FREMD 2, LIBERTYVILLE 1 (2-1 pens)
Vikings advance in dramatic fashion

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS -- Fremd used a magical shootout win over Libertyville to became the Hersey Sectional champion and reach the supersectional round for the first time since 2011. The Vikings finished fourth in Class 3A state tournament that season.

On a positively gorgeous Saturday morning, the second-seed outlasted the fourth seed. Fremd’s victory proved to be the tale of Emily Gordon’s three spot-kick saves, which cut short the hopes of the Wildcats who aimed for a second-consecutive trip to the state finals.

Next up for the Vikings (15-4-4) is Mid-Suburban League nemesis and top Huntley-seed Barrington (19-1-2), which also needed kicks to advance 5-3 past a quality Lake Zurich club after 100-scoreless minutes Saturday.

"(After) our earlier loss to Barrington (3-0 April 13) this is the game we were looking for, when it looked like that might be the last time we could face them," said Vikings quad-captain Gemma Gillespie with a gleam in her eye. The big smile on Gordon’s face showed her agreement.

"We came out today and played maybe our best 25-30 minutes of complete soccer of the year," continued Gillespie.

"We defended, pressured them all over the place, created chances. Then we got that goal to send us into the break with a lot of confidence and momentum."

"From where I was back in goal, we were doing everything we wanted to do in the first half," said Gordon, who shared the Chicagoland MVP of the Match honor with Libertyville senior Molly Koch. “But we kind of slacked a little bit after the break. They took advantage to make it a real hard fight the rest of the way.”

"(Fremd) was the better team for most of that first half," began Libertyville manager Daniel DePaz, whose club ended the season with its fourth-consecutive regional title, a second-consecutive undefeated championship run in the North Suburban Conference and a 14-4-1 record.

"Fremd is athletic, physical and puts a lot of pressure of you, which did not allow us to play the type of possession soccer that we like to play.

"They were on the gas pedal right from the start, forcing us to defend more than we would have liked. We were just weathering the storm, which I thought we did a pretty good job of doing.

"This team has been resilient all year (accepting) every challenge with heart and desire. I knew that we would somehow find a way to get back into this game after the half, and we did."

Fremd manager Steve Keller began by stationing one of his most dangerous players, sophomore Gwen Zimmerman, in a withdrawn position in the middle of the park. That allowed the sophomore to play like a defensive midfielder who could move up into the middle of the park or on the attack as warranted.

She filled that role: building up play; providing switching as needed; shooting from distance; combining in central areas; and dropping deep to defend. She was uncanny at winning first and second balls for most of the 100 minutes.

"We asked Gwen to do a lot for us today," said Keller. “Her endless energy and work-rate made a big difference for us out there.”

Zimmerman's effort was complimented nicely by her midfield mates Sophia Kennedy and Natalia Wala. The trio got plenty of help from the wing work of Ava Catherall and Lilly Mayer.

"Libertyville has a lot of very good players," said Gillespie. “They like to possess the ball. We knew we would have to come out and put a lot of pressure on them in the midfield and in their end as well.”

After each side opened with a test for the opposing keeper -- Kennedy from Fremd and Tess McGormley from Libertyville -- the Vikings got the solid start they hoped for.

Libertyville’s Maddy Kopola needed to head a well-placed 40-yard free kick from Bella Scesniak out of the area. Then the Wildcats’ Erin Kelly stopped a well-executed piece of combination play from Sami Serpico, Kennedy and Catherall.

Kelly's clear fell to Zimmerman, whose 35-yard one-timer was pushed over the bar by Wildcats keeper Kate Hopma.

Fremd made sure its opponents were unable to escape from their own end. The Vikings first corner of the day was a well-aimed serve from Serpico that required Hopma to punch it away.

"I liked the way that we came out and attacked aggressively and with purpose. We played solid soccer on both sides of the ball," said Keller.

When his counterpart DePaz brought on sophomore Natalie Schmidt on the quarter hour, he put her on the left side and moved top-flight forward Erin Kelly from there to the center.

The switch paid a dividend after a Vikings counter ended with Serpico firing wide of the back post in the 21st minute.

The Wildcats followed that sequence with a long ball played over the top from Kelly that found Koch, who carried toward the endline where her effort on frame was easily collected by Gordon.

Just before the half hour Keller went from a 4-3-3 formation to a 4-4-2 with Serpico and Zimmerman paired up-top.

Libertyville’s best chance of the half came in the 31st minute when a lovely ball from Sydney Krukonis to Shea Krakowski ended with the sophomore, on the turn, driving her 25-yard effort off the bar.

Fremd got the opener after their second corner of the half.

Serpico delivered a delicious left-footed curling effort from the near flag that continued to build pace as it bent toward the back post.

Hopma retreated, then used all of her length in an attempt to reach the serve, but it went just over the gloves of the Drake University-bound keeper before nestling into the far inside corner of the net.

"Kate is such a great keeper. To put one in on her is not an easy thing to do," said Gillespie, who was a club teammate of Hopma.

Fremd appeared to grow increasingly comfortable defending its one-goal advantage into the break. It defended with numbers to close out the half.

After play restarted, the Vikings eventually were stung by the goal-scoring heroics of Shea Krakowski, whose 21st of the season and fourth in as many postseason games, equalized the match in the 49th minute.

Referee Kevin Parker detected a handball along the near touchline, which gave free kick-artist Krakowski a chance.

The sophomore unloaded her 35-yard guided missile high into the left-corner upper-90, an effort that not even two players between the sticks could have likely stopped from denting the back of the net.

"Just an unbelievable and great shot by no. 16 (Krakowski)," was all Gordon could say.

Moments after Krakowski levelled the match, Libertyville’s Kopola challenged then tackled Serpico, who was sent through. But for the rest of the play, the match became more of an intense, tight encounter with few clear scoring-chances from either side and plenty of defending.

Both clubs defended deep and withstood some pressure. Each earned occasional reprieves by winning corners and gaining deep throws in the opposite end.

The next best chance of the half went to Libertyville. Koch, after an early McGormley ball on the right side, sprung free.

The senior’s dangerous run toward the endline was put to an end by a slide tackle from Gillespie in the 69th minute.

Gordon had to be at her best when she stopped a Koch attack that had the look of a game-winner.

A flowing move, then a super-quick, one-touch early ball set Koch free and in on a 1-v-1 situation.

Gordon came quickly off her line, but some outrageous footwork by Koch put her one step past the four-year veteran.

"(That) was a great touch by no. 3 (Kelly) to get just past me. All I could think of (was) to try to get a foot or leg on the ball to stop her from going in on goal," recounted Gordon, whose trailing leg allowed her to cooly tackle and end the marvelous opportunity.

"Emily was fantastic in the shootout, but her ability to show a lot of poise and composure with no. 3 (Kelly) bearing down on her ended up saving the day for us," said Keller.

This late chance by Koch appeared to flip the momentum in favor of Libertyville once the first of the two 10-minute overtime sessions began.

A sublime cross-field serve from Krakowski to Koch in the 90th minute ended with a wide attempt at the back post while surrounded by a sea of green shirts.

Fremd came alive in the second extra session to pull back some of the play from Libertyville, though Krakowski still got a chance and skimmed the football crossbar with another solid free kick attempt.

Later in this period, Hopma elevated to catch a nice cross sent in from Catherall before watching a 100th-minute attempt from Serpico zip wide of the back post.

Once in the shootout, it became a game of keepers.

"Obviously, you never want a game to be decided in kicks, but that's where we went today, and you never know how it's going to end up," said DePaz, whose club opened from the spot with Krakowski’s attempt stopped by Gordon.

Hopma did the same against Gillespie, followed by another athletic stop from Gordon on Maddy Kopola.

"Saving their first (two) gave us a big lift," said Keller.

Bella Scesniak had enough pace on her spot-kick to sting the gloves of Hopma, who was unable to stop the Vikings first conversion.

Koch, who finished her sensational final year for Libertyville with 13 goals, slotted ever so confidently just inside the right post to level things at 1-1.

Zimmerman's attempt went over, but Gordon stepped up once again to stop Schmidt. Super-reserve Molly Rodino bagged her spot-kick with ease for Fremd for a 2-1 lead at the end of four rounds. When Libertyville’s Krukonis rattled the post, the Vikings bench sprinted toward Gordon to celebrate its hard-fought victory.

"Everything kind of happens so quickly in a shootout (you) just hope to do your best and that your teammates can put a few away at the same time," said Gordon.

"Emily was just amazing," shouted Gillespie.

Keller followed: "Both keepers were very good today. Fortunately for us, and despite lapses in play that cost us once and almost another time or two, Emily was there to save us."

DePaz will return several from his first 11 including Krakowski and junior Shannon Phillips, who did her job as a central defender without any fuss while making a number of vital recoveries and tackles in addition to playing a handful of quality balls out of the back.

"We have a really nice core of players coming back, but it will be next to impossible to replace the likes of an amazing group of seniors," said a proud DePaz.

Hopma, Kelly, Koch and Kopola were a dynamic quartet from start to finish. Classmate Brianna Valdez turned in some terrific play between the sticks as either a starter or in relief of Hopma. Cara Stratton proved a valuable asset coming off the bench.

"The start of the season was a little rough for us while we sorted things out, but it became a wild and exciting ride for us right to the very end of our season," said DePaz.

Starting lineups

Libertyville (4-3-3)
GK- Kate Hopma
D- Erin Kelly
D- Shannon Phillips
D- Lainey Chung
D- Maddy Kopola
M- Sydney Dulak
M- Shea Krakowski
M- Meg O'Donnel
F- Molly Koch
F- Lilly Frantz
F- Tess McGormley

Fremd (4-3-3)
GK- Emily Gordon
D- Maddie McMillan
D- Gemma Gillespie
D- Bella Scesniak
D- Cami Tofilon
M- Sophia Kennedy
M- Gwen Zimmerman
M- Natalia Wala
F- Ava Catherall 
F- Sami Serpico
F- Lilly Mayer

Chicagoland Soccer MVPs of the Match: Emily Gordon, sr., GK, Fremd; Molly Koch, sr., F, Libertyville

Referee: Kevin Parker

Scoring summary

First half
Fremd: Serpico (Olimpico goal), 35'

Second half 
Libertyville: Krakowski (free kick), 49'

First overtime
No scoring

Second overtime
No scoring

Shootout (Fremd wins 2-1)
Libertyville: Krakowski (saved), Kopola (saved), Koch (good), Schmidt (saved), Krukonis (hit post)
Fremd: Gillespie (saved), Scesniak (good), Zimmerman (over), Rodino (good).

Statistics

Shots on
Libertyville: 5
Fremd: 8

Shots off
Libertyville: 6
Fremd: 3

Corner kicks
Libertyville: 1
Fremd: 2

Offside
Libertyville: 0
Fremd: 4

Fouls
Libertyville: 5
Fremd: 13