Barrington bears down, earns first state trip

Barrington's boys water polo team has been aiming high all season.

Perhaps that helps account for the penalty shot Broncos senior Chase Lesniak sailed over the goal in the second quarter against Conant, with the game tied at 4-4 in a tense sectional final matchup at Schaumburg on Saturday.

"For me, that was a little bit of a wake-up call," said Barrington's captain. "I think maybe it helped re-focus me."

His alert play soon after more than made up for the miss.

Lesniak put Barrington ahead with a goal with 12 seconds left in the second quarter, and after a Cougars miss he managed to sneak a long-distance lob past Jacob Lawson as the buzzer sounded before the half.

Barrington led 6-4, then expanded on the lead in the third quarter on the way to a 10-5 victory.

The Broncos added to what has become a season of firsts with their most impressive one yet: a spot in the state's Elite Eight. Barrington (29-2) meets state power Fenwick (31-1) in Friday's 4:30 p.m. state quarterfinal at Stevenson.

"Our best game of the year, hands down," said Barrington coach Scott Krasinski. "We really thought this would be a 1- or 2-goal game, either way. To hold a team like Conant to 5 goals is pretty remarkable."

Lesniak scored the first goal of the third quarter to put Barrington up 7-4, and after Conant's Tyler Goehrke scored the second of his 2 goals, senior Charlie Hoffmann converted on his third man-up goal of the game to put Barrington up 8-5 heading into the fourth quarter.

Two more Barrington seniors - Matt Gouskos and Pat Hogan - got goals in the first half of the fourth quarter, and the Broncos were able to run conservative possessions the rest of the way.

One key for Barrington was its ability to disrupt Conant's ability to find standout 2-meter set Connor Schmitz often enough, even with Gouskos out for much of the game with 2 exclusions. Strong wing defense from Mitch Gavars and Lesniak prevented the Cougars from getting much offensive continuity.

"Barrington was just the better team today," said Conant coach Tim Daniel. "We try to run a lot of our offense through Connor, and they were sending two, sometimes three defenders his way."

Hoffmann was another key to the outcome. He finished three of Barrington's man-up situations.

"He's really been an unsung hero for us," said Krasinski of Hoffmann.

Barrington had beaten Conant (27-6) twice, but the prospect of beating a quality team three times in a single season didn't seem to faze Hoffmann. In fact, a third meeting may have helped the Broncos sharpen their attention to detail.

"I think we looked at it a little bit differently, like the first two times didn't mean quite as much so we really had to make sure we gave it everything we had this time," said Hoffmann.

So it's on to a first appearance in the state finals for Barrington. Lesniak, the program's all-time leading scorer, relished the uniqueness of the moment on deck after the MSL champion Broncos celebrated with their sectional hardware.

"First Barrington team to make state, my senior year ... you couldn't make it any better," he said. "I'll never have this feeling again."