Late Fremd Goal Ends OPRF Boys’ Soccer Season at Super-Sectional

For 77 minutes on Tuesday evening, it looked as if the thrilling postseason run by the Oak Park and River Forest High School boys’ soccer team might continue.

Though outplayed in the first half, the Huskies had generated some momentum and—most importantly—kept their Super-Sectional opponent, Fremd High School, from scoring at Barrington Community Field.

Then Fremd’s Dimitri Vlahos foiled a Huskie player’s clearing pass about 30 yards in front of the OPRF net, deflecting it to Viking All-State forward Eli Schoffstall. Bearing down about 20 yards from the goal, Schoffstall booted the ball into the upper corner past Huskie goalkeeper Clark Turk.

"He hit it hard--a great shot," said Huskies Coach Jason Fried. "What a great moment for that kid. Not a great moment for us, but we fought all the way to the end."

Only 2:55 remained. When the Vikings turned away a desperate last-minute bid by the Huskies, it meant OPRF’s best season in at least a quarter-century was over. Now, only four teams remain in the state tournament.

It has been a memorable run for the soccer program, which also enjoyed a strong base of fan support on Tuesday after OPRF students had been banned from attending the Sectional final for previous unsportsmanlike conduct.

On Saturday, by defeating Evanston Township High School 3-0, the Huskies had won their first Class 3A Sectional championship. That had followed a thrilling win over the state’s top-ranked team, New Trier High School, when OPRF had capitalized on its one strong scoring opportunity.

The Huskies took a seven-game winning streak and 19-3 record into the bone-chilling night that saw the temperature drop into the 30s.

Throughout the first half, OPRF struggled to muster any sustained possessions. Much of their difficulty had to do with a strong Viking squad that had routed Barrington, 4-0, to take its Sectional after winning the Mid-Suburban League title.

"Fremd is a great team," said Fried. "They did a really good job of putting pressure on us when we had the ball. It was a battle but our guys did a good job of preventing shots on goal and recovering."

After halftime, the Huskies began to get into a rhythm. Though they didn’t get many shots on net, as time passed, there was a growing sense that this match would go to whichever team seized an opening. Fried felt the Huskies grew in confidence, crediting his players for their resilience--not only during the game, but the entire season as they made adjustments game-by-game to achieve the program's highest winning percentage ever.

Before its score, Fremd had taken 19 shots (eight on goal), while OPRF managed only five attempts (two on goal) to that point. Fremd also held the edge in corner kicks, seven to two, while the Vikings’ aggressive style resulted in their getting called for 14 fouls, compared with 11 for the Huskies.

With 16 minutes left, for example, Schoffstall received a yellow card for an especially rough foul on OPRF All-State forward Easton Bogard. One of the top scorers in the state, Bogard scored the lone goal against New Trier and recorded his second hat trick of the season with all three goals versus Evanston Township. The sophomore's 29 goals for the season tied an OPRF record; likewise, the 18 assists racked up by senior Josh Dennis equaled a Huskie season high.

Against Fremd, Bogard spent even more time than usual sprawled on the turf as Vikings shadowed him all over the pitch. He was knocked down with regularity.

Bogard was in the thick of OPRF’s two top scoring bids. A free kick after a Fremd foul, in the 65th minute, narrowly went wide of the net. And in the 79th minute, he made a centering pass amid heavy traffic that a Fremd defender headed away from a Huskie teammate who appeared to have an open-net angle.

In an interview with the Daily Herald, Fremd coach Steve Keller called OPRF “the best we’ve seen this season.”

He also noted that the Huskies “came out so much stronger after the break and kept the pressure up, especially during a 10-15 (minute) stretch when it seemed like we were chasing the ball, and the game.”

“Their back line plays smart, they have a very good group of midfielders, and their No. 14 (Easton Bogard) is a very dangerous player, who we did well to keep him from getting good looks on frame," Keller told the Daily Herald.

Fremd (20-2-1) will face Morton High School (21-1-3) in a 7 p.m. state semifinal match on Friday at Hoffman Estates High School’s Garber Stadium. In the other semifinal, York High School will play Lockport Township. The championship and consolation matches will be played on Saturday.

More details are available in the boys’ soccer section of the Illinois High School Associate website.

To see a video of the OPRF vs. Fremd game, go here. (The winning goal comes around 1:44:40.)

Previous stories on the OPRF boys’ soccer team:

October 31, 2021: OPRF Boys' Soccer Wins 1st Class 3A Sectional in School History

October 27, 2021: OPRF Boys’ Soccer Team Pulls Off 1-0 Upset of Top-Rated New Trier

October 22, 2021: OPRF Beats Niles West, 2-0, to Take Regional Boys' Soccer Title

October 4, 2021: Oak Park & River Forest Boys' Soccer Team Boasts 11-2 Record