Streaky Red Devils blanked by Fremd

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO GALLERY COURTESY OF HARRISON BULL
CLICK HERE FOR HINSDALE CENTRAL'S TEAM PAGE

By Matt Le Cren

Elise Kotsakis carries a heavy load for Fremd.

In a sport where averaging a goal a game makes you a star, the Vikings rely on Kotsakis to double that production.

“She’s got to produce and she knows that,” Fremd coach Steve Keller said. “Two goals a game is what we expect from her and if she plays within herself and plays smart, she’s definitely capable.”

Kotsakis is proving that this spring. The Butler-bound forward has scored 19 goals in 11 matches, including three goals Saturday in Fremd’s 4-0 victory over Hinsdale Central on the final day of group play at the Naperville Invitational at Naperville North.

“We all have our role on the team,” Kotsakis said. “My main role is to score goals and it’s not just me. It’s my team. We have to combine and get through to score so it’s not [just] an individual effort from me to score two goals a game.”

Indeed, it wasn’t Kotsakis who scored the game-winner against the Red Devils. That honor went to sophomore Michelle Mottonen, who tallied unassisted with a great individual effort with 22:56 left in the first half.

Mottonen got the ball on the left wing, cut back around a defender into the penalty area and scored inside the right post from eight yards out.

Kotsakis took over after that as Fremd (9-2) dominated for much of the match. Her first goal came off a corner kick with 5:20 remaining in the first half. Alexis Tice headed the corner kick past Hinsdale Central goalie Riley Glenn but the ball was headed off the line by freshman Lily Chetosky.

After the ball bounced around in front of the net, Kotsakis pounced on it and put a six-yard shot inside the right post for a 2-0 Fremd lead.

“I thought [Kotsakis] played well up top,” Hinsdale Central coach Skip Begley said. “I just thought we didn’t have very many answers for her.”

The Red Devils (6-6-2) didn’t have any answers for Kotsakis in the second half. She made it 3-0 at the 36:26 mark when she took a pass from sophomore Ashley McConnell and sprinted into the box on a breakaway. Glenn made the stop from point-blank range but Kotsakis got the rebound and scored from a sharp angle.

Kotsakis completed her hat trick with 17:21 left on a 23-yard rocket into the upper right corner of the net. McConnell set up that play as well.

“She is very smart with the ball and she helps our team a lot, in the back usually,” Kotsakis said of McConnell. “She helped our team in the midfield in this game.”

The victory was a good rebound for Fremd, which lost to Waubonsie Valley 2-1 on Thursday, thus denying the Vikings the group championship and a spot in next Thursday’s quarterfinals. Kotsakis was held scoreless in that match, the first in which Fremd failed to score at least two goals.

“We came out hard today,” Kotsakis said. “We were really disappointed after the Waubonsie game and we just wanted to come out hard this game and get a win.

“We came out at the start of the game way more energetic and we connected to feet more and got through. Last game we didn’t have very many chances. We possessed but we didn’t get through up top, so this game we figured out how to get through and score.”

Another thing the Vikings improved on was their defense. The back line led by McConnell, junior Emily Basten and seniors Kristin Abruscato and Jennifer Freeman allowed just three shots, all of which were saved by junior goalie Shannon Norris.

“We didn’t play a very smart game defensively [against Waubonsie] and it ended up costing us, so we talked about a lot of those things today before the game,” Keller said. “I felt this was one of our better performances defensively overall. The effort was there, the hustle the communication and that was good to see.

“And then offensively we’re coming along. We did a nice job possessing the ball and got some nice opportunities, so I was pleased today.”

So was Kotsakis.

“I think we’re starting to get to the point where we’re figuring out what we are as a team and what we need to do to get farther,” she said.

Hinsdale Central, on the other hand, is still a work in progress.

“We need to keep working,” Begley said. “We’re not quite there yet. Offensively, we didn’t produce any finishes.

“We’re pretty streaky players. I thought at times we played pretty well, connected some passes and looked like we had concepts, and then at other times we did not look very productive.

“In the back, we’re young and we make some mistakes and it seems to kind of steam roll or snow ball and it’s tough for us to recoup.”

Seniors Eryka Hawkins and Mallory Feinstein continued to be the go-to players up top but produced only one shot each. A cross from Hawkins in the first half got through in front but was just out of Feinstein’s reach near the far post. Other than that, the Red Devils didn’t possess the ball long enough to mount an attack.

“The higher-level teams are a little bit tighter [defensively], they don’t give you the time and space,” Begley noted. “At this level, when everyone has time and space they can play, but when you have a better defender who shuts you down and doesn’t’ give you that kind of time and space, it’s harder for you to go find it.”

The loss concluded a tough week for the Red Devils, who played four tough teams in five days and went 1-3, which included a 0-2 mark in tournament play. They face another stiff test when West Suburban Conference Silver Division rival Lyons Township, which did advance to the Naperville Invitational quarterfinals, visits on Tuesday.

“If you’re going to be at all prepared for the end of the year, you have to test yourself,” Begley said. “It doesn’t do you any good to go out and win 7-0 or 8-0 against teams that you know really aren’t going to help your program, so we’ll continue to try to match up against these top 10 teams.”