Boys soccer: Pallan, Barrington continue winning ways at Palatine
Klaus Pallan continued his remarkable scoring run, while the rest of his teammates held firm.
The result was a tightly played, hard-fought 80 minutes in Chic Anderson Stadium on Thursday night and a 2-0 victory for Barrington over host Palatine.
Pallan converted his spot kick in the 34th minute for his 11th goal of the season, swiftly taking back momentum the Pirates had previously built up. Much later, just five minutes from time, Enrico Ruffolo sealed an important Mid-Suburban West win for Scott Steib's team.
"We really struggled for most of the first 30 minutes of the half," said Steib. "They outshot us 7-0, plus they kept us under pressure with so many dead balls in our own end. But that PK and subsequent conversion from Klaus helped get us back on our front foot, and after that, although Palatine still came at us, we finally found our game a little bit to help us get out of here with 3 big points."
The Pirates (4-3-0, 1-2-0) voiced their displeasure when Pallan was awarded his spot kick. He finished with a cool, calm low drive past diving Dylan Ruzbasan, the Pirates' keeper.
"It was a tough one to have called on us," said Palatine coach Willie Filian, "but on the flip side, we didn't finish the chances we created tonight. And when we allowed Barrington the opportunity to possess and play quickly, we were on our heels and found ourselves allowing them to be dangerous on several occasions in the second half - especially when that big No. 9 (Pallan) was around the ball."
The early indications during the first quarter-hour were that the Broncos' attack would pale in comparison to that of Palatine. The Pirates played through frequently to junior midfielder Sebastian Fraczek, who enjoyed a terrific night on both sides of the ball, along with Ricardo Gonzalez and Adan Flores.
"We did a lot of good things out there tonight to put (Barrington) under pressure, but just as we did in our last game against Buffalo Grove, we had trouble in their final third and we just couldn't put one away," said Fraczek.
Gonzalez was able to deny a Barrington chance in the closing minutes of the first period, and teammate Daniel Pacheo provided a quality ball into the box which forced the Broncos' defense to scramble to prevent a close-range shot at keeper Alex Ruffolo.
Ten minutes into the second half, the visitors' attack came to life, led by Pallan, Enrico Ruffolo, Gio Guarnero, Michael Blanke and Zach Carbonara, who were all part of a sequence in which the Broncos missed on two point-blank opportunities.
"When we finally were able to play fast, knock the ball around and use width, we were able to have the run of play and force them to defend, just like we did so much in that first half," said Carbonara, who watched Pallan hit the underside of the bar after Blanke's nifty back pass put the senior through.
Alex Ruffolo, who survived a first half filled with one dangerous ball after another into the box, was superb in his effort to push a Fraczek free kick just over the bar in the 74th minute to save the Pirates from finding the equalizer.
"Alex was fearless all night, and especially after Palatine sent about 100 balls into our box," Steib said.
The Broncos (6-1-1, 2-0-0) gave themselves a little room to breathe when Blanke, Enrico Ruffolo and Carbonara all had a hand in the final goal of the night, which ended when Carbonara sent a lovely ball back in to allow Enrico Ruffolo to drive in a close-range blast.
"That's the second time this season we scored a follow-up goal, and it came at a good time for us," Carbonara said.