Fremd manages to stop Buffalo Grove in regional

Another efficient performance from an injury-filled Fremd side helped put the second-seed into its own Class 3A girls soccer regional championship and into the regional final on its home pitch.

With three out from its first 11 because of injuries, and another trio of players ailing but still able to play, the Vikings (14-4-2) defeated No. 16 Buffalo Grove (8-15-0) in Tuesday's regional semifinal 3-0 in Palatine.

Fremd will host the regional final at 6 p.m. Friday against No. 7 Carmel (11-6-3), a 1-0 winner over Deerfield in the second semifinal.

Kristin Kupstys (dislocated kneecap) and Nicole Leginski, both key figures in the Vikings state tournament run last spring, along with Nikki Pagnamenta and Jesa Rizo, were all ruled out of Tuesday's match. That tested the Vikings' depth, as well as the meddle of a club, which just a couple of days ago, lost to state power New Trier 2-1, in a match in which the Vikings would control in the second half, according to coach Steve Keller.

"We came out (that) day and played in awe of (them) - but after the break, we had the run of play the entire second half," Keller said. "Since then, we've suffered injuries, and sickness, and obviously all of it coming at a very bad time for us."

The Vikings would keep the visiting Bison off the scoresheet for the first 40 minutes, with Danielle Romano, Emily Baster and Kathleen Holmberg all earning high marks from Keller for their work.

But a lackluster effort on the attacking side of things did not go unnoticed by the the head coach. Nor did a magnificent goal-saving stop from keeper Allison Norenberg, who took a stealth-like blast off the boot of Kelly Mahoney out of the back of the net just moments after Romano gave the home-side the lead with her header from in close.

"Obviously, if Norenberg doesn't save that shot, then it's 1-1, and suddenly, the underdog in this match has all the momentum, and maybe we're fighting for our lives the rest of the way," said Keller.

"That was a great save by (their) keeper, and it would have been great for us to get even at the time, but Fremd is very good team, and well-coached, and it would have taken quite an effort from a young team like ours to stay with them for 80 minutes," said BG coach Pat Dudle, who can look ahead to a bright future after losing just three players to graduation and returning nearly all of his first 11 next season.

Norenberg needed to go full-extension to her right to pull back the Mahoney drive, after her mates Carolynn Wieland and Jackie Concialdi helped create the opportunity.

"Sometimes I feel that my job is to make a save (like that) in order to help motivate my team and to get them going," said Norenberg.

BG's confidence would grow afterward, as the visitors pushed further into the attack with more pace and energy, and just when it appeared it might have a chance to equalized, the Vikings would stun the young club in the 36th minute to double its lead.

That's when Crystal Rohan ran onto a nicely played ball from sophomore Kira Heggleland from the right side and fired past Bison keeper Katie Okamoto.

Kristin Abruscato increased the Vikings' lead at 54 minutes when her low drive would come at the end of some nifty work by Alexis Tice and Rohan to free up the junior in close.

"That was an ugly first half of soccer from us," admitted Tice, who said the Vikings were unable to string any passes together for most of the match.

"Lately we've been starting painfully slow, then turning it around in the second half," said Keller. "But if we expect to continue through the tournament, we had better stop doing that, or our run will be over soon."

Conant 3, Glenbard North 0: After dominating proceedings through much of the first half, it was only logical that Conant's players would feel a little frustration about being tied 0-0 with Glenbard North in the semifinals of the St. Charles East regional.

Yet the Cougars shook off any feelings of worry, took the lead in the first 10 minutes of the second half and went on to win 3-0. No. 3 Conant (10-5-3) plays No. 11 St. Charles East, which beat No. 6 Wheaton North 1-0, in Saturday's noon title game.

"I knew today was going to be one of those days, especially with the wind and with us playing on grass," Conant coach Jason Franco said. "This is our third game on grass this year and it's an adjustment process. You could see we were adjusting to the bad bumps and weren't in our rhythm."

Sam Armando curled the ball into the goal from 8 yards out for Conant's first goal. Alyssa Altoniso scored the Cougars' other 2 goals - one a long-range shot with 11 minutes left and the other a close-range shot after a well-worked free kick with four minutes to play.

Lindsay Fillingim had 3 saves for the Cougars.

Glenbard North (8-14-1) improved greatly over its 2009 performances this year, but was unable to unlock Conant on Tuesday.

"That was our problem today, possession," Glenbard North coach Dave Stanfield said. "We couldn't get hold of the ball long enough to build. That's it, really."

- Darryl Mellema

Hersey 1, Meadows 0: Mid-Suburban East champion and fourth-seeded Hersey escaped the upset bid of division rival Rolling Meadows in the Stevenson semifinal.

A first-half goal by Alexa Ruzkowski propelled Hersey will play in Friday's 6 p.m. regional final against No. 5 Stevenson, which beat No. 11 Highland Park 1-0 in the other semifinal.

Julia Fredian got the shutout in goal for Hersey.

Schaumburg 4, West Chicago 1: Kelsey Steenstrup had a hat trick and Sarah Christy scored the other goal for No. 2 Schaumburg in the West Chicago regional semifinal. The hosts scored their only goal in the final 10 minutes.

Christy also had an assist, as did teammates Stephanie Pouse, Riley Williams and Becky Sneddon.

The Saxons advanced to Friday's 6 p.m. regional final against the winner of today's 4 p.m. match between No. 7 Elk Grove and No. 10 Lake Park.

Mundelein 1, Palatine 0 (3 ot): No. 3 Mundelein finally averted the upset on Ashley Begrowicz's goal in the third overtime against No. 14 Palatine in the Lake Forest regional semifinal.

Warren 2, Prospect 1 (2 ot): Junior Agnes Stankiewicz had a tying second-half goal for ninth-seeded Prospect but No. 8 Warren converted in overtime in the Libertyville regional semifinal. Sophomore Megan McCabe had 10 saves for the Knights.

Leyden 2, Maine West 0: Ashley Torres scored both goals for No. 6 Leyden in its Loyola regional semifinal win over No. 10 Maine West. The Eagles advanced to Friday's 7 p.m. regional final against No. 2 Loyola, which beat Maine East 9-0.

Class 2A

Top-seeded St. Viator rolled to a 6-2 victory over No. 4 Wauconda in the Crystal Lake Central regional semifinal. The Lions play for the title at 4 p.m. Friday against the winner of today's 4 p.m. match between Prairie Ridge and Crystal Lake Central.