Boys soccer: Bracamontes' late strike lifts Streamwood past Lake Zurich
A 70th-minute goal from Jorge Bracamontes proved enough to take Streamwood past Lake Zurich 3-2 on Thursday afternoon in the Barrington Classic in the final game of pool play for both boys soccer teams.
The Sabres (3-1-1) advance into the fifth-place game against Conant at 2 p.m. Saturday.
"That was a very competitive game today," said Streamwood coach Matt Polovin, whose team finished in a three-way tie with 6 points along with Barrington and Rockford Boylan. "(Lake Zurich) could have folded when we went up 2-0, but instead, they fought back and almost made us pay for allowing them to get back in the game."
The host Broncos will play Jacobs for the title at 6 p.m. Saturday by virtue of a goal-differential tie-breaker, while Boylan meets St. Charles North for third place.
"Our DNA is to play attacking soccer, and I feel like we did that for most of the game," said Polovin. "But credit Lake Zurich for its nonstop energy and desire to make this an exciting 80 minutes of soccer."
Rafa Gil bent in a left-footed corner in the seventh minute to give the Sabres an early lead. It became a 2-goal advantage 10 minutes later when, after a patient build-up, Kristian Niemiec unloaded a 30-yard missile into the back of the net.
"We had a really good first half but slipped up a little bit after the break, and that gave Lake Zurich a chance to get back in the game," said Niemiec, a senior midfielder.
Once the Bears (3-2-1) found a way to absorb all of the pressure the offensive-minded Sabres were throwing at them, things began to slowly turn in favor of Mike Schmitz's team.
"We are so young and inexperienced, and from time to time we see that in how we play," Schmitz said. "But I've said from the start, this is a fun team to coach and watch. And today they showed just how good and how much fun they can be."
Lake Zurich pulled one back as the intermission neared when Austin Myhre took advantage of the Sabres' inability to clear a Michael Blasko corner at 32 minutes.
The Bears started the second half just as they'd finished the first - by playing with confidence through midfield and linking link up with their forwards.
Joe Heffernan drew the Bears level in the 48th minute with his one-timer to set up a wide-open finish.
Lake Zurich keeper Connor Trebec made a confident save in the 65th minute on the Sabres' Chavez. But Trebec was unable to stop the game-winner by Bracamontes, who finished what Chavez started with a magnificent run up the right side.
Gil was smart to track back toward his goal to clear off the line an attempt by Zak Kaminski in the closing moments to preserve the victory.
"There wasn't any quit in the boys today - that's something that I was very proud of, and they should be as well," Schmitz said.