Fremd rebounds at Conant

Needing a bounce-back game, Fremd got exactly that Thursday at Conant.

The defending Mid-Suburban League champs had dropped their West Division opener against Palatine on Tuesday and wanted to avoid an 0-2 divisional start with Thursday’s game against the Cougars, who are expected to be one of the top teams in the league.

Fremd, an elite eight state qualifier last spring under coach Brian Newby, met the challenge. The Vikings allowed a tying goal with about five minutes left, answered quickly with one of their own and then managed to keep it scoreless the rest of the way in a tense 8-7 victory.

“We had some guys who were upset after the Palatine game, and that’s good,” Newby said. “But you need to put that disappointment in the right direction, and I think we did that.”

Specifically, Newby said he wants his group to work on its composure when things are going its way. Again, mission accomplished as the Vikings (4-2 overal, 1-1 MSL West) weathered a pair of second-quarter ejections and never let the game get away from them. Fremd outscored Conant 2-0 in the third period before both teams scored twice in the fourth.

Senior Matt Emerson had half of Fremd’s goals, senior JP French had 3 and Connor Helsdingen had 1.

Jon Burke, Jake Nelson and Connor Schmitz had 2 apiece and Kyle Bradberry had 1 for Conant (2-1, 1-1), and goalie Aly Ahmed stopped 11 shots and had 7 steals.

“Of course, you always want to win,” said Conant coach Tim Daniel, “but we’re in a phase where my players are really still learning about one another, and I’m still experimenting with combinations for different situations. So today was good because we’ve got some more tape to look at and learn from.

“The conference this year ... we expect that it will take a while to really decide it. So we need to learn from this one and keep moving forward.”

Palatine d. Schaumburg: Wally Kleinfeldt had 4 goals and Christian Kalfas and Alex Brons had 3 apiece as visiting Palatine took control with 5 first-period goals in a 15-6 victory over Schaumburg in MSL West play.

James Birriel and L.J. Peterson had 2 goals apiece for the Saxons.

Palatine (5-1, 2-0) is the only MSL West team without a loss.

Hersey d. Elk Grove: Hersey scored the only goal in extra time as the host Huskies earned a 9-8 OT decision against Elk Grove in MSL East play.

George Vladimirov had a team-best 4 goals for Hersey (2-1, 2-0), and Kyle Phillips had 7 for Elk Grove (3-3, 1-1).

Ÿ Prospect is tied for the MSL East lead with Hersey after beating Buffalo Grove 12-4. The Knights improved to 3-3 overall and 2-0 in the East.