Girls soccer: Fremd downs Warren, will play for sectional title
No. 3 seed Fremd set up a sectional final date with top seed Stevenson Saturday morning after defeating Warren 3-1 Tuesday night at Grant Blaney Stadium in a sectional semifinal at host Buffalo Grove.
The Vikings (14-4-3) scored 2 first-half goals off corners to take a 2-1 advantage into the break, then finished off the Blue Devils (13-9-3) with a late goal from sophomore Rose Kentish.
"We had a great start tonight, but I think that early goal gave us a little too much confidence and we allowed (Warren) to get back in the game, which is something you never want to do especially at this time of the season," said Fremd's Allie Prigge, who along with her sister Liz and junior Lauren Burk tightened the defensive grip on a Warren side which lost two outstanding players to injury in the first half.
"We went through a series of injuries this season, and just recently welcomed back Emily Soriaga and Morgan Liebau, who have been key players during our last two weeks leading up to tonight's game," said Warren coach Ryan McCabe. "But the injury bug would bite us again and losing Courtney Chomko (ankle) an all-state player, who runs so much of our attack through, then Annika Attiah (concussion protocol) both in the first half really set us back for awhile."
Murauskis, who would go freely onto a cross field free kick from Liz Prigge to make it 1-0 in the 8th minute then later give the Vikings the lead for good with her double at 38 minutes - this one all possible when Allie Prigge's curling left-footed corner found its way under Warren keeper Sarah Barbosa.
Warren would lose Attiah in the 11th minute but her replacement, Megan Best, did well to step in for the junior.
Chomko, whose crafty, purposeful play would help the Blue Devils' attack develop from her spot on the outside, saw her night and prep career come to an abrupt end just moments after Elizabeth Weinberg equalized against coach Steve Keller's club.
"No. 2 (Chomko) was so clever and dangerous with the ball, and she made things very difficult for us up until she went out, which is a tough thing to see, especially for a player with such talent," said the Fremd head coach.
Weinberg would get on top of an Ella Skelton free kick near the six-yard box and thump her header past keeper Jennifer Norris to turn around the momentum for the Blue Devils.
"We had a rough start, and things didn't look very good for us, but we sorted a few things out after losing both Annika and Courtney but in the end it wasn't enough," said McCabe.
Liz Prigge and Murauskis would put the Blue Devils under pressure all night long with their piercing long range free kicks and the junior Allie Prigge nearly made it 3-1 when she went just wide from 30 yards in the 63rd minute.
"I am not sure if its been a busy week filled with finals, graduation (last night) or a combination of both, but we lacked urgency and energy in the second half and if we come out and play like that against Stevenson on Saturday our season might be over then," said Keller.