Fremd waits out Carmel

Just as the captains were shaking hands and the teams were about ready to start the Class 3A Fremd girls soccer regional championship, lightning hit and a one-hour delay ensued.

"We were so excited for the game to start," said Fremd senior Crystal Rohan. "But as soon as the captains shook hands, we saw the lightning."

Much later, though, the Vikings were still excited as they held the championship plaque which represented the seventh girls soccer regional crown in school history.

"It was worth the wait," said Rohan, who scored the Vikings' first goal and then assisted on the second in a 2-0 victory over Carmel (11-7-3).

Fremd (15-4-2) will face Mundelein in the Class 3A semifinal of the Palatine sectional on Tuesday.

Rohan took a chip across the middle just inside the goal mount and volleyed a 17-yarder into the lower left of the goal for the 1-0 lead with 23:01 left in the first half.

In the second half, the Wisconsin-Parkside recruit dribbled through defenders and split them with a pinpoint pass to Elise Kotsakis, who slid home her team-high 16th goal from about seven yards out for the 2-0 cushion with 28:54 left in the contest.

"Brilliant ball," said Fremd coach Steve Keller about Rohan's assist to Kotsakis. "She beat three people with it. Elise made a nice run and called for it. It was a pretty play."

"It was a tight squeeze and she (Rohan) did a good job getting it there on a good pace," Kotsakis said.

"It's all about finding the seams," Rohan added. "I turned and saw Elise get a little open. I saw a little path."

Carmel coach John Halloran said there wasn't anything senior goalkeeper Maddie Allen could do on either goal.

"The first one was a half volley from about 20 yards out. On the second one, when Maddie went into her slide, the girls just popped it up. Nothing you could do. Our girls played hard the entire 80 minutes."

The Corsairs finished at 11-7-3.

"I thought Lauren Lehman played hard up front, and Lauren Bowles and Meegan Johnston worked real hard in the middle," Halloran added. "We struggled at times this season. Ultimately, we were a little inexperienced. We realized we were younger than we expected. But I am proud of the girls. They kept battling all season."

Fremd goalkeeper Allison Norenberg stopped a handful of Carmel shots, including a nice save on a 12-yard blast by Carmel's Kassidy Brown with 10:50 left in the game.

Brown also booted a 40-yard direct free kick that Norenberg batted away midway through the first half.

"We had times when we were unorganized - for maybe 10 minutes of the match," Rohan said. "But overall, I thought we played really well considering the weather."

"I think we started to rush things a little at the end," Kotsakis added. "We can do better and we must improve to go further in the tournament. I thought we possessed the ball more than the other team and that is a big step forward for us."

Keller says there is work to be done.

"The way Carmel plays with a deep sweeper gave us more of an opportunity to control the ball with timing and spacing," he said. "We're pleased but at the same time, we can play better - and we will have to."