Boys soccer: Wheeling will host MSL Cup after winning at Fremd

Wheeling's boys soccer team achieved its dream of hosting the 40th Mid-Suburban League Cup by winning once more on the road.

The Wildcats' 2-0 victory over host Fremd on Saturday morning means Wheeling has won the East Division title and will host Barrington at 7 p.m. Thursday for the conference's overall championship.

Wheeling is back in the championship game for the first time since 2013, thanks in part to brilliant first-half strikes from Vicente Castro and Jose Mariscal. The Wildcats needed those goals to help coach Kevin Lennon's team survive against Fremd less than 12 hours after the conclusion of an emotionally and physically draining 100-minute draw against division rival Hersey.

"That sure was a long 80 minutes for the coaching staff to watch," said a relieved Lennon.

Wheeling had two regulars out of the lineup - Juan Castillo and Dennis Gavrila - and a third, captain Jonathan Sanchez, missed the entire second half when his injured ankle flared up.

"We didn't have a lot of energy left after our game with Hersey," said Sanchez, "but we knew what we had to do today, and with the help of everyone on our roster, we were able to get the result we needed in order to advance."

Hersey won earlier in the day against Schaumburg, temporarily giving the Huskies a 2-point advantage in the point standings (26-24). So before the contest began against Fremd, Wheeling knew it required the 3 points that go with a league victory.

"It was basically win or go home for us, and those two great goals we got early helped take some of the pressure off because all of us had tired legs from our game with Hersey last night," said Wheeling's Juan Aguilar, who along with David Soto and Randy Pietrowski were provided a strong defensive effort in front of keeper Jonathan Ayala, subbing for Castillo for the second consecutive match.

"Randy has been our unsung hero all season long," said Lennon, "and what else can you say about David and Aguilar? They were great yesterday and really came through for us today when we didn't have much going on the other end."

Mariscal bagged his 14th goal of the season in the eighth minute when he collected a pass from Castro to his right, then carried before unloading an unstoppable shot from 20 yards.

Five minutes later, Castro doubled the MSL East champs' advantage when the Vikings allowed the junior to tee-up his attempt before finishing from almost the same spot as Mariscal.

"We played an outstanding first half, except for two plays," said Fremd coach Steve Keller. "And both of them cost us a goal, and eventually the game - but the effort throughout the day was very good."

Fremd (6-9-3, 4-6-1) enjoyed the run of play after conceding the two goals, well into the second period. The Vikings pressed and pressured the visitors relentlessly in their own end but failed to get anything of quality on frame.

The Vikings' best chance of the second half fell to senior Michael Lebarge, who went over the bar with his attempt after Shintaro Hidaka put him through beautifully in the 49th minute.

Max Clark, who was part of a new-look formation along the back for Keller, provided some extra pace and creativity when going forward from his outside-back position, and along with the high percentage of 50-50 wins from Ben Cuthbert, James Lefevre, Dalton Rogers and others, the home side forced the Wildcats (14-2-1, 9-1-1, 28 points) to defend with all their might.

"Our motto is, 'To finish what we start,' " said Lennon. "And although it hasn't been easy these past two days, we still were able to get the result we wanted, and now go through to play Barrington on Thursday."

Lennon praised his entire roster, including assistant coaches Leo Elizalde and Tim King, for their support and hard work during the divisional championship run.

Hersey 3, Schaumburg 0: Hersey's boys soccer team did what it had to on Saturday against Schaumburg.

But in the end it wasn't enough for the Huskies, who fell just short in its bid to play in the MSL Soccer Cup next week.

After an enthralling 100-minute 2-2 draw the night before against Mid-Suburban East rival Wheeling to set up a must-win situation on Saturday, the Huskies (11-1-3, 8-1-2, 26 points) did what they needed to do against the Saxons with a 3-0 victory.

However, only a few hours later, their dreams were dashed when Wheeling topped Fremd to capture the top prize and a spot in the championship match Thursday.

"It was a tough, long game against Wheeling last night and we worked hard to get out of (there) with a tie," said captains Christian Castro and Jack Rasmussen before they joined their mates in Palatine to watch Wheeling win 2-0. "But when you have to count on help from another team, sometimes it doesn't work out the way you want it to."

"We had our chances here and there against Wheeling but didn't finish them," said Hersey coach Darren Llewelyn. "That's the sport we play, and it's one of the reasons we're here today knowing that even if we win, it might not be enough."

Saturday's match was picked up in the 27th minute with the home side holding a 2-0 advantage on goals from Danny Gritt and Castro before lightning ended the action Thursday and extended the regular season one last day.

"We would have like to play the role of spoilers but even though we played very well in the second half today, it wasn't enough," said Saxons senior captain Andrew Bird, who once again continued his all-out, box-to-box play. "So we have to turn our attention to the playoffs, where we can maybe spoil the season of a higher seed in our regional."

Coach Hamid Mehreioskouei's club is the No. 16 seed (2-11-1, 1-9-1) and will play No. 17 Wheaton North (1-13-2) in a regional opener.

"There were some encouraging signs out there from the guys today, and we created some good stuff," Mehreioskouei said. "But there wasn't enough bite in the final third to really put anything of value on frame, despite having plenty of the play at times."

The Huskies showed little life as they completed the last 13 minutes of the first period, showing obvious fatigue and a lack of energy after the short turnaround following the OT contest at Wheeling on Friday evening.

"I think all of us were a little tired from the night before, and we weren't very sharp at the start today," said Castro, who broke the season-single assist program record (14) when Gritt bagged his second goal in the 59th minute. "But we picked it up after the break - began to possess pretty well and played well enough to add another goal."

Just before intermission, Matt Dickey, one of 12 seniors honored after the match, nearly made it 3-0. He ran onto a wonderful cross field serve by Guiseppe Scaletta, which the Saxons (2-11-1, 1-9-1) managed to clear off the line.

Dickey later join injured teammates Thomas Skiba and Saul Casillas on the bench to rest a variety of minor injuries.

The Saxons deserved at least one in the back of the net after the break, in part to the play of the aforementioned Bird, along with Edwin Zuniga, Eric Pawlikowski and defender Andrew Gomez, who came forward on several occasions.

But the Huskies' back line kept its shape and stayed organized in front of keeper Adam Szymaszek. He had a much easier time of it after earning man-of-the-match honors the night before against Wheeling.

Senior Colin Mallers initiated the final goal of the game with a nice tackle near the midline.

His dished to Castro, who in turn found Gritt for an easy finish with the Saxons' keeper far off his line.

"This team is so close, and it showed with how we dealt with that tough result against Wheeling," Rasmussen said.

The top-seeded Huskies will open up their postseason on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at Roland Goins Stadium in Arlington Heights against either Highland Park or Deerfield.