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Girls soccer: Fremd, Prospect battle to scoreless draw

Fremd and Prospect played to an exciting 0-0 girls soccer draw Wednesday night in Mt. Prospect at George Gattas Memorial Stadium in the Mid-Suburban League season opener for both clubs.

"Obviously anytime you can come away with one point against one of the best sides in the conference it's a real positive so we're quite pleased with the result," said Prospect coach Tom Froats, whose club moves to 5-0-2 overall on the season.

"Last year we left some critical points out there, and it came back to haunt us in the end so that's something we do not want to repeat."

The Knights were coming off an impressive 3-0 victory over Wheaton Academy just before spring break, while the Vikings (2-1-1) were equally impressive during their 1-0 loss to state power Naperville North ahead of spring break.

"It was a very good effort after coming back from some time off and for the most part, a very even 100 minutes of soccer," said Fremd coach Steve Keller. "Both teams had a few chances, it was well played from end-to-end, and in that first overtime period, we had the better of it, putting a lot of pressure on them but in this sport, you have to finish and that's something we will continue to work on."

Buoyed by their typically tight defense, the Vikings kept the home side from getting anything dangerous on frame and their keeper, Jennifer Norris, by the Knights.

Christy Muraukis, Liz and Allie Prigge and Emma Katovich made sure of that along the Vikings' back line, as did their counterparts Madalyn Ladd, Helen Siavelis and Ashley Erickson, along with Tina Suto, who handled the chores of the holding-mid with confidence.

There was so much ebb and flow than one would expect in a goal-less soccer match - plenty of which came in part to the midfield play from each side.

Ashley Welk and Kristin Schneider would be the engines in the Knights' attack, while the same could be said for Mackenzie Stein, Emma Spotak, Ashely Scesniak and Caeleigh Stone, who all took turns up top or in the Vikings' midfield.

A short clearing attempt kept the ball in the Vikings' end, in which Welk and Abby Danciu were quickly all over it, and if not for a sharp tackle from Murauskis, it could have been a one-on-one against Norris in the 22nd minute.

The Vikings conjured up a couple of half chances at keeper Annie Ninness, but the sophomore easily turned away the midrange attempts from Ashley Scesniak and Spotak after the break.

During the first 10-minute extra session Spotak, Scesniak and Stone were buzzing all around the Prospect area but were unable to create a clear opening.

Ashley Adams went wide in the 92nd minute for the home side, while the aforementioned Welk did so as well at 95 minutes.

"We found some things out tonight, defended very well, except for a couple of poor decisions in the end which could have proved costly but overall, it was a good effort coming out of our break," admitted Keller.

Next up for Fremd is its annual crosstown contest with Palatine Friday when the two sides play for the Kinsella Cup, while Prospect goes on the road to 2018 division champion Elk Grove.

"There's not a lot of time for us to dwell on this good result with a key match against someone from our division coming up on Friday," said Froats. "We want to get three points with a win, and I know the girls will have the focus on that game two days from now."

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