Rodriguez's goal helps Hersey hold off Barrington
2008 state champion Barrington's assault on another deep run into the postseason has taken an early detour.
For the second straight boys soccer match, the Broncos (0-2-0, 0-1-0) have failed to find the back of the net after dropping a 1-0 decision to host Hersey (1-1-0, 1-0-0) Thursday night in Arlington Heights.
Eddie Rodriguez found the back of the net just after intermission to record the game-winner in what was the first meeting between the two clubs since Hersey won the the MSL Soccer Bowl last October in a shootout.
"That's a very good team," said junior Nick Boyle, who was superb along the backline for the Huskies.
Hersey showed poise and control during most of the 80 minutes, including the first half when the Broncos had the better run of things but failed to pierce keeper Shane McGuinness - who along with teammate Greg Janicki shared time in goal with near-flawless play.
"You could tell (Barrington) was getting frustrated at not being able to score, and I think we did a good job of keeping our shape and not really allowing too many quality chances in our end," Boyle said.
The Broncos, who lost 2-0 Monday at New Trier, rarely tested McGuinness, who turned Ata Ozbay away at 28 minutes, then again at the near post.
"I don't really care how many passes you allow in front of you, because that's all Barrington did in that first-half, but nothing of real quality in close," said Hersey coach Darren Llewellyn.
The Huskies needed little time to grab the lead after Manius Waterman initiated things with a long left-footed free kick from his own end.
The ball was knocked around several times inside the 18 before Rodriguez unloaded a blast into the upper right corner and out of reach of Broncos keeper Tom Unak.
Unak kept his club in the match when he extended to stop Mike Ozga's cracker.
Then it was Janicki's turn to shine as he denied Ozbay two minutes later, then Frank Ingraffia, who positioned himself perfectly to redirect a free kick from Ryan Mangone.
The Huskies' leading scorer from a year ago, Alex Gardasevic, had a chance to double the score in between the Broncos flurry when he worked himself free.
But Will Farrell tackled Gardasevic before he was able go 1 on 1 with Unak to save a potential goal-scoring opportunity for the Huskies.
With the clock inside 20 seconds, it appeared Ozbay had struck the equalizer, but he was called offsides.
"We played better than we did on Monday with New Trier, and there's still a long way to go and lot's of time in this season for us," said Broncos coach Scott Steib. "But credit Hersey for doing what they do so well."