Fremd makes Kotsakis' goal stand up
Elise Kotsakis' first-half strike Wednesday was all Fremd needed to beat Lake Forest 1-0 and advance into the Class 3A girls sectional finals at Libertyville.
The Vikings will meet Glenbrook South at 6 p.m. Friday after the Titans defeated Hersey 1-0 in sudden-death shootout.
The Mid-Suburban League champion Vikings (17-4-1) fought for their lives in a frantic final 10 minutes of regulation as North Suburban champ and top-seed Lake Forest (18-3-1) looked for the equalizer to send this Wednesday night semifinal opener into extra time.
"We didn't play with a lot of energy or emotion (today) and during those last couple of minutes we had to hold on and defend as best as we could to keep (Lake Forest) out of the back of our net," said Fremd coach Steve Keller.
"We were fortunate to get (that) goal from Elise early only, but it was a struggle most of the way after that."
The No. 4 Vikings knew going in the key to the Scouts' attack was all-everything midfielder Rachel Quon. While the talented senior would show just how dangerous she could be during the last quarter of play, the defensive work from Alexis Tice helped neutralize the all-state candidate, especially in the first half when Keller would ask Tice to man-mark Quon in the middle of the park.
While Quon never was able to find her pace, teammates Nicole Lipp, Haleigh McPeek and Katie Burke would help control the air with nearly 100 percent success. That helped keep the pressure on the Vikings midfield, who had a difficult time linking up with MSL West player of the year Laura Mayer, Kotsakis and others.
The Vikings would pull the lone goal at 27 minutes when some terrific work from sophomore Nikki Pagnamenta would help create an opportunity for Kotsakis, who, with a hint of a touch from the outside of her right boot and enough pace would redirect the Pagnamenta helper inside the far post.
Junior Allison Norenberg made an excellent goal-saving stop on a Quon blast at 64 minutes. Then it was up to wonderful work from both Danielle Romano and Kathleen Holmburg along the back to help preserve the victory.
Glenbrook South 1, Hersey 0: Glenbrook South keeper Chelsea Watkins robbed Hersey of a place in its second consecutive sectional championship match in the cruelest fashion.
Watkins made a trio of brilliant saves to help lead the Titans to a 4-3 win in a sudden-death shootout that enabled Glenbrook South to prevail 1-0 in the second Libertvyille semifinal.
The senior stunned the Mid-Suburban League East Division champion with a pair of back-to-back stops on Megan Boyle, then Kathryn Korff to help keep the No. 2 seed Titans even at 1-1 in the first round. Watkins then turned away Claire Poelking to start the second round, helping to set up the game-winning spot kick from Mary Snow.
"I don't want to say that PK's are the worse way to settle any match at this time of the year, because it's all part of the game that all of us are well aware of," said Hersey coach Brad Abel. "But to say how proud I am of this team right now is an understatement."
The No. 6-seeded Huskies (11-7-3) boasted one of the area's best defensive back-lines, giving just 14 goals in 20 matches - led by the superb senior Kristin Gierman and keeper Julia Fredian.
The duo played a key role in this 120-minute battle. Gierman exploited the Titans (20-1-4) on set pieces, and the junior Fredian not only kept the Huskies in the match with a handful of saves, but helped send things into an extra round of PK's after converting with ease in round 5 to give the Huskies a brief 3-2 lead.
"When you play a team that is coached by Brad, you know that they will be well-organized along the back and play superior defense that will force you to make adjustments or watch your attack struggle," said Titans coach Seong Ha. "Tonight Gierman and Korff were just amazing, winning nearly every 50-50 ball and making it so difficult for us to do much of anything offensively."
The Huskies knew they had to contain the Titans' Jannelle Flaws (37 goals), as well as Jessica Blair and midfielder Erica Aquino without Eileen Zydek (ankle injury). But Andrea Perkins made the move from the midfield back with excellence.
The Huskies generate just a few chances, some coming when Gierman went over the top to find Maeva Waterman - who played with ferocity up front.
Fredian deflected a Flaws missile up and around the bar just before the first overtime period ended.
At 109 minutes, Gierman nearly notched the game-winner when her free kick went off Watkins' rain-soaked gloves and over the end line.
Watkins took over in the shootout, racing off her line to stop Boyle and Korff.
Gierman, Perkins and Fredian pushed the match to 3-3 before Watkins made her clutch save on Poelking.
"They (GBS) controlled most of the match, but with played with a lot of heart and pride and like warriors all night long on the defensive side against a very good soccer club," Abel said.
Barrington 6, McHenry 0: Barrington proved that when it rains, it pours.
In more ways than one.
Playing through rain and heavy fog at Jacobs High School in Algonquin, the Fillies kept pouring on the goals in a 6-0 victory over McHenry in a Class 3A sectional semifinal that had been postponed 24 hours earlier because of inclement weather.
A minute into regulation, Fillies midfielder Caroline Condon found senior forward Mary Kubiuk in front of the goal for the first of her 3 scores that put the Fillies in the driver's seat early.
"We wanted to come out hard right away and try to put the game away," said Kubiuk, who has 27 goals this season. "We were trying to possess the ball a lot. That's our best defense."
"We've been a little bit away from playing a possession type soccer game," said Fillies coach Ryan Stengren. "We got away from that in the regional championship and we wanted to be able to connect passes today. Even under the conditions, we were able to connect passes."
The Fillies' ball control was evident in a first half when four different Fillies scored on the Warriors (12-11-0). The 5-0 halftime lead was fueled by goals from Liz Sauer, Sara and Caroline Condon and Kubiuk - who scored twice.
"Part of our play goes through her," Stengren said of Kubiuk. "Everyone talks about her goals, but she does little things that go unnoticed during the game. She's got a high soccer IQ, probably the highest that I've been around in this area."
The Fillies (19-3-3) face Huntley in the sectional final Friday at 5 p.m. Should the Fillies win, they will return to their home field for the supersectional against the Bartlett sectional winner.
Stengren was confident his team would be there if the Fillies play anything like they did Wednesday.
"We just came out really focused on our goal: to get back to Barrington," Stengren said. "We're one step away from that."
- David Just
Conant declared winner: Conant led Bartlett 1-0 at halftime of Tuesday night's Class 3A sectional semifinal match at Millennium Field when inclement weather moved in. According to IHSA postseason terms and conditions, if weather forces a game to be called off after one half has been played, it's an official game.
Conant was declared a 1-0 winner, per IHSA assistant executive secretary Beth Sauser, who administers girls soccer for the state.
Conant will play Geneva on Friday at 6:30 p.m. for the sectional championship.