Boys soccer: Barrington edges Mundelein
Barrington (20-3-1) hardly lived up to its pretournament rating as the No. 3 seed in the high profile Buffalo Grove sectional, but Tuesday night at Grant Blaney Stadium, the Broncos served notice they may have returned from a two-game funk by defeating No. 6 Mundelein 2-1 to earn a place in Saturday's final against defending Class 3A state champion Libertyville.
This entertaining, and highly skilled 80-minute contest went the Broncos' way after conceding a Jony Lucio 22nd minute goal, then coming back to equalize before intermission, then using an early second period finish from Caleb Orr to advance.
"We weren't especially very good in our first two playoff games, but in the first fifteen minutes of tonight's game, I knew right away we were back to playing the way we did before the postseason, so it was then that I felt really good about this game, even against a very talented opponent such as Mundelein," said Broncos head coach Scott Steib.
The Mustangs (14-7-2) came into this Tuesday night match with plenty of momentum gained from a thrilling win in regional final shootout over No. 2 Wheeling, and although coach Ernie Billittiers' team didn't open as brightly as it had last Saturday, it didn't take long for his club to find its way back into this match.
"Barrington came out very strong tonight, and I really thought this would be our night after scoring the first goal," began Billittier.
"But we conceded a tough equalizer, then another to give them the lead, but although the early part of the second half didn't have any flow due to the number of fouls and stoppages, we came back at them, and had our chances before this game ended."
The Broncos would find, and play through Zach Carbonara and Gio Guarnero, whom Steib would later suggest was his team's man-of-the-match, and when this midfield duo had the ball on their collective feet, the Mustangs' sturdy back line, led by Elliott Sachnoff and Danny Ford had their work cut out for them.
Despite enjoying the run of play, the Broncos would watch Lucio make them pay for a lack of organization along the back when he got behind the defense to collect a masterful helper from Jorge Mendoza.
"That was a great goal, scored by a wonderful player," admitted Steib, who would then praise the likes of Bryan Alba, and Kenny Adiyiah for their efforts on this rainy evening.
Despite chasing the lead, the Broncos would find themselves back level again when Klaus Pallan unloaded a 25-yard freekick just under the bar for his 27th goal of the season in the 34th minute.
"We've actually had quite a few comebacks this season, including in our regional final last weekend with Stevenson, so I wasn't worried even before Klaus equalized for us," admitted Steib.
Just before the Pallan strike, Barrington keeper Alex Ruffolo made a brilliant goal-saving stop on Lucio, who nearly made something out of nothing on his marvelous turn and attempt.
Caleb Orr, who got the Broncos back into that regional final against Stevenson with his second-half equalizer, struck again last night, only this time with the game-winner when his enterprising run into the box allowed the senior to steer in a rebound which spilled free after Nash Pirie had his shot turned away by Mustangs keeper, Eric Munoz.
Mundelein would throw extra numbers forward in the last quarter hour, moving its wonderful defender Sachnoff into the midfield, and going with just three along the back, but the Broncos responded well to the added pressure, as they managed the lead with confidence in the final minutes to secure its victory.
"These past two years we've gone out in our playoff opener, so there was plenty of history there for all of us to overcome but this team has great heart, and never gives up, and that's the type of thing you need at this time of the year to continue on," said Nash.
"It's tough to go out this way tonight. We were hoping for another shot at our conference rival Libertyville. That's the way this sport goes sometimes, but I am still very proud of this team, its been an incredible year," said Billittier.