LZ steps up at Barrington
Lake Zurich moved closer to a tournament championship appareance after stunning tourney host Barrington 2-1 Friday night in the final match of group play for both clubs at the 26th annual Barrington Classic Soccer Tournament.
The Bears (4-2-0) needing a win to boost its chances of advancing into Saturday night's final. They did so thanks to second-half goals from Ian Murray and Collin Foote to give them 3 points, and six total. That puts them even in points with the Broncos (3-2-0), who came in needing a draw to make the championship match.
"It was a very good team win for us," said pleased Lake Zurich coach Mike Schmitz, who along with Barrington's Scott Steib will wait to see what St. Charles North does against Crystal Lake South on Saturday morning. Violent weather washed away the earlier matches of the day, with North in a position to force the tie-breaker system to be called in should the Stars defeat the Gators.
"Our back line went 80 minutes tonight and played very strong from the very beginning until the end, but our midfield group of Ian, Collin and Jack Abry were outstanding, and quite possibly the main reason for this victory," said Schmitz.
That midfield trio went box-to-box with plenty of pace and energy, outworking their counterparts in most 50-50 chances while jump-starting the Bears' attack.
"We've been playing together for such a long time, so the chemistry will all of us is really beginning to show, and especially tonight," said Murray.
Barrington appeared destined to get itself to the break in a goal-less match until a careless foul in its own end gave the Bears a chance in the 40th minute.
Foote initiated the set-piece opportunity with a well-paced shot which flew into the box and found a crowd, including keeper Jaime Diaz. An opportunistic Murray collected the ball before firing in from close range.
"We all know the first and last five minutes of the half are really important, so to get that late goal was important for us," said Murray.
The Broncos came out for the second half fired up, and immediately conjured up a couple of dangerous opportunites, starting with a free kick chance off the right foot of Austin Grzebieniak at keeper George Maroudas. Ian Ford also had a shot, which went high from about 30 yards.
In between, Maroudas went high into the air to pull down a long throw in a crowd from Hans Pallan.
Foote doubled the Bears' lead when he belted in a 20-yard drive in the 65th minute. But the Broncos got themselves back into the match when Ryan Lauderback was hauled down in the box, leading to Grzebieniak converting his spot kick at 70 minutes.
The Broncos poured forward in numbers in search of the equalizer, but the Bears were stout along the back to preserve the victory.
"We just didn't come out with enough fire, then we find it, but it's as if we needed to fall behind in order to find that urgency and desire," Steib said. "Now we wait to see what happens in the morning."