Boys soccer: Fremd downs Wheeling for regional crown
Jake Schoffstall's three-goal haul lifted No. 6 seed Fremd to an impressive 4-1 victory over Wheeling Saturday afternoon to claim the title at its own Class 3A boys soccer regional at Hildebrant Field in Palatine.
Next up for the Vikings (13-5-1) will be the No. 2 team in the state, Libertyville (18-0-0), Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the Barrington sectional.
"We were fortunate to get two first half goals with a strong wind in our face and to not give one away before the half but we came back to put two more in, defend the lead, and advance," said Fremd coach Steve Keller.
The longtime Mid-Suburban League rivals were welcomed by a ferocious wind at the start, which increased when light snow arrived before the break, and would reappear on a couple of occasions during the second period to make it more difficult for Wheeling to stage a successful comeback when it went two goals down.
"It's tough enough playing a team such as Fremd, but the weather and conditions played well to the dead ball and set-piece style of play they play, so to concede two free kick goals put a lot of pressure on us," said Wheeling coach Kevin Lennon, whose club goes out with a 13-6-1 overall record.
Schoffstall was on target when he finished the first of his three after captain Connor Sapiente set up the junior center-back, but it was his free kick masterpiece from near the edge that curled around the wall that put the Wildcats on their heels.
"Going down two goals with the wind at our backs wasn't good but I a really proud of how we came back to score one to give us some momentum heading into the half," said Lennon.
Jason Rivas' response to the second Schoffstall goal was with a brilliant left-footed strike that crashed off the under side of the bar and over the end line four minutes before the intermission.
The junior bagged 2 goals in the Wildcats' 4-2 victory over Carmel Catholic in their regional opener last Tuesday.
Fremd would put the No. 4 seed under pressure almost immediately at the start of the second period with Dorian Lesiuk, Josh Bennett and Sapiente connecting in close, to force a clearing effort from the Wheeling defense.
Jake Scesniak nearly latched onto long serve from the midline from Schoffstall on the hour but sixty seconds later the junior unloaded an unstoppable 55-yard wind-aided free kick that soared into the far right corner of the net.
"We knew that with Wheeling playing into the wind in the second half if we could score at least one more, it would be difficult for them to come back, so that third goal was really big for us," said Schoffstall, who along with Cole Jackson, Kaelan Conway, Scesniak and CJ Williams, who took over along the back when Scesniak moved forward, kept the high-powered 'Cats attack, led by Jared Urueta, Luis Aviles and Rivas, far away from keeper Artur Cholewa.
"We locked things down in the second half, and defended as a team real well," said Sapiente.
Sophomore Nick Austin put the finishing touches on the win with his own 30-yard blast in the 77th minute.
"We had our struggles in the early part of the season, but the guys worked hard, and did all the right things to get us to compete at a high level and for that, I am very proud of each of them," said Lennon.