Boys soccer: Wheeling stops Fremd with fast playoff start

Starting quickly was no problem for Wheeling's boys soccer team in its playoff opener.

Konrad Malinowski netted a hat trick and assisted on the other goal from Jose Mariscal as the Mid-Suburban League champs bounced past No. 14 seed Fremd 4-1 in a Class 3A regional semifinal in Lake Forest on Wednesday night.

"Konrad (Malinowski) gave us a big boost coming out, and with all his speed he can be dangerous," Wheeling coach Kevin Lennon said. "Fremd is a dangerous team and they played us real tough a couple of weeks ago. So at this time of year, especially in the sectional, we knew that they would play us tough. But give credit to our guys with their effort."

Malinowski started the scoring three minutes into the game. He took a pass from Jonathan Sanchez, made a move and curled the ball in from the left side.

"I was just trying to help the team and score goals," said Malinowski, who now has 18 goals and 3 assists this season. "I just put the ball on the right and saw the far post was open and finished it there."

He stepped forward again for his second goal in the 12th minute, this time after taking a pass from Dennis Gavrila.

Wheeling (17-2-2) held the 2-goal advantage until the 52nd minute, when Mariscal scored off a touch from Malinowski.

In the 64th minute, Malinowski added his third goal to give No. 3 seed Wheeling a 4-0 lead off an assist from Sanchez.

Fremd (8-10-3) got a goal back two minutes later as Max Meyer found the back of the net after a corner kick from Vania Martin.

"It's unfortunate, we didn't put up much of a fight in the first half," Fremd coach Steve Keller said. "It was disappointing, but the second half was much better. (Wheeling) was a talented team and we knew that coming in. We knew the things we had to do, and we didn't figure out how to do it in the first half - it cost us."