Girls soccer: Fremd shuts out Round Lake
Fremd secured a place in its own girls soccer regional final with a convincing 5-0 victory Tuesday afternoon over No. 14 seed Round Lake at Hildebrandt Field in Palatine.
Next up for the third-seeded Vikings (15-4-1) will be Libertyville this Friday, after the Wildcats defeated Buffalo Grove 4-0 in the second contest of this regional doubleheader.
Fremd went into a commanding 3-0 lead at the quarter-hour as goals from Julia Szylke, Angie Zara and Tara Bergles put the Vikings in control for good.
"That first early goal from Julia got us off on a positive note, and even though we didn't play our best soccer of the season, we still were able to get the result we wanted to," said senior Julia Leonard, who like many of the Fremd starters enjoyed some well-deserved rest after the lead was secure.
"A lot of players were able to get minutes tonight, which is good, because we may need them later on in the playoffs," Szylke said.
The senior thumped in her header in at the back post after going up to meet a nice corner from Marissa Wade in the fourth minute. Seven minutes later, Zara doubled the advantage at the end of some sharp passing by Leonard and Layla Dib.
Bergles scored the first of her 2 goals in the 16th minute, with Leonard the provider.
"Fremd is a very talented team, and the one thing we didn't want to do was chase the game, especially early on, but we ended up doing so," said Round Lake coach Josue Jimenez, whose team wraps up the season at 8-13-1. "One of the things I'm very proud of was the effort for the entire 80 minutes was very good, which is something the girls have done all season long."
The Vikings did well to keep Panthers standout Alexandria Wawrzyniak under wraps, but when the sophomore midfielder was given a little time and space, she showed why she earned all-sectional honors one week ago, with her creativity and ability to take her counterparts on in 1v1 situations.
Bergles scored again at 48 minutes when a ball from Dib allowed the senior time to tee-up her attempt from 16 yards. Later sophomore Juliana Temple finished up the scoreline for the Vikings in the 69th minute as Kelsie Stone and Jennifer Norris share in the shutout.