Chicagoland Soccer

Vikings open MSL play with a win at Schaumburg

By Jonathan Jones

Aspirations were high as Schaumburg hosted Fremd in a Mid-Suburban League Conference dual Wednesday evening.

After a shaky start for both squads, Fremd (3-0, 1-0 in MSL) tallied an important early-season MSL victory over Schaumburg 3-1. Fremd registered the foresaid goals all in the first half.

Fremd senior midfielder Elise Kotsakis, and sophomore midfielders Nicole Obos and Michelle Mottonen led the Viking charge as they all recorded goals in the win.

“We had a hard time with Schaumburg last (season),” Mottonen said. “We knew we’d be OK if we had a strong first half. We all knew what was at stake, and I’ll do whatever is needed for the team.”

Mottonen did that and more. Besides netting her own goal, Mottonen played a part on the set up of the Kotsakis’ goal and achieved an assist as well.

On the first Viking goal, Mottonen picked the pocket of a Saxon midfielder. Mottonen then sent the ball up field to a 2-on-1 Fremd advantage. When racing Viking sophomore forward Caroline Wagner collected the Mottonen pass, she patiently waited for Kotsakis to out-run the final Saxon defender.

A sprinting Kotsakis scored at the 20:59 mark past a diving Saxon keeper to seize the lead 1-0.

Out of six shots on goal, the Vikings connected on three of them in the first half.

“(Schaumburg) has really fast ‘D’,” Kotsakis said. “We had to combine so we could get behind them. This is a really big win. After losing last year, we knew we had to come hard to get momentum.”

Schaumburg applied pressure in the keeper’s territory throughout the game, but Fremd defenders appeared to always have an answer for the Saxon offensive. The Saxons attempted four shots on goal in the first half.

Soon after Kotsakis’ goal at the 18:11 mark, Schaumburg was called for a foul and Fremd midfielder junior Becca Bostrom booted a free kick from midfield.

The through ball from Bostrom went to Mottonen, who dribbled through two defenders. Mottonen sent a shot past charging Saxon keeper Brooke Schocker (five saves) to put Fremd at a 2-0 advantage.

“The three forwards (Wagner, Kotsakis and Mottonen), played smart together,” said Vikings head coach Steve Keller. “The girls moved without the ball really well.”

The third goal Fremd scored by Obos was set up by a corner kick from Mottonen with 8:18 remaining in the first half.

Schaumburg’s Kelsey Steenstrup scored her side’s lone goal in the game’s 69th minute on an assist from teammate Ariel Larocco.

The Saxons (4-1, 0-1 in MSL) furiously attempted to respond to the two-goal hole and ultimately tallied eight shots on goal in the second half. However, Vikings keeper Shannon Norris made 11 saves on the day and maintained her side’s two-goal cushion.

Fremd will travel to play MSL West foe Conant next Wednesday.

“It’s huge to get a win against a division team,” Keller said. “This is our first conference game and we started on the right step. We’ll go one game at a time. We need to keep the focus on getting three (MSL) points every game.”