Nothing in net for Conant, Barrington
One hundred minutes could not separate Barrington and Conant as the two Mid-Suburban West boys soccer clubs played to a 0-0 draw Tuesday night in Hoffman Estates.
“I thought we had the run of play in the first 20 minutes, then (it) shifted back to (Barrington) — and I feel we might have had the better of things in the second half, but all-in-all, it was a pretty fair result for both sides,” said Conant head coach Jason Franco, whose teams moved to 2-1-1 (4-3-3 overall) and 7 points in the MSL table.
“We’ve earned a few shutouts (four) this season, but this was a hard-fought match, and one that I felt was a good test for us tonight.”
The two sides were well organized in the early stages, but the home side was able to be more dangerous than its guests in the first quarter hour. It played through Tristan Conrad in the middle of the park on a regular basis, in addition to his running mate Joe Bosco, as the duo helped guarantee more possession in the Broncos (2-6-1, 0-1-1) end.
“We were missing (four) players to injury at the start of the season, and we really were not playing very well as a team because of it, but we’re staring to come around (of) late now that just about everyone is back and healthy,” offered Conrad.
The Cougars’ are thrilled to have Curtis King back in their first-11 to help bolster the backline. The junior was near perfect when defending the Broncos’ big striker, Reid Strain, while winning most of the 50-50 tackles he was involved in during his 100-minute performance.
Barrington coach Scott Steib moved his top defender, Craig Zahour, out of the back from his spot as sweeper, and into the middle to help jump-start an attack which has been scuffling of late. His mates along the back, John Gallagher, Brian Sheetz and Colter Williams, didn’t miss a beat.
The trio did well to slow Conrad, as well as Nate Cornell, Zach Conrad and Andres Alfaro, which as a group, showed plenty of pace when the Cougars’ attack was running at peak form. But they were unable to be generate any quality chances on frame and at keeper Max Redpath.
Redpath and his counterpart, Sean Cox, did however, have their hands full on several dead-ball efforts sent into their respective box — as each keeper fearlessly elevated to either punch or catch balls near the spot, and in a crowd.
“Like Jason, I thought (they) controlled the first 20 minutes, then we came back to do the same, and each team (afterwards) had its moments, but it was tough going when any of us got into that final third tonight,” offered Steib.
The Cougars best chance in regulation came at 70 minutes when after a terrific serve from Dan Ruzich, Redpath pushed the attempt out of harm’s way — only to give Bosco an opportunity to finish on the rebound attempt — which was turned away again to give the home-side a corner.
Moments later, Strain broke through on the other end, but Cox didn’t waste anytime coming off his line to challenge. His quick decision to do so paid off as the senior beat the Broncos’ striker in the 50-50 challenge to stop a sure 1-on-1 situation.
The Conant bench howled as it pleaded for a foul when Cornell’s zig-zag run to the top of the box appeared to see the senior brought down. But the center official was close to the play and quickly ruled both sides to play on midway through the first 10-minute overtime.
Alfaro curled his freekick around the wall, and nearly found the back post at 93 minutes. Strain unleashed a wicked blast which squirted free from Cox, who alertly took the ball off the shooting boots of Danny Jaderholm, who was right there and on the endline looking to slot the game-winner past the Conant keeper.
“We had our chances (to) finish tonight, but right now we’re struggling to put the ball into the back of the net,” began Barrington’s Ethan Claes.
“Once we get a couple of (those) in — it should give us the confidence to score more.”