Rogers initiative boots Fremd past Benet
Brace gives Vikings 3-0 win in Best of the West opener
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Junior Dalton Rogers is listed as a midfielder on Fremd’s roster, but he has been starting as a defender.
Whatever the position, he played like a champion Tuesday night.
Rogers scored two goals as the Vikings stunned Benet 3-0 to earn their first victory of the season on the opening night of the Best of the West Tournament at Naperville North.
The twin strikes came within a three-minute span midway through the first half and put the favored Redwings in a hole they could not climb out of.
Rogers opened the scoring when he rushed up the right wing and uncorked a running 22-yard shot that went under the crossbar at the 23:10 mark.
“The last couple games we were struggling to score,” said Rogers, whose previous and only other varsity finish came in the 2015 season opener. “We needed a goal scorer, and I felt like today we had to step up.
“I had a shot over there that, I don’t know how that went in. After that I was like, ‘I should probably step up more and look for more opportunities,’ which is what we were missing.”
Fremd coach Steve Keller knew exactly why Rogers’ shot hit the mark.
“Because he shot,” Keller said with a grin. “I’ve been telling these guys, ‘You’ve got to shoot, but you’ve got to relax when you shoot. Don’t try to overdo things.’”
The Vikings (1-2-1) didn’t do a lot offensively but they enjoyed the majority of the possession and finished the few chances they had.
Rogers made it 2-0 when he latched on to a loose ball in the middle of the box and buried a 10-yard shot.
Fellow defender Shintaro Hidaka triggered the play when he sent a free-kick from the right wing into the middle of the box. The ball hit a defender before Rogers got to it.
“I was trying to get the ball to Michael (LaBarge),” Hidaka said. “I kind of missed him but (Rogers) got a goal, so it’s OK.”
The result was more than OK for the Vikings, who have a chance to win their group if they can beat Naperville North on Wednesday.
“It feels great,” said Rogers, who missed Friday's 5-1 loss to Rolling Meadows after suffering an ankle injury in the Vikings 2-2 tie against then no. 17 New Trier. “We really needed it.
“We competed a lot in the first three games. We just didn’t get the results we wanted. Coming out here and getting a 3-0 victory just motivates us to look forward to tomorrow against Naperville North.”
LaBarge finished the scoring with 34:23 left in the second half when he pounced on a giveaway in the Benet box and scored easily. But the tone had been set in the first half.
“In the grand scheme of things, they took two shots on goal in the first half and scored two goals,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “We could lay blame in a lot of different directions.
“I think our goalie (Brian Gould) is going to save that first one in the next game. He was expecting pressure. There was no pressure and the guy hits it from far away and next thing you know it’s over the top of him.”
The first half was a shock for the Redwings (1-1-0), who routed conference foe Marian Central 5-0 in their first game of the season on Saturday.
“That’s hard to play from behind,” Wesley said. “The first 20 minutes we did not look like a Benet soccer team. We couldn’t trap a ball; we couldn’t pass a ball.
“We play on grass, we’ve been on grass for three weeks. Then we come here and the game is a different tempo and a different pace, and it took us a long time to settle into that.
"I think after giving up the goals we became frustrated and pressed and were looking to do magic and never really just playing together.”
In contrast, the Vikings meshed well, something that had not happened in their first three matches.
“Obviously, Dalton getting two like that is huge,” Keller said. “I was pleased with how we managed the game.
“I was pleased with our holding midfield play. I thought they were a big impact on the game and I’m also very pleased with how we closed out the game, how we managed our lead and stayed compact and let the ball do the work and really took the air out of it.”
Indeed, the Vikings controlled the midfield and their defense was extremely competent. Rogers, Hidaka, Ben Cuthbert and Max Meyer allowed only three shots and goalkeepers Josh Kasser and Joseph Plizga had to make just one save apiece.
“The first three games we kept making the same mistakes over and over again,” Hidaka said. “I talked to coach Keller to make sure to fix it. He wanted us to communicate more.”
The Vikings did just that.
“We made sure we communicated well because the last game we were lacking communication knowing (which man) we have and watching the runs,” Rogers said. “Tonight I felt like we did a much better job of making sure who we have and guarding those runs.”
Rogers, who would have had a hat trick if he hadn’t pushed an open shot over the crossbar in the 23rd minute, and Hidaka also made sure to make a few runs of their own.
“Their man role is to plug up the middle and be the orchestrators of our attack but if they can go forward, they will,” Keller said. “You can see (Rogers) is athletic and that helps him.”
Hidaka, too, was happy to help the attack.
“I didn’t get much pressure from the wide guys so I was able to go forward a little more than last game,” he said. "Defensive-wise I made a couple mistakes, but I will make sure to fix it for the next game.”
The Redwings seemingly have a lot to fix after suffering through a rare clunker, but Wesley is confident they have the athleticism to succeed, if not as much size as he would like.
“It is a horrible loss for us, something maybe that we’re not used to, being 20 minutes into a game feeling like you’re out of it,” Wesley said. “But I’m still really optimistic.
“I think we have a really good group. I think we have lots of talent, and we saw it in small spurts.”
The Redwings next play Oswego on Thursday. But they will be without one of their most talented players, senior midfielder Connor Mote, who will serve a one-game suspension after being ejected, leaving Benet to play shorthanded for the final 32 minutes.
“The red card was a dagger in the back,” Wesley said. “It was definitely unfortunate.
“You don’t want to lose a kid like Connor but also we’re down two and now we’re playing from behind. But we feel like we played our best soccer after that.”
The Vikings played their best soccer of the season. Will it give them enough confidence to knock off the Huskies on Wednesday.
“This game kind of shook everyone,” Hidaka said. “It is going to make everyone motivated.”
That’s what Keller likes to hear.
“(The win) is huge,” Keller said. “I think it’s more important to get our first win of the year.
“We played three tough games last week and struggled to find our way. But this game we didn’t dwell on last week and we came out here and performed.
“It gives us a chance (to advance to the tournament title game). We’ve got to take care of business tomorrow against a very good Naperville North team.”
Starting lineups
Fremd
GK Josh Kasser
D Dalton Rogers
D Yuman Yamamoto
D Ben Cuthbert
D Bobby Burk
D Shintaro Hidaka
M Max Clark
M John Roubik
M Max Mayer
F Michael LaBarge
F James LeFevre
Benet
GK Brian Gould
D Collin Dannheim
D Ryan Tomecek
D Bennett Curtis
D Charlie Kane
M Nicholas Trakszelis
M Devin Martini
M Connor Mote
M Ben Kelly
F Jason Rowiaye
F Franklin Rutkowski
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Dalton Rogers, D, Fremd
Brace gives Vikings 3-0 win in Best of the West opener
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Junior Dalton Rogers is listed as a midfielder on Fremd’s roster, but he has been starting as a defender.
Whatever the position, he played like a champion Tuesday night.
Rogers scored two goals as the Vikings stunned Benet 3-0 to earn their first victory of the season on the opening night of the Best of the West Tournament at Naperville North.
The twin strikes came within a three-minute span midway through the first half and put the favored Redwings in a hole they could not climb out of.
Rogers opened the scoring when he rushed up the right wing and uncorked a running 22-yard shot that went under the crossbar at the 23:10 mark.
“The last couple games we were struggling to score,” said Rogers, whose previous and only other varsity finish came in the 2015 season opener. “We needed a goal scorer, and I felt like today we had to step up.
“I had a shot over there that, I don’t know how that went in. After that I was like, ‘I should probably step up more and look for more opportunities,’ which is what we were missing.”
Fremd coach Steve Keller knew exactly why Rogers’ shot hit the mark.
“Because he shot,” Keller said with a grin. “I’ve been telling these guys, ‘You’ve got to shoot, but you’ve got to relax when you shoot. Don’t try to overdo things.’”
The Vikings (1-2-1) didn’t do a lot offensively but they enjoyed the majority of the possession and finished the few chances they had.
Rogers made it 2-0 when he latched on to a loose ball in the middle of the box and buried a 10-yard shot.
Fellow defender Shintaro Hidaka triggered the play when he sent a free-kick from the right wing into the middle of the box. The ball hit a defender before Rogers got to it.
“I was trying to get the ball to Michael (LaBarge),” Hidaka said. “I kind of missed him but (Rogers) got a goal, so it’s OK.”
The result was more than OK for the Vikings, who have a chance to win their group if they can beat Naperville North on Wednesday.
“It feels great,” said Rogers, who missed Friday's 5-1 loss to Rolling Meadows after suffering an ankle injury in the Vikings 2-2 tie against then no. 17 New Trier. “We really needed it.
“We competed a lot in the first three games. We just didn’t get the results we wanted. Coming out here and getting a 3-0 victory just motivates us to look forward to tomorrow against Naperville North.”
LaBarge finished the scoring with 34:23 left in the second half when he pounced on a giveaway in the Benet box and scored easily. But the tone had been set in the first half.
“In the grand scheme of things, they took two shots on goal in the first half and scored two goals,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “We could lay blame in a lot of different directions.
“I think our goalie (Brian Gould) is going to save that first one in the next game. He was expecting pressure. There was no pressure and the guy hits it from far away and next thing you know it’s over the top of him.”
The first half was a shock for the Redwings (1-1-0), who routed conference foe Marian Central 5-0 in their first game of the season on Saturday.
“That’s hard to play from behind,” Wesley said. “The first 20 minutes we did not look like a Benet soccer team. We couldn’t trap a ball; we couldn’t pass a ball.
“We play on grass, we’ve been on grass for three weeks. Then we come here and the game is a different tempo and a different pace, and it took us a long time to settle into that.
"I think after giving up the goals we became frustrated and pressed and were looking to do magic and never really just playing together.”
In contrast, the Vikings meshed well, something that had not happened in their first three matches.
“Obviously, Dalton getting two like that is huge,” Keller said. “I was pleased with how we managed the game.
“I was pleased with our holding midfield play. I thought they were a big impact on the game and I’m also very pleased with how we closed out the game, how we managed our lead and stayed compact and let the ball do the work and really took the air out of it.”
Indeed, the Vikings controlled the midfield and their defense was extremely competent. Rogers, Hidaka, Ben Cuthbert and Max Meyer allowed only three shots and goalkeepers Josh Kasser and Joseph Plizga had to make just one save apiece.
“The first three games we kept making the same mistakes over and over again,” Hidaka said. “I talked to coach Keller to make sure to fix it. He wanted us to communicate more.”
The Vikings did just that.
“We made sure we communicated well because the last game we were lacking communication knowing (which man) we have and watching the runs,” Rogers said. “Tonight I felt like we did a much better job of making sure who we have and guarding those runs.”
Rogers, who would have had a hat trick if he hadn’t pushed an open shot over the crossbar in the 23rd minute, and Hidaka also made sure to make a few runs of their own.
“Their man role is to plug up the middle and be the orchestrators of our attack but if they can go forward, they will,” Keller said. “You can see (Rogers) is athletic and that helps him.”
Hidaka, too, was happy to help the attack.
“I didn’t get much pressure from the wide guys so I was able to go forward a little more than last game,” he said. "Defensive-wise I made a couple mistakes, but I will make sure to fix it for the next game.”
The Redwings seemingly have a lot to fix after suffering through a rare clunker, but Wesley is confident they have the athleticism to succeed, if not as much size as he would like.
“It is a horrible loss for us, something maybe that we’re not used to, being 20 minutes into a game feeling like you’re out of it,” Wesley said. “But I’m still really optimistic.
“I think we have a really good group. I think we have lots of talent, and we saw it in small spurts.”
The Redwings next play Oswego on Thursday. But they will be without one of their most talented players, senior midfielder Connor Mote, who will serve a one-game suspension after being ejected, leaving Benet to play shorthanded for the final 32 minutes.
“The red card was a dagger in the back,” Wesley said. “It was definitely unfortunate.
“You don’t want to lose a kid like Connor but also we’re down two and now we’re playing from behind. But we feel like we played our best soccer after that.”
The Vikings played their best soccer of the season. Will it give them enough confidence to knock off the Huskies on Wednesday.
“This game kind of shook everyone,” Hidaka said. “It is going to make everyone motivated.”
That’s what Keller likes to hear.
“(The win) is huge,” Keller said. “I think it’s more important to get our first win of the year.
“We played three tough games last week and struggled to find our way. But this game we didn’t dwell on last week and we came out here and performed.
“It gives us a chance (to advance to the tournament title game). We’ve got to take care of business tomorrow against a very good Naperville North team.”
Starting lineups
Fremd
GK Josh Kasser
D Dalton Rogers
D Yuman Yamamoto
D Ben Cuthbert
D Bobby Burk
D Shintaro Hidaka
M Max Clark
M John Roubik
M Max Mayer
F Michael LaBarge
F James LeFevre
Benet
GK Brian Gould
D Collin Dannheim
D Ryan Tomecek
D Bennett Curtis
D Charlie Kane
M Nicholas Trakszelis
M Devin Martini
M Connor Mote
M Ben Kelly
F Jason Rowiaye
F Franklin Rutkowski
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Dalton Rogers, D, Fremd