Corsairs can't find net in regional defeat to Vikings

By Dan Santaromita

Sometimes you just can't catch a break.

If a couple of bounces had gone Carmel's way instead of Fremd's, the story of the teams' regional final could have been very different.

The seventh-seeded Corsairs lost 2-0 to the second-seeded Vikings in the final of the Class 3A Fremd Regional after severe weather delayed the start for an hour.

Coach John Halloran's side, which finished the season at 11-7-3, created some quality chances, but couldn't find the net.

"I thought they played hard," Halloran said. "We made a couple mistakes in the back. Against a team like Fremd you can't do that and we didn't catch a break going forward."

Fremd created more chances early and nearly scored in the sixth minute. Sophomore Emily Basten headed a Michelle Mottonen corner kick past Carmel goalkeeper Maddie Allen, but Allen's defense was able to clear it off the line.

In the 17th minute, Basten was at it again. She lobbed a ball towards senior Crystal Rohan that bounced over two Corsair defenders. Rohan positioned herself perfectly and volleyed it into the net.

Fremd almost doubled its lead in the 31st minute but Allen made a fabulous save. Viking striker Elise Kotsakis gathered a loose ball less than 10 yards from goal and ripped it on net.

Allen was not only able to make the save, but she punched it to the right to prevent a rebound opportunity.

The Corsairs had the run of play to start the second half but were unable to get through the strong Fremd defense.

Suddenly, the Vikings pounced on a counterattack opportunity and it was 2-0 when Rohan hit a perfect through ball to Kotsakis who made the finish look easy.

This seemed to deflate Carmel, allowing Fremd multiple chances to add a third over the next several minutes. The Corsairs regained their composure and came ever so close to getting within one.

With 10 minutes to play, Kassidy Brown ripped a wicked shot towards Fremd keeper Allison Norenberg (5 saves), who made the initial save, but the ball bounced away from her and towards the goal.

Then, amazingly, it hit the post and sat still on the wet turf. That play symbolized the Corsairs' day.

"I can't fault the effort at all," Halloran said. "I think we gave it everything that we had. We came up short and that's the nature of the game sometimes."

Kotsakis was complimentary of Carmel.

"They were a dangerous team, their sweeper (Jessica Gilstrap) was really strong," she said. "They have a lot of skillful players. They can play the ball around a bit, I mean they're a good team."

A dejected Halloran reflected on the season for the Corsairs, who graduate starters Lauren Lehman, Allen, Brown and Gilstrap.

"We definitely struggled at times," he said. "I think the girls showed a lot of heart late in the season in particular when things weren't going our way.

"They could have kind of thrown in the towel and just said 'Well, that's it,' but they didn't and we kept battling throughout the end of the year and picked up a nice win on Deerfield in the first round so that was nice to see, too."

CLICK TO SEE CORSAIRS' TEAM PAGE

CLICK TO SEE CORSAIRS' PHOTO PAGE

Carmel's Coverage sponsored by: