Fremd's attack stifles Knights in MSL loss

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By Gary Larsen

When asked, Fremd’s Alexis Tice offered what we’ll call the Midfielder’s Credo, short and sweet.

“Win every ball I can and find the forwards,” Tice said.

Fremd’s midfielders did just that throughout a second half that saw the Vikings pad a 1-0 halftime lead with two more goals against visiting Prospect in a 3-0 win in Palatine. Tice and Ashley McConnell are key components in the attacking style the coach Steve Keller wants his girls to play.

“We feel that with those two in there, we can play with one less midfielder and move another person to forward, just because those two work hard and can cover a lot of ground,” Keller said.

“In the second half I thought we kept the ball more, really exploited the whole field, and (Tice and McConnell) are getting more comfortable and they’re communicating more. I actually hear Alexis talking out there now, directing and orchestrating everything, which is nice to hear.”

Tice knows that much of the responsibility for Fremd’s attack falls on her and her midfield crew, which included Kelsey Beschta and Kira Heggeland on Monday.

“It plays a big role when we win balls like that at midfield,” Tice said. “We were able to find our forwards and allow them to get up and attack. We started pressing them more and got on their backs a little bit and attack better in the second half.”

“We’re very confident in our forwards and we can usually find their feet or play them into space, and they can take it endline and cross it.”

Senior forward Elise Kotsakis continued to light up the scoreboard for Fremd (10-2, 7-1) on Monday, scoring twice to give her 21 goals in 12 games. Kotsakis redirected a Michelle Mottonen shot at 15 minutes and gave her side a 2-0 lead with a goal in the second half.

Kotsakis made the most of her opportunities against a Prospect (6-6-1, 2-4-1) team bent on limiting her scoring chances.

“I thought Taylor Smith did a really nice job on Kotsakis, and for much of the match Kelly Ziegenfuss and Adriane Falagario in support did a really nice job in back,” Prospect coach Tom Froats said.

 “There was just a couple of breakdowns where (Fremd) got into space. We were caught asleep on a couple of those long services. But I thought Taylor was real strong and physical, and did a nice job in denying Elise.”

The Knights went into Monday’s game having only given up 7 goals in 12 games, and Fremd was the first team all season to put more than 2 goals on the board against the Prospect back line and keeper Megan McCabe.

McCabe put a good day’s work in on Monday, and among her 12 saves were several outstanding stops that sent her airborne and parallel to the ground.

Fremd’s first goal came when Mottonen earned a shot from 14 yards out on the left side. Kotsakis got her head on the shot and redirected it off the far post and into the goal.

Prospect disrupted Fremd’s attempts to find cohesion in the attack through 40 minutes. The Knights have been in six 1-0 games this season and one 0-0 tie, so they were comfortable facing a 1-0 deficit at the halfway point.

“Defensively, we were doing a real nice job marking, and not allowing them to kind of pull us apart and create seams to run into,” Froats said. “I thought we were solid defensively against a really good team.”

Keller was less than thrilled with his side’s first-half play, “but then we kind of settled down and played more possession in the second half,” Tice said.

McCabe raced out to the 18 to take a shot off of Kotsakis’ foot two minutes into the second half and from there the junior keeper was kept on her toes by a Fremd attack that found fifth gear and stayed in it.

“As the game wore on I thought they were certainly able to possess a little bit more, and they’re a dangerous team. The more they have the ball, the more opportunities they’re going to create for themselves,” Froats said. “They’re going to finish if you give them a half a yard of space.”

Jessa Rizzo sent a ball wide at 45 minutes, McConnell went high one minute later, and at 48 minutes Kotsakis’ second goal of the game marked only the second time this season a team has scored twice on the Knights.

Kotsakis ripped a ball from 13 yards out of the hands of a diving McCabe and it flew inside the near post.

“We started playing the ball around the midfield more and we started moving more for each other,” Kotsakis said. “That’s a big thing for us and we’ve been working on that. We’re starting to improve a lot.

“(Midfield play) is the whole game. That’s how you win. It can’t just be the forwards working up top, because you have to get it there somehow. When we’re not playing the way we want to, it’s individual efforts and individual goals, if we even get goals. We aren’t combining and getting forward. We need to play it from the back, all the way up.”

Mottonen created another scoring chance when she forced McCabe into another diving stop at 59 minutes. Heggeland crashed net to follow up the deflection and calmly send it home.

“Megan made a real nice save and we weren’t the next person to the ball, in support of her,” Froats said. “I know they got three goals on the board but the first one was on a deflected header that went in the corner that Megan had no chance on, and the (third) one was a rebound that we didn’t cover.”

Prospect was unable to test Fremd keeper Shannon Norris, thanks to the Vikings’ midfield possession and the steady back line play of Fremd defenders Kristin Abruscato, Jennifer Freeman, and Emily Basten.

Fremd has now put 46 goals on the board in 12 game, and only given up 9 goals this season. “It’s kind of a new back line but we’re pretty confident in them,” Tice said. “We’ve been switching people in and out of there but we all have faith in each other, and we’re working it out.”

“Shannon Norris didn’t get tested tonight but she’s provided leadership, she’s talking, and her ability with her feet has been very good,” Keller said. “And I thought Mottonen made a difference tonight. Our first goal went to Elise but Michelle did all the work.”