Savino powers Fremd by Barrington in MSL West battle

Fremd is back in business.

One week after dropping an important Mid-Suburban West match to rival Conant in OT, the Vikings restored themselves as the favorite in the division with back-to-back victories, including a 2-1 victory on the road at Barrington on a gorgeous Wednesday night.

Senior Lorenzo Savino struck for both of the Vikings goals just two minutes apart as the visitors opened with a blistering 20 minutes of soccer to take its 2-goal lead in the first 10 minutes. Fremd then held off a Broncos squad which refused to quit.

Both Spencer Filosa and Brian Hindle of Fremd said their team was too complacent after scoring the two quick goals.

"We've got to learn to finish teams off when the opportunity is there for us," sai Fremd coach Steve Keller, "and not to get that third goal when we had so many chances to do so nearly came back to haunt us later on."

You'd have been hard-pressed to find fault with the Vikings (7-1-2 overall, 3-1-0-9 MSL) in the early stages, as Filosa and his backline mates looked confident in defending while Hindle created and won nearly every ball at midfield.

At the same time, Savino, Matt Burkardt and Jake Nedza caused havoc for the Broncos' (3-6-2, 2-2-0).

"Like it or not, this was a big game for us, as a win keeps us right there in the hunt, while a loss gives us 2 with not a lot of room for another defeat or two along the way if we hope to be in the race at the end," said Barrington coach Scott Steib.

Savino jumped at his first chance to finish at eight minutes following a superb save by Broncos keeper Will Cotopolis on a point-blank blast. But in doing so, the senior gave up a rebound for Savino, who finished the chance.

Two minutes later, after the Vikings successfully cleaned up and cleared a Barrington corner, Savino raced up the left side on his way to an electric 50-yard run and carry before finishing past Cotopolis with his angled shot.

The Vikings looked to finished off their foe with another goal and nearly made it 3-0 with a handful of quality chances, only to see shots sprayed wide from in close.

Reid Strain pulled the Broncos back into the match when he cut into the lead in the 26th minute with the help of Charlie Giovenco, who carved up the Vikings' defense with a well-paced through ball.

"We scored those first 2 goals so easily and quickly, but (then) we stopped doing the things which allowed us to get that early lead," said Hindle.

The speed of play turned up a full notch after the break, and at times, it was wide open on the Broncos' big pitch, making for some chippy play, a dash or two of gamesmanship from both benches, tenacious tackling and a few chances here and there to bring the faithful from both sides up off their seats in anticipation of that all-important next goal of the game.

Filosa and Burkhardt were the architects of what almost became that elusive third goal for the visitors at 52 minutes, if not for Savino going wide with his diving header.

With the Broncos' attack working through the midfield, it wasn't long before a few chances fell their way, the first coming off a corner where Erik Buchel's header was turned around and glanced off the bar thanks to a sensational effort from Fremd keeper Scott Sutarik. Later, the senior keeper stopped Grant McAndrew at the near post with three minutes left in regulation.

"Hopefully we learned a few lessons from tonight, and although our second-half performance didn't match the one from the first half there were still plenty of positive things we did to go forward with, which begins with us getting a victory," said Keller.