Prospect chases but can't catch Fremd
Knights' season ends in 4-1 loss

 

By Mike Garofola

It's just a numbers game right now for Scott Sutarik and his mates at Fremd.

The Vikings’ superb keeper says at the start of the postseason the number tossed around the club was 5 -- meaning 5 victories equals a place in Illinois’ Final Four in two weeks at the 3A tournament, and after Saturday the magic number has been reduced.

The No. 1 seed got two goals in a 7-minute stretch during the first half, then used a pair of second-half strikes from its leading scorers Lorenzo Savino and Spencer Filosa to break open a close match.

The 4-1 victory over MSL rival Prospect (12-7-2) gave regional host Fremd (17-2-2) a regional title and sent the Vikings into next week's sectional at Libertyville.

The MSL champs will meet upstart Highland Park (13-5-4) which stunned No. 3 Lake Zurich on Saturday to give retiring head coach Dave Benes his first regional title since 1997.

"The motto for us has been ‘five games’, ever since the playoffs started," began Sutarik. "Five wins and we get through - and that's the focus each and every one of us has right now."

"After we lifted the championship plaque, I took it from them and placed it face down on the grass, and with no disrespect to Prospect and its coach Kurt Trenkle, I told the guys that this title was nice for today, but it means nothing if we don't get to where all of them want to be in two weeks," said Fremd head coach Steve Keller.

"We've got to play much better than we did today, because it just gets tougher and tougher from here on out."

The Knights began the match by putting plenty of pressure on the home-side, spurred by the likes of Brayhan Nunez and Bill Cooney in the middle, and the duo of Richard Lenke and Patryk Ruta, who switched with Cooney to give the visitors a dynamic 1-2 punch up top, with its 19 goals combined.

"Our play and energy was way up at the start of the match, and along with having a strong wind at our backs, I really felt we could not have played much better until that first goal by Fremd brought us crashing down," offered senior David Spudic, the Knights’ terrific senior midfielder.

"We broke down a couple of times today, and each time it cost us and we had to chase (Fremd) all day long,” Spudic said. “We didn't do well with that because we lost our composure at crucial times in the match."

The Knights put themselves in a tough spot after an own-goal at 18 minutes that shocked the No. 6 seed and put the Knights on their heels. Minutes later, a spectacular goal from the all-stater Filosa put Fremd up 2-0 at the break.

"We did just about everything that we had hoped to do, and really had the control and run of play until that own goal, and then Spencer's incredible shot,” Trenkle said. “But you can't help thinking how much different things would have gone if we get that equalizer, and then have the wind at our backs going forward.”

"It was a huge surprise to actually get two goals with the wind in our face, and to do it so early in that first half was a big deal," suggested Sutarik.

Trenkle and his staff would watch Ruta nearly go inside the back post when he redirected a ball sent in from the right side, but as things went nearly all day for the Knights, the unkind post sent Ruta's attempt harmlessly wide of an open net to help keep the Vikings lead intact.

"That was an unfortunate own goal for Kurt's kids, but there was nothing uncertain about Spencer's goal next," said Keller.

Filosa can thank Savino for his trickery along the endline to create the opportunity. Savino, the Vikings’ leading scorer, turned a pair of defenders inside out before his dangerous serve  was cleared all too short in the Knights area.

From 25 yards, Filosa ran onto the loose ball and fired a searing missile into the upper right corner to double the Vikings lead and give their faithful -- and even a few Knights’ onlookers -- plenty to oooh and aaah about.

"World-class goal," was all both Trenkle and Spudic would say afterwards.

The Knights would take full advantage of a break afforded to them by the center referee, when he deemed an inadvertent handball just outside the box to be deliberate. Nunez would quickly seize the moment with a brilliant free kick around a 6-man wall to bring the Knights nearer at 31 minutes.

But that would be as close as they would get.

"Our backline of (Alex) Bochat, Eric Leonard and (Alex) Prelipceanu, along with Sutarik played great for us in the first-half, especially with the wind in their faces. The rest of us had to step it up in the second-half and add to our lead," Filosa said.

Fremd’s Brian Hindle, who created the own-goal opportunity with his corner kick, would do his part just 60 seconds into the second half when he initiated a dead-ball chance from the near touchline.

Savino's run down the center channel was never challenged, and the senior fired his header in from close range for his 17th goal of the season.

From that point, there wasn't much flow to the game as the Vikings looked to manage their two-goal cushion the rest of the way.

"That third goal was just a little too much for us to dig out of, and against a team like Fremd, it's nearly impossible," said Trenkle.

A penalty kick converted by Filosa at 64 minutes put a dagger in the hopes for any
late heroics by Prospect.

"It was good to see us score off a couple of set-pieces chances today, but for the most part, it was an ugly effort on our part and one that we'll need to clean up by next Wednesday if we look to stay alive in the playoffs," said Keller.