Chicagoland Soccer

Vikings to face rival Palatine in sectional semifinals

By Mike Garofola

It will be an all Palatine soccer match Tuesday afternoon in Glenview at the Glenbrook South sectional.

Elise Kotsakis scored on both sides of the half, Alexis Tice was a ball-winning warrior, Jennifer Freeman, Kristin Abruscato and Emily Basten kept everything clean along the back.

And oh yeah, Shannon Norris made a spectacular save as the top seed defeated the regional hosts of Libertyville in the final on a gorgeous Friday night on the Wildcats’ field turf.

Next up is long-time MSL partner and cross-town rival Palatine (14-9-2) which kept its postseason alive after beating Buffalo Grove 1-0 on Saturday, to set-up 'Kinsella Cup II' at 4:30 Tuesday in the first sectional semifinal match of two.

No. 3 Glenbrook North (19-4-2) will face No. 2 Lake Forest at (15-4-4) at 7:00 to decide who will play in the final on Friday at 7:00.

Entering his side’s match with Fremd, Libertyville head coach Scott Schinto felt his No. 9 Wildcats' were far more deserving of the seed his club was given early on, and perhaps rightly so when considered the 'Cats had conceded just one goal in its last 9 matches, all with sophomore keeper Natalie Algonzino between the sticks.

"If they had done a (do-over) I would have to believe we would have been a much higher seed in this sectional, and the way both sides played tonight, with so much energy, made it feel like this was a sectional final, and not a regional final," said Schinto.

"But we didn't have enough to match the level that Fremd brought tonight, and they deserved the victory."

"It was good to see us finally (bring) the type of physical play, pace and energy that you need this time of the year - which was something that I felt had been lacking of late," began Fremd head coach Steve Keller.

"Alexis Tice was an absolute monster out there tonight, winning just about every ball in the air or on the ground, and our backline really came to play. All of them, playing out of the back, joining the attack and tackling and winning balls with authority. That's been missing a little bit also, but I can tell you if they continued to play that way from here on out, then we'll have a chance to keep alive that much longer in the tournament."

It wasn't long before the Vikings (15-3-2) started pouring forward, with midfielder Michelle Mottonen showing the ability to distribute equally to her teammates, while Basten joined the attack from out of the back to further confound the Wildcats on their own end.

With the senior Tice allowing literally nothing to find the feet of the Wildcats' midfield quartet, and Basten and her mates along the back doing the same, the home side failed to record a single quality touch in the Vikings’ end for the first quarter hour.

Fremd’s play built momentum to a Kotsakis goal at 22 minutes, when the Wildcats failed to clear their own end and allowed the senior to find the back of the net on a strike which found Algonzino going the other way.

“It's always big to score the first goal, especially in a game as big as this one, and I really felt it helped give us the kind of boost that we all needed to help us to continue playing as best we could the rest of the way," offered Kotsakis.

Schinto would bring fresh legs on every 10 minutes with the hope of eventually wearing down his opponents, but the Vikings' appear to be match-fit at tourney time, and it wasn't long before they created a handful of chances during the final minutes of the first half.

Freeman would go just wide of the post on a free kick on the half hour, while Kotsakis collected a helper from Bekah Bostrom, and cracked a one-timer, on the turn, which sprayed towards an open net after it was deflected on the way in.

Algonzino made an athletic save to stop the Vikings from going up 2-0 and the pulled a ball out of the air in a big crowd after Kotsakis' headed forward a well-served Mottonen free kick at 35 minutes.

"I thought we set the tone for the entire match with one of the best halves of soccer that we've played in the last 6 or7 games," Keller said.

Despite the one-way traffic in its own end and inability to play through the midfield and create, the Wildcats came out of the break playing with more urgency and pace, which has become a trademark of a Schinto-coached side ever since he took over the program.

The home side had better luck finding its front-runners Sydney Mudd and Sammi Julian, and with the help of senior Val VanRoeyen, the 'Cats played inspired soccer for the first quarter hour of the second half, forcing the Vikings to defend more than they would have liked.

With renewed hope, the Wildcats won themselves a couple of freekicks , both outside of the area as the Vikings' fouled well away from Norris, and while increasing its possession percentage, Libertyville still wasn't able to scare the Fremd faithful.

Especially with the threat of Kotsakis on the field. "We didn't have anyone who was like No. 10 (Kotsakis) and we certainly had no real way to stop her tonight," Schinto said.

When opportunity knocks, great scorers answer, and that's exactly what Kotsakis did when her deft touch up and over a surprised Algozino finished a lovely exchange which began on the left side by Kira Heggeland, whose great work to get free would help find Mottonen, who provided the helper.

After doubling its lead just before the 70th minute, the Vikings' then turned their attention to defending a 2-goal cushion.

However, without the brilliant goal-saving stop by Norris, who in full extension would push a 35-yard cracker by VanRoeyen over the bar, the lead would not have been as safe.

"You always want your keepers to do all the routine stuff throughout the match to help make things easier in your own end, but at times, you need them to make a great save, and that's exactly what Shannon did for us when we needed it," said Keller.

Sophomore Katie McAuliffe would drive a loose ball over the bar in the 78th minute, but well before time Schinto would cross over the mid-line to shake the hand of Keller and wish him good luck the rest of the way.

"Steve does a great job with his program, and we always seem to meet them this time of the year, and find a way to come up short,” Shinto said. “Hopefully, soon we'll get the better of them."

The last time Fremd played its Tuesday opponent, Palatine, the Vikings would have the advantage of a 2-0 result.

Palatine head coach Willie Filian is hoping otherwise.

"You always like to have a chance against an opponent the second time around, but we'll have to play a lot better than we have in order to beat them," said Filian as he walked off his home pitch at Chic Anderson Field on Saturday after his club beat Buffalo Grove.

"There's a lot of history from this great rivalry, and I expect both teams to play with a lot of heart and energy for 80 minutes, or whatever it takes to decide the eventual winner, and I know Steve will have his girls ready to go on Tuesday."

Keller and his staff, along with his entire club sat through a second-half rain to watch its next opponent, which used a goal with 10 minutes remaining in overtime to defeat the upstart Bison.