Vikings roll past Trevians to earn spot in Final Four

Meet Naperville Central in Friday's Class 3A semifinals at Lincoln-Way North

 

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By Mike Garofola

For the third consecutive match, Fremd dominated its opponent in the first half, and after another terrific first-half flurry, it has one foot in the door at the state tournament following a 5-1 victory over upstart New Trier Tuesday night at the Class 3A Maine South Super-Sectional in Park Ridge.

A trio of goals in nine minutes, capped by a U Tube-worthy strike from Yusuke Kanada, helped end the cinderella ride in the postseason for the Trevians, who entered October 5-7-1 after a 2-0 loss to the Vikings, but danced through a regional and sectional as the No. 10 seed before being overwhelmed on one of the best days of soccer in recent memory for November 1.

"This is all kind of crazy, isn't it?" said Fremd coach Steve Keller, who tinkered and tweaked his first-11 for the better part of the season, until finally settling in, especially along the back, where he found playing with a three-back line was exactly what the doctor ordered.

"We went with (four) in the back for awhile, with a variety of players, then (three) - but this current group of (Matt) Briars, Spencer (Janes) and Eric Scott has done a very good job in front of Colton (Caesius) in goal, and collectively, they have stopped some very good teams who know how to attack - and with numbers, and it has been their work back there which has been the difference for us."

That, and a hard-working unit in the middle, which has carried much of the play during the tournament, while greeting their counterparts with the challenge of can you out-work, out-tackle and out-pace us for 80 minutes - with the obvious answer being no.

The Trevians (10-11-1), who recently went to a 4-5-1 formation, likely hoped they could sit back and absorb pressure - then targeting their 6-3 super-soph striker Jeff Farina up top on the counter.

But they rarely had the opportunity to do so, as their five in the middle in the park where no match for the Vikings' Brian Hindle, Eric Leonard, Jeremy Kosacz, Michael Eschbach and Nate Hellwarth, whose pressure kept the Trevs on their heels from the onset, as they fell deeper and deeper back to help defend.

However, where the Trevians failed most was in man-marking of the aforementioned Kanada, who was always a step or two quicker than any defender, and whose hard-running, with and without the ball, helped shred the Trevians along the back - which combined with quick touches to use width, created so much trouble in the opening stages - that it soon became apparent of the Trevians' fait accompli.

"We didn't deal well with their No. 7 (Kanada) and we paid for it," said New Trier head coach Craig Fairbairn, who led his club to a state title in 2009.

"It was kind of fun watching Yusuke, Eric and Hindle up top tonight, but especially Yusuke," admitted Briars, who with his mates in the back, as well as Caesius took the role of spectator for most of the first half, while the rest of the club attacked with gusto on a helpless opponent.

Rookie Lucas Cholew, who scored in the Vikings' sectional final victory of Prospect, began a nightmarish six minutes for freshmen keeper Niko Katsinis, when he finished inside the 6-yard box what both Hindle and Leonard started.

Three minutes later, at the quarter hour, Leonard doubled the Vikings' advantage with a well-struck blast along the floor from just inside the line - with Eschbach, Kanada and Hindle all the architects of this goal after a well-played build-up from the trio.

Kanada's right-footed guided missile from the right side not only nearly tore the netting from the posts - but it also delivered the official knock-out punch to the Trevians just 18 minutes into the match - as even the Trevian bench looked in amazement at the highlight film goal as the beginning of the end.

"We came in on nice little roll, and even though we knew Fremd had been playing very good soccer of late, we thought we had a good chance - but it became obvious (soon) that wouldn't happen tonight," said Fairbairn.

"Yusuke came out and was nearly unstoppable," said a proud Keller. "It was maybe his best match of the year, but to be honest, I believe he can be even better this weekend."

While the Trevians continued to search for signs of life in their attack, the Vikings were still sharing the ball so well after extending the lead, playing with great confidence on both sides of the ball, a fact which didn't go unnoticed by Leonard, who wears the captain's armband along with the senior Hindle.

"We've just come together as a team in the late part of the season, and you can see how important it is to have everyone playing for each other, and today was a perfect example of that," said the super soph, who was a strong all-state candidate from the area.

"I think maybe the biggest reason for our success in the postseason has been the play of the backline. They have been so clean back there, and have made it so much easier for the rest of us because of the way they've shut down our opponent."

As has occured all throughout the five games of the tournament, Keller received quality minutes from his bench, and it was Jon Magnusson who made his imprint on the match when at 40 minutes he finished a Leonard serve to the back post to send the Vikings into the break with a four-goal lead.

Later, the Vikings conceded a consolation goal at 68 minutes - but Tim Lehigh, who enjoyed several good moments of play in the second half after he was brought on, pulled the Trevians goal back just 60 seconds later to end the scoring of the lopsided match.

"When you look back, it's kind of hard to believe we're through and still playing on the final weekend of the season, but the guys have worked so hard, and have bought into (how) we want them to play," said the Vikings coach.

"It says a lot about all of them, and what it means to understand (your) role as an individual and player on a team - and it's something they should all be proud of," offered Keller, who will making his fifth appearance in the tournament, and second straight, after leading his girls to a fourth place trophy last spring.