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Girls soccer: Fremd freezes out Elk Grove

Goals from Emilijia Peleckas and Allison Marozza were enough to decide things in favor of Fremd's girls soccer team, which defeated host Elk Grove 2-0 to earn all its first 3 points in Mid-Suburban League play Friday.

"It was nice to see us go out in the second half with a strong wind in our face and possess and play some good attacking soccer," said Vikings coach Steve Keller, whose club is 1-3-2 overall and 1-1-2 in the MSL.

Both sides were greeted with yet another night of frigid conditions as temperatures dipped well below freezing with the wind chill. In the first half that breeze favored the visitors, who spent most of the time in the Grens' half.

"We left some chances out there tonight," said Keller.

Fremd did not get anything on frame until the 11th minute, when an early ball from Julia Szylke set Nikki Gary free in close, and her shot forced keeper Rachel Kandefer to save.

Six minutes later, Elk Grove put its best effort of the first half into the box with a looping serve off a free kick from Kelly Walter. But Vikings keeper Kelsie Stone held onto the attempt despite getting a rough ride from a few of her opponents, plus a couple of her teammates who had tracked back to help out.

A turnover in the Grens' end led to first goal, from Peleckas in the 32nd minute. The junior collected a wayward ball and moved forward past a pair of markers with two quick steps before scoring.

"That wasn't a good goal to concede, especially that late in the half when it looked like we might get out of there at 0-0," said Elk Grove coach Dan Klaus. "But then, we also got a friendly post help keep another one out of the back of the net."

The Grens coach hoped a shift in wind would also mean a shift in fortunes in the second half. Instead, the Vikings enjoyed the run of play in the early part of the second period.

"I was really happy with our second half tonight," said Fremd senior Courtney Baker, who turned in a solid 80 minutes as the outside-back spot on the left side with strong tackling, several quality balls out of the back, plus the ability to read potential trouble before it happened. "We connected our passes so much better playing into the wind - it's something we've continued to work on during training, and it helped us control the second half tonight."

Fremd doubled its advantage at 54 minutes as a result of the creative work of the trio of Kellie Halloran, Angie Zara and Katie Murauskis, who allowed Allison Marozza to put the finishing touch on her goal when she redirected past Kandefer.

"It's still a work in progress out there for us," said Elk Grove sophomore Kelly Walter, whose work rate and energy at midfield was a bright spot for the hosts. "We did not do a good job in the 50-50s, and we didn't always defend as well as we can as a team. But we still are such a young team with only four seniors and no juniors, so it's going to take us some time to get to a better spot."

"I have to remind myself that we have 14 freshmen and sophomores, and when you're that young and inexperienced, a team like Fremd has a better idea of what to do, and when," added Klaus. "Emma (Slattery) was a monster in the back for us tonight, while Kelly did so much work for us in the middle. But we've got to get others up to speed, and it's going to take us some time to get there."

The Grens (1-4-0, 0-2-0) meet Conant on Monday in Hoffman Estates, while Fremd hosts MSL East-leading Prospect next Wednesday.

Barrington 4, Palatine 0: The host Fillies got a pair of goals in both halves to remain unbeaten in Mid-Suburban League play, improving to 4-1-1 overall.

Haley Tausend, Ellie Stodola, Kayla Keck and Christine Batliner scored for Barrington and junior Allie Quinn earned the shutout.

Buffalo Grove 1, Hoffman Estates 0: A second-half goal by Alyssa Floro on an assist from Gina Bolis was the difference in the MSL crossover at Hoffman Estates.

Cassie Berman handled the nets for BG while Frankie Van was in goal for Hoffman.

Rolling Meadows 7, Wheeling 0: Madeline Rebsamen and Sara Sheridan each had 2 goals for the Mustangs while Natalie Brady, Laura Dacy and Taylor Gunn had one apiece in the MSL East match.

Conant 2, Hersey 0: Zeo Shoro and Beth Dolce had second-half goals and Kaylin Feeney provided an assist to help lift the Cougars past the Huskies in an MSL crossover.

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