikings or anyone else georgraphically unlucky enough to be in this group which included top three seeds who also Libertyville, Waukegan and Barrington, each of which finished in the top nine in the Chicagoland Soccer Final 50 season-ending poll. The grouping made a strong argument for its crowning as this season's "Sectional of Death."
Before the fateful night at Baker Stadium in Mundelein, the Vikings (12-9-0) had been on a nonstop joy ride that saw the club win 10 of its last 11 games. The run began with six-straight victories after the sting of a four-game slide
Adjustments from the coaching staff spurred the improvement.
"We had tried a lot of different looks throughout the first half of the season," said Keller. "The move of sophomore Jake Schoffstall to center back (alongside Ben Cuthbert) and Max Clark from the midfield to striker gave us the right mix and helped us find our identity."
Rogers, and teammates Clark, Cuthbert and Matt Austin were the four seniors whom Keller depended on when the team needed leadership and direction. All earned plenty of well deserved postseason honors. Austin was named the Mid-Suburban League West Divison Player of the Year by the league coaches.
"I believe all four of us believed we could turn things around despite being at 2-7-0 overall," said Rogers. "(There) was never any complaining or finger pointing going on. And with each win during that six-game win streak, the confidence of everyone began to build as well."
Austin, who finished the season with 13 goals and seven assists, was a big part of the offensive turnaround. After the Vikings sputtering offense only produced nine goals and was shut out five times in its first nine games, things changed.
"That loss to Carmel really stung all of us, but that result did not define the year that we had," said Austin. "We struggled at the start, but our win over Palatine in the Kinsella Cup game (Sept. 19) was a real high point in our season. After that we played our best soccer of the season."
Austin, who will study abroad in Spain and plans to continue his futbol career there as well after his graduation in December, said the experience of playing high school soccer versus club soccer is something he would never trade.
"You never get these years back. Being able to play with guys who have been your friends and teammates for so long is the type of thing you never forget," he said.
"Academy soccer is a good thing, but playing here at Fremd was a must-do for me," said Rogers.
"It was fun being around the team everyday during training and game nights and to become a player that the incoming freshmen and our younger players can look up to as a leader."
Cuthbert, who was part of a stingy backline that recorded eight clean-sheets, including five straight to end the regular season, echoed the sentiment of his classmates Austin and Rogers, and Clark.
"We were all lucky, because we were such a tight bunch. Unlike club, we would see each other five days a week in school, then in training or when we played' Cuthbert said.
"And playing here in our stadium before our friends is something I think all of us will miss about playing high school soccer."
The two-year starter welcomed Schoffstall as his partner in the middle of the Vikings back four. Two newcomers to the varsity roster, sophomores Kaelan Conway and Cole Jackson, handled things on the outside for Keller and his staff.
"Those two were each a pleasant surprise this year," said Keller. "(Kaelan) really solidified himself as a player we would count on at the outside. Cole, brought up from the JV, showed his ability to handle things at this level."
Rogers sat just in front of his defensive mates. He was a brilliant ball-winner, tackler and distributor, while jumping into the attack when required and was "another coach on the pitch," Keller said.
The effervescent Clark became part of the solution to the Vikings scoring woes when Keller pushed him up-top coupled with the move that put Austin in the center of the park.
"I knew this team could have a long run in (us)," said Clark, whose nonstop pace caused opponents plenty of nervous moments throughout the second half of the season.
"I really feel if we got past Carmel, we could have gotten into the supersectional, even if it meant we had to beat Libertyville to get there.
"That Barrington game (Sept. 5) showed what we could do. We came back from a 4-0 deficit, and scored three straight to make it a game. (Then) our 1-0 loss to New Trier (Oct. 2) was, to me, the game that made us all believe we could play with anyone in the state."
Clark hopes to join Austin overseas for his college and soccer careers. But his chosen path would lead to England where his father is from and several of his relatives reside.
Keller agreed the Vikings visitors from Winnetka helped his team show its potential. The Trevians finished fourth in Chicagoland Soccer's Final 50.
"The New Trier game was our best of the season. We played hard, tough and smart soccer, and it was in that game that the guys realized the work rate and physical play was the way we needed to play in order to compete at a high level," said Keller.
"Was it the turning point of our season like the guys said? I don't know for sure, but it definitely gave us confidence, and it was in that game that we made some adjustments which really came together for us.
"It was a testament to the boys that they stayed with (it) and never lost faith in themselves or their abilities."
That was relected in Fremd's conference mark. The Vikings roared back from an 0-3-0 start in Mid-Suburban League table to finish fourth at 8-3-0.
The club found itself in a unique position when it received its only Chicagoland Soccer poll position of the fall in the Final 50. But a look back at the season puts the Vikings rank of 39th in perspective.
Besides the defeats to Barrington, Carmel and New Trier, four more of the club's losses came against teams that had been ranked for at least two weeks in the Top 25: two-time defending state champion Naperville North; MSL East Division champion Buffalo Grove; Glenbrook South; and Wheeling, whom Fremd beat in a cross-over rematch in the last game of the regular season Oct. 10.
The Vikings also lost to Notre Dame (Peoria), a regular member of the Illinois 10 poll, and Hinsdale Central which got a call as an honorable mention team in the Top 25.
Keller has become known as a wizard of sorts as. Year-in and year-out, he regularly finds a solid and reliable first 11 with complementry pieces off the bench. He moved around his players like puzzle pieces until he found a winning picture.
"To have the opportunity to be coached by (Keller) and (assistant) Mr. (Gerardo) Pagnani really helped me grow and a player and a person during the three years I was with the varsity," said Rogers.
The absence of this foursome will leave a leadership void in the 2018 club -- no one can deny the influence of each of them. But Keller will have options from the nine sophomores and five juniors rostered on the club this fall. He will work hard to find the right mix to fill those big boots next fall.
Schoffstall will lead the strong sophomore contingent which earned significant minutes throughout the season. The group includes the aforementioned Conway and Jackson, in addition to Josh Bennett. Artur Cholewa, who shared time between the sticks with senior Jack Taraszka, will be counted on as a Vikings shot stopper.
Jake Scesniak, whom Keller watched become a threat on the outside as the season developed, heads the junior class along with Ryan Cox and Yoshi Otani.
"It was a great group of players to be around and to coach," said Keller, who collected his 250th career win during the campaign. "While it was unfortunate to see our season end the way it did, it still was a successful one on many levels, and one that I enjoyed being a part of."