Vikings start slow, finish fast against Hoffman Estates
Filosa helps jump start 4-goal second-half explosion in win

By Mike Garofola

Fremd drew another step closer to booking its place in the 34th annual MSL Soccer Cup next week, after rolling over Hoffman Estates 5-2 in a key MSL West match in Palatine Tuesday evening.

The Vikings (13-2-2, 8-2-0-24 pts.) can close out their closest rival Barrington with a victory on the road at Hersey this Friday. Fremd holds the tie-breaker over Barrington after defeating the Broncos early on 2-1.

"We played a decent 20 minutes of soccer in the first half, but really turned it on after the break to take control of a match which was important if we hope to get into the Soccer Cup next week," said senior backliner Alex Bochat.

Bochat and fellow defenders Alex Prelipceanu and freshman Eric Leonhard kept the visiting Hawks’ (4-8-2, 2-6-2) chances to a minimum, aside from a missed PK by the visitors in the first half, while making things uneasy for them in the tackle or when going forward.

"We didn't play well at the start either tonight or last night against Wheeling," Bochat said. “And I’m not sure why that was, except we played tight, and not at all like we're capable of. But once we relaxed, we broke open the game."

The Vikings Spencer Filosa, who in any given match will play just about anywhere on the pitch that coach Steve Keller desires, recorded the lone goal of the first half when he finished at the tail end of a scrum inside the box. Teammate Lorenzo Savino started the Hawks’ trouble when his blistering drive forced keeper Michael Gordon into a superb stop - only to give up an unfortunate rebound.

"Their keeper made two quality saves off close range shots, so I guess I was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time," said Filosa, who agreed with his teammate Bochat in his review of the Vikings’ first-half performance.

"We were so uptight in the first 25 minutes or so, making too many mistakes, and just having trouble sorting things out."

"This was the second straight night in which we came out mentally flat, almost like we were in outer space, and we had better not do that on Friday when we go to Hersey, especially with the way they play at (their) place, and with how they defend, and get behind the ball," offered Keller.

The Hawks’ promising moments in the first half were undone just 3 minutes after the break when Fremd’s Matthew Burkhardt and Brian Hindle helped create a free kick opportunity just outside the box.

Hindle was over the ball, and with an alert eye he noticed the 4-man wall offering just enough room to aim for an open spot to the right of Gordon. The Fremd senior did so with a marvelous bending strike to stun the visitors, and start a 4-goal outburst.

"You have to wonder how things might have shaken down if we could have converted our PK chance, and maybe gone into the break 1-1, instead of a goal-down, but you've got to give Fremd credit. And (Hindle) hit a great free kick to open the flood gates," said a disappointed Hawks head coach Matt Sriver.

The Hawks would pay a heavy price for some poor man-marking in their own end to allow Burkhardt to run freely through and finish a Filosa helper to increase the Vikings lead to 3-0 at 47 minutes

Then it was Filosa, showing the form of a world-class striker by racing into the box on the right side, turning on the endline and hitting a near impossible shot from an awkward angle into the far inside netting.

"It's true that our first-half performance was rather poor, but after the break, we showed what we’re capable of, and how dangerous we can be when we play quick and move the ball with speed going forward," said Keller.

Nick Tambellini would join Hindle for goal of the night honors when he sent a 30-yard missile just inches off the floor, that crashed off the post before settling into the back of the net.

With the Vikings comfortably ahead 5-0, Keller continued to bring off several of his starters for the final 20 minutes.

The Hawks' super-soph Luis Colin Vargas would break the shutout bid of the home-side when he got himself into perfect position to head in an inward swinging corner from Cesar Vargas at 62 minutes.

Later, with regulation nearing an end, Andres Pena finished in close following a spectacular diving save from Jeff Pearson, who came on for Scott Sutarik between the sticks.

"Once we got up 2-0, the match opened up and we just turned up the pressure in their end to score three more goals, and that felt good to all of us," said Filosa, who is second on the club in goals scored with 6, behind team leader Savino, who has 9 goals on the year.

"We all realize what's at stake for this team. We all want to get into the Soccer Cup to play for the conference championship," offered Bochat.

"There's a lot of seniors on this team that all realize this is our last chance, and we want to take advantage of that."