Vikings bounce back strong vs. Naperville North

By Eddie Burns

Fremd left the first weekend of the 13th annual Naperville Invite feeling pretty good about the efforts it put forth in recording wins against Wheaton Warrenville South and Benet.

Then the Vikings went out on Monday and dropped a decision at Elk Grove.

The loss provided as a subtle reminder that a team can’t get too high on itself.

Fremd entered its match with Naperville North on Thursday night with that in mind and the Vikings scored an impressive 2-0 win against the Huskies in a quarterfinal match of the 13th annual Naperville Invite.

“It was really tough on Monday and we were definitely pumped to show (against North) that we are much better than we played (against Elk Grove),” Fremd’s Danielle Romano said. “We showed that we can play with the best today.”

The Vikings (10-2-1) have won their three Naperville Invite matches against Benet, North and WW South by a combined 4-0.

Fremd spent the first half dodging North because the Huskies (8-3-2) played with a gusty wind at their backs.

“This is a very good win for us,” Fremd coach Steve Keller said. “In the first half, the kids did exactly what we asked them to do and we got out tied 0-0. I felt we played a better first half than second half because we possessed the ball.”

It didn’t take the Vikings long to take advantage of the wind at their back in the second half as they scored their first goal in the 47th minute.

Romano played a restart from 45 yards out and a North player won the ball, but the Huskies failed to clear, which allowed Fremd’s Elise Kotsakis a chance to recover. Kotsakis gained possession with her back the North goal, turned and fired a shot past Huskies’ goalie Allison Hitchcock to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead.

“I was pretty far back so the coaches just told me to nail the ball to the far past and that's what I did, and the wind basically carried it there,” Romano said. “We definitely had the advantage with the wind at our back in the second half.”

Keller said he continues to be impressed with Kotsakis’ ability to create goals with her back turned to the goalie.

“Danielle is lethal on restarts,” Keller said. “With Elise, it is strange that she scores a lot of goals with her back to the goal, turn and hit. We’d like to see her run at people and score, but we’ll take these.”

The Vikings relaxed once they scored and allowed the Huskies to make a few dangerous runs toward Fremd goalie Allison Norenberg, but the Vikings stood strong.

“In the second half, once we got our goal same problem we’ve had all year resurfaced -- we took our foot off the gas and made things interesting,” Keller said. “With this win, we have to keep things moving forward. “

Romano said the key to shutting down North’s offense was Fremd’s ability to communicate and play within itself.

“Considering the windy conditions, I think we played a lot smarter when we had the ball,” Romano said. “In the back, we handled North’s speed because we did a good job talking and marking their offensive threats.”

Fremd’s Jennifer Freeman gave the Vikings breathing room when she scored her first goal of the season in the 76th minute to give the Vikings a two-goal lead.

The Vikings have yet to win the Naperville Invite and advance to the semifinals where they will play New Trier at 7 p.m. Friday at Naperville Central.

“We always seem to make it to this point and this year we really want to win it and show everyone we’re meant to be,” Romano said.  

“We’ve come close before,” Keller said. “Hopefully, we’ll have our legs under us and we’ll see what we’re made of.”

If Fremd wins, it will play in the championship 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Central.
 

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