Conant tops Fremd for third place
It could have been historic — an all-Mid-Suburban League state championship soccer match, Conant vs. Fremd.
On a sweltering Friday night at Naperville Central, though, both sides had narrowly missed out on that version of history, with Conant falling a goal short to Naperville North, and Fremd by the same margin against Granite City.
But one match does not define a season, one in which Conant and Fremd were among the best in the state throughout the year.
Conant and Fremd did end up meeting after all, in the state’s Class 3A third-place match Saturday. The Cougars defeated their division rival 4-2 to capture third place, using a 3-goal outburst in the first half to all but seal its top-three finish and give the Cougars fans one more reason to celebrate a 21-5-0 overall record.
“Obviously, we would have liked to be playing in the game which is about to begin, and against Steve (Keller, Fremd’s head coach),” said Conant coach Jason Franco. “But we told the girls only two teams get to finish their season with a victory, and we’re one of those, and that’s something to be really proud of.
“You never know how your team is going to respond after losing a heartbreaker on Friday to Naperville North, and then coming back after many of the girls had prom (afterward) — but this is a real special group that we have, and I really felt that they wanted to come out and give it their best effort, and especially against one of our biggest rivals in Fremd.”
It looked from the onset as if the Vikings (18-5-2) were eager to erase its bitter 1-0 defeat to Granite City when senior Alexis Tice smashed her shot from 35 yards off the underside of the woodwork and over the end line just two minutes in. But the goal only put a small dent in the morale of the Cougars, who fired back with 3 unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead into intermission.
“Using (our) prom for an excuse for our loss on Friday wouldn’t be right, but even today, we just weren’t ourselves for most of the night,” said tice. “We still leave with a fourth-place state trophy and a year that all of us will remember for a long time.”
Kaitlin Chiero brought the Cougars even at 24 minutes when she thumped home a rebound for her 19th goal of the year. Six minutes later, the senior forward played a nice 1-2 with her all-state teammate, Courtney Raetzman, and after the junior tricked her way past a pair of defenders, she went past keeper Shannon Norris with a clever little finish.
“That ride home last night after our game with Naperville North was a tough one, and for me, all I could think about was how I could have played better, and maybe finished on a couple of chances that I had,” said Chiero combined with Raetzman to produce a staggering 42 goals and 26 assists this spring. “But we still can say we finished third overall in the state, and I am sure there were a lot of teams hoping they were here this weekend.”
Sammi van de Linde, who had a breakout year in her second full season with the varsity, struck for the final 2 goals for the Cougars. On both occasions, the midfielder went up and over the Fremd keeper with her angled shot from the side.
Vikings all-state forward Elise Kotsakis, shut out in the Vikings’ supersectional victory over Barrington last Tuesday and again on Friday against Granite City, scored at 78 minutes to bring her club closer at 4-2. She completed her brilliant season with 36 goals.
“I know we could have all played better in our two games here, but I have to admit it felt good to score (that) goal in my final game ever here at Fremd,” said Kotsakis, who is off to Butler University next fall to play soccer.
“Obviously, nobody ever wants to play in the third-place match,” Keller said. “That said, all you want is your team to go out and play, have some fun, and hopefully remember what it’s all about to be a part of a state tournament series.
“The best thing was that everybody got to play plenty of minutes tonight, and for some, it was the first time they had played in a varsity match all season long. That’s what it is all about, and I am happy for all of our players, especially those who are graduating.”