Vikings overcome injuries to blank Bison in regional opener

By Mike Garofola

An under-strength but resilient side from Fremd progressed deservedly into its own regional final this Friday, with which they have grown to have a great affinity for.

The Vikings without four from their first-11 and another two less than 100 percent with health, warded off an upset-minded No. 16 seed in Buffalo Grove on Tuesday afternoon by defeating their MSL rival 3-0.

With the victory, the top-seeded Vikings (14-4-2) now face No. 7 Carmel (11-6-3), which was impressive in its 1-0 win over Deerfield in the second match of the day on the Vikings' home pitch.

Most notable of the quartet of starters missing from the Vikings' lineup was senior Kristin Kupstys, who one day earlier suffered a season-ending dislocated kneecap during training, a key loss in the hopes of another long postseason run by the 3A runners-up.

"Without (Kup) out there winning all of the 50-50 balls and just about everything in the air, we really struggled in that first half trying to adjust to her being gone, as well as the others who were out today," said junior Alexis Tice, who, herself is a great ball-winner in the middle of the park for head coach Steve Keller.

Without Tice's mate alongside, the home side would never enjoy the run of play for the first 40 minutes.

"We've been coming out and really scuffling a lot, of late, in the first half, then picking it up after the break," began Keller.

"But if we continue to play that way, our run in the state tournament is going to end a lot sooner than these girls would want it to."

Without Nicole Leginski, Jessa Rizzo and Nikki Pagnamenta, the Viking attack looked sluggish during the first 40 minutes, even after backline star Danielle Romano headed a Jenny Winberg corner inside the post at 23 minutes.

The Romano goal would prove even greater moments later when Vikings keeper Allison Norenberg made the play-of-the-match with a spectacular save on a wicked blast from Kelly Mahoney that exploded off the foot of the junior and had equalizer written all over it.

"That was an incredible save that (Norenberg) made on Kelly's shot, and who knows, if it goes in, maybe we grab the momentum and possibly make a game of it," suggested Buffalo Grove head coach Pat Dudle, whose squad finished 8-15.

"We played so poorly in that first half, so maybe my save really helped pick the team up when we really needed it today," said Norenberg, who would share her clean-sheet with teammate Shannon Norris, who came on at 71 minutes, and would help preserve the shutout with a save in the 78th minute.

Crystal Rohan, who was in the lineup despite being less than healthy at the start, doubled the Vikings' advantage at 36 minute when at the tail-end of an industrious run, went past keeper Katie Okamoto after collecting a terrific helper from sophomore Kira Heggeland.

Heggeland saw plenty of minutes, along with several other youngsters, due to the recent rash of injuries beset on Keller's club.

The Vikings tightened their grip on the match when Kristin Abruscato made it 3-0 in the 54th minute, with Tice and Rohan helping set up the goal.

Keller would begin to bring off most of his first-11 after the Abruscato strike, leaving two of his three from the backline in Romano and Emily Basten on for the remainder of the match, while taking Kathleen Holmberg off to give the injured senior some extra rest in preparation of Friday's match with Carmel.

"It's kind of unbelievable to see all of the injuries and (illness) that we've taken on during the past week or so," said Keller, while watching the Carmel-Deerfield match.

"But that isn't an excuse for playing without any emotion or sense of urgency during the first-half of a soccer game. We've got to get better at that right away."

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