No victory, but big improvement for Fremd
One week after a disappointing run at the Best of the West tournament in Naperville, Fremd coach Steve Keller’s team turned in a fine performance against defending Class 2A state champ Peoria Notre Dame on Friday night as the first day of the Fremd Invite came to an end.
Despite the scoreless draw, the Vikings (2-4-2) and Irish (2-1-1) played an entertaining 80 minutes of soccer to set up the final day of this rotating-venue tournament. The hosts will meet Hinsdale Central, while Peoria Notre Dame faces Schaumburg.
“We were awful last week at the tournament, and we didn’t really play all that well in our victory over Rolling Meadows (2-1) on Tuesday and our loss on Thursday to Hersey,” said Keller. “But I told the guys afterward, if we had lost tonight (I) wouldn’t be upset because the effort and work rate was very high, and our best of the season thus far.
“If we come out and play the same way the rest of the way, we’ll be in good shape, and competitive with every opponent.”
The Vikings coach might be hoping his club can find the same magic formula from last year’s invite, when the event was hosted by Schaumburg. Entering the tournament last fall, the Vikings were a dismal 0-6-2. But after falling to Hinsdale Central 1-0 and playing to a 1-1 final with the Irish, Fremd went on a 7-2-3 run in its next 12 matches, leading to a regional title against Buffalo Grove.
Peoria Notre Dame, despite losing its top three scorers to D-I programs along with many more accomplished seniors, impressed with a high-tempo opening which featured quick touches and plenty of speed from front to back.
“This is a young team which isn’t particularly big, but with plenty of talent that is going to go through some growing pains in the first-half of our season,” said PND coach Mike Bare, who led the Irish to their third state title in five years last fall after a 3-0 win over Urbana in the championship game. “One of the reasons we like coming north to play the competition here is because it is so diverse, and it offers us a chance to go against some very well coaches 3A teams who come at you hard for 80 minutes. In the end, that will help our development and get us ready for the postseason.”
Fremd showed the ability to knock the ball around, especially when the freshman duo of Luke Schoffstall and Rentaru Shimizu were in the game.
“Those two have struggled here and there,” said Keller. “But tonight they had their best effort since being called up, and along with the work of our outside mids, the work of (Nathan) Dolan in the middle and Zach (Schoffstall) up top, who looked and played like a true striker, it was a joy to watch.”
Each club had just a few quality chances on frame, with junior Zach Schoffstall having two of them. One was saved by keeper Justin Burk. The other came when Dolan supplied a splendid ball over the top which required a stout tackle from Grayson McGraw in order to end trouble.
“We were so bad last week in our tournament, but (Keller) kept us together, and got us back on track, and everyone played real well tonight,” said Zach Schoffstall.
“The competition for spots is real high right now, and it seems to have made everyone work a lot harder and smarter, and that’s a good thing,” Keller said.