Furio trio a real treat

Barrington's mission to return to the championship match of its own boys soccer tournament is on course.

The Broncos blasted Marmion Academy 6-0 Tuesday evening in second-round play of the Barrington Classic.

Senior Francesco Furio was the star of the match for the home side as he struck for the a natural hat trick. That gvae the 2006 Daily-Herald All-Area striker 4 goals on the season and 31 for his career, moving him into sixth place on the all-time scoring list in boys soccer.

"It was kind of an ideal situation for me tonight," admitted Furio, who was able to use his speed and brawn to beat the Cadets' (1-2-0) offside trap on his first 2 goals and actually set up his third when he converted a penalty kick just after intermission.

"I thought (Marmion) would drop a player back as a sweeper to give their defense a little depth after we came close to a couple of breakaways early in the match," Furio said. "But (us) being able to break out and score as much as we did can help give us some confidence heading into a real tough match tomorrow night."

The Broncos (2-0-0) will meet state power Wheaton-Warrenville South at 7:00 p.m. with a spot in the championship match Saturday night at stake.

The Tigers defeated Lake Zurich 2-1 earlier in the day to run its tournament record to 2-0.

Last season the Broncos shutout WW South 1-0 to capture the tourney crown. They also beat the Tigers the year before.

A young Cadets side adapted well to the Broncos' early pressure and direct style. In fact, they had the better run of play in the early stages by playing attractive soccer through the midfield with quick, pinpoint touches to get all involved on the pitch.

Coach Kevin O'Connor's lads were most dangerous when the likes of Pablo Del Toro, Armando Hermosillo, Ralph Pameri, Sam Van Dyck and Beto Del Toro were on the ball. But when Ryan Mangone found the back of the net just under the woodwork to give the Broncos' the lead, the wheels began to fall off for the Cadets.

"We had shown right from the beginning we were capable of being dangerous in (their) end with some terrific attacking," said O'Connor, who over the summer took 19 players from his program to Brazil to visit and work in area orphanages while training and playing against local clubs.

"Unfortunately we gave up a tough early goal, and we just didn't match (up) well physically with Barringtonm and they were able to finish on a couple of their breakaways."

Furio's night would end for good when he drilled a high blast into the back of the net at 48 minutes on his penalty kick. Then two minutes later Ryan Nolan made it 5-0 after Brian Bernal initiated with a free kick and teammate Ata Ozbay kept the ball alive inside the box.

Cameron Reilly would finish the scoring at 77 minutes as junior Tom Unak recorded the shutout.

"There were a lot of positive's tonight, but tomorrow will be a terrific test for us and where we are at as a team," said Barrington coach Scott Steib.

WW South 2, Lake Zurich 1: Wheaton Warrenville South moved a step closer to the championship match of the Barrington Soccer Classic after a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Lake Zurich on Tuesday afternoon.

First-half strikes from Eric Shrigley and Scott Larson helped seal the Tigers' second win in as many days and keep coach Guy Callipari's club a perfect 2-0 in group play.

Tonight at 7 p.m., the Tigers (3-0-0) meet tourney host Barrington, which is also 2-0 in tournament play. The winner advances into Saturday's championship match at 6 p.m.

"Coach told us that good teams always find a way to win," said Larson, who said his team struggled at times during intense heat and humidity against a tough opponent which was looking to bounce back following a 4-2 loss in its tournament opener against Barrington on Monday.

"We had plenty of quality chances in that first half, but just couldn't finish them today," said first-year LZ coach Mike Schmitz. "(WW South) is a first-class team, but I thought we played them very well for the 80 minutes."

The Bears (1-2-1) found themselves on top just after the quarter hour. Reid Bergstrom converted a PK after teammate Brad McCurley initiated the opportunity with a nice individual piece of work that ended up in Bergstrom getting pulled down inside the box.

For long spells prior to the Bergstrom strike, the Tigers were under pressure and had keeper Randall Babb on the alert.

Things started to turn around for WW South when an unmarked Shrigley found the back of the net following a well-paced free kick by Larson that was not properly cleared. The goal was Shrigley's fourth in two matches.

Larson struck the game-winner with a blast from 25 yards on the right side at 38 minutes.

"Giving up that goal just before the break was a heart-breaker," Schmitz said.

The Tigers used the momentum from Larson's goal to open up after intermission with more energy.

With Andrew Bellmer out of the match due to an injury, Callipari moved Shrigley to the middle as a withdrawn forward, and the senior's work as a distributor allowed the Tigers' Manuel Munguia and Nico Galto more room to roam up top.

"(Lake Zurich) did a terrific job of marking Shrigley (tight) in that first half," said Callipari. "But I think our attacked opened up a little bit when we moved him into the middle."