Mottonen stands tall for Fremd

Updated: March 31, 2011 4:00PM

At 5-foot-2, Fremd's Michelle Mottonen is easy to miss out on the field, but opponents need to keep an eye on the sophomore midfielder. If they don't, they'll get an awful good look at her as she's celebrating with her teammates after scoring.

Mottonen scored, had an assist and played a role in the buildup of another goal to lead the visiting No. 3 Vikings to a 3-0 victory Wednesday over Schaumburg.

She gave Fremd a 2-0 lead with 18:11 remaining in the first half when she ran onto a through ball from Beka Bostrom before cutting around Saxons goalie Brooke Schocker (2 saves) and slotting into an open net.

"I feel like I can take more responsibility for the team this year because I know a lot of the players' abilities now and how to play with them," Mottonen said.

Mottonen's goal came 1:49 after Butler-bound Elise Kotsakis scored from 16 yards for the Vikings (3-0, 1-0 Mid-Suburban West). Sophomore Caroline Wagner played in Kotsakis for the score after Mottonen had done a lot of the hard work to hold up the ball and wait for her teammates to arrive.

"Michelle is a really good tactical player. She moves the ball around really well and hasgreat foot skills," Kotsakis said. "She was our top assist getter on our team last year (as a freshman)and is so good at playing the ball off to people and setting them up to score."

Nicole Obos scored from four yards out after controlling a corner sent in by Mottonen to put the Vikings up 3-0 with 8:15 left in the first.

Midfielder Kelsey Steenstrup, who saved a sure goal when she cleared off the line while defending a corner in the first half, scored with 8:53 left in the second for the Saxons (4-1, 0-1).

Shannon Norris stopped four shots for Fremd.

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