Conant steps up, surprises Fremd
Fremd has been making waves in the early stages of this boys soccer season, but Tuesday night Conant pushed its way into the limelight by shocking the high-flying Vikings just two minutes into overtime.
Nathan Cornell became an instant hero for the Cougars when the junior striker ran onto a superb ball from teammate Zach Conrad and struck the game-winner to give the hosts a 2-1 victory in a Mid-Suburban League opener in Hoffman Estates.
"We knew how important this game was tonight for us, and also how important it was for us to come out and play a lot better than we had during our last couple of matches at the Lake Park tournament, and I think from the very beginning, we did just that," said Cornell, who sent the Cougars' faithful into a frenzy after his blast from the right side eluded Vikings keeper Scott Sutarik, who made a gallant leap in the air in an attempt to save.
The Vikings (5-1-2, 0-1-0), who were the talk of the town at the Best of the West tournament last week after a 1-0 victory over Neuqua Valley in the tourney final Saturday, looked to be the team to beat in the MSL West after its nearly flawless start to the season.
"We came in here tonight just a little too complacent," said Fremd coach Steve Keller. "I am not taking anything away from Conant, because to be truthful, they outplayed us for 80-plus minutes. But what I think you saw tonight was a team which got a real good dose of reality, which I hope is the type of eye-opener everyone needed to get the players' attention as to what it takes to be a championship club."
The Cougars enjoyed the run of play for most of the first half thanks to the efforts of players such as Shivam Patel, Thomas Kozlowski, Bobby Iatomasi and Cornell. Kozlowski finished with a left-footed blast at 34 minutes after Patel helped set up the goal with a nice piece of individual work in close.
The Cougars had little time to celebrate, however, when Riota Wada finally picked a hole in the hosts' end on the left side before sending a wonderful ball to the back post, where Spencer Filosa headed in the equalizer.
"Our defense played very well tonight, and except for that one (instance) - as a group, they really didn't allow Fremd to get behind them," said Conant coach Jason Franco.
The second-half began like the first, with Conant threatening off the whistle.
Iatomasi got free but was stopped point-blank by Sutarik, who gave the senior an opportunity with a rebound off the save only to watch the Cougars' striker spray his shot wide of the open net.
The speed of play and sudden urgency from both sides produced plenty of hard tackles, gritty play in the air and on the floor.
Patel again initiated another dangerous opportunity for the Cougars when he beat a pair of defenders in the 54th minute to find Kozlowski, who fired a shot across the face of the goal.
The Cougars, who'd struggled with set-piece chances, defended four consecutive serves or long throws from in deep by Brian Hindle to keep the Vikings far away from keeper Hugo Gonzalez in the final 15 minutes before regulation.
Filosa nearly won it in the 80th minutes when his blast from just outside the area found its way into the back of the net as the horn sounded. But the goal was waved off correctly, who immediately raised his flag as the ball did not cross the endline in time.
Once in the first extra 10-minute period, Cornell raced down the right side to meet the Conrad ball sent over the top and finish the match.
"Zach gve me a great ball, and even though it was a little tricky getting the right touch on (it) I still made sure to strike my shot as best as I could," Cornell said.