Kinsella helps Fremd take big step in West race
Fremd moved one step closer to booking its second consecutive trip to the girls Mid-Suburban League Soccer Cup after defeating Prospect 2-0 Monday night in Palatine.
The Vikings (12-3-1, 8-1-0, 16 points) went ahead on the only goal it would need when Kaitlyn Kinsella found the back of the net just before intermission. Then the senior would seal the win for the home-side at 69 minutes and likely dashing the hopes of the visiting Knights (11-6-0, 6-4-0,12 points), who were looking to stay in the race in the East with rival Hersey.
"We really didn't have our legs at the start, which may have been due to the big matches we played over the weekend at the Naperville Invite," began Kinsella. "But all of us knew how important tonight (was) and how much we want to get back to the (MSL) Cup next week, and that might have been what got us going after we scored our first goal."
The Knights, who themselves had a busy weekend of play with 3 matches in Moline, struggled with their pace and attack just as their hosts did, which in turn rarely resembled the type of soccer both sides are capable of and have shown of late with a great deal of success.
"I thought we didn't have any energy at all," offered Fremd coach Steve Keller, "but some of the credit for that has to go to the way (Prospect) defended and some of that was us coming off two matches at the tournament in which we played with so much emotion and heart."
The Vikings lost an overtime heart-breaker to state power Waubonsie Valley 2-1 in the semi-finals of the tournament.
Keller would reward his seniors on Senior Night with a veteran group in his first-11, and brought his regulars on just after 20 minutes. However, the change didn't change the landscape of the match until Kinsella ran onto a bouncing ball and went up and over keeper Megan McCabe.
Rachel Lenke would test Fremd keeper Allison Norenberg with a shot on frame just moments later, however, the junior would confidently save it to keep the visitors off the board after 40 minutes.
"We tried to play small ball after the break to try and create some opportunities, and we did get a few, but maybe if we had been able to score to get even things might have changed for us in the end," said Prospect coach Tom Froats.
Prospect lost McCabe to an injury at 50 minutes, and later, in a scary moment, both Alyssa Glennon and Taylor Smith, who collided in a 50-50 ball near midfield.
All three players left under their own power, but were all sporting ice packs from there on out.
As the second half progressed the Vikings began to dominate the proceedings and got the goal they would need to extend the lead when Kinsella rattled the left post with her strike, then watched the ball richocet the other way and off the far post and over the endline.
The Knights were quickly back into their stride following the Kinsella goal and stoppage after the injuries, but were unable to solve Norenberg despite a go from Julie Schmoldt and another attempt by Becky Santiago who ran onto a well-place free-kick from Alexis Glennon over the top.
Hersey 2, Palatine 1: Kathryn Korff and Megan Boyle scored for Hersey in the MSL crossover overtime victory.
Meadows 3, Elk Grove 2: Taylor Fritz scored 2 goals and Alex Partipilo had the other goal for Meadows in the double-overtime MSL East win. Emily Stanke scored Elk Grove's goals.
Conant 3, Schaumburg 1: Becky Knoll and Kelsey Foss scored for Conant and Becky Sneddon had the goal for Schaumburg in the MSL West.
Barrington 2, Buffalo Grove 1: Mary Kubiuk scored once and assisted on the Fillies' other first-half goal as Barrington held off Buffalo Grove.
Hoffman Estates 1, Wheeling 0: Chrissy Tooren's second-half goal with an assist from Lean Tednes made the difference as the host Hawks edged the Wildcats.
Stevenson 3, St. Viator 1: Katelyn Hammerlund scored the goal Viator (8-7-4) in the nonconference loss.