Broncos leave Saxons thirsting for another chance
Schaumburg's dream of drinking from the MSL Cup may have come to an end Saturday afternoon when Barrington triumphed 2-1 in a tension-filled and exhausting match between what just might be the top two boys soccer clubs in the conference.
Conference scoring leader Ata Ozbay capitalized on a misplayed ball to strike for the eventual game-winner, his 19th of the season at 48 minutes, and Broncos keeper Tom Unak and his backline mates held tight against a hard-charging opponent in the biggest match to date in the Mid-Suburban League this season.
The victory puts the Broncos (15-3-0, 8-1-0) alone and atop the MSL table with 24 points and gives the defending state champions some breathing room over challengers Palatine and the Saxons (12-5-0, 7-2-0) each with 18 points and now both defeated by coach Scott Steib's club this fall.
"This was just a huge match for both sides because of what was at stake," said Steib, "and for us to come out ahead at the end was so important as it puts us on track to advance into the MSL Cup."
The Broncos opened the match as bright as the sun-filled day. In front of a a big homecoming crowd, Barrington looked its sharpest in weeks while playing quick through the middle and up front, and stress-free in the back.
Both Ryan Mangone and Frank Ingraffia, who showed terrific pace and energy as the centerpiece of the Broncos' attack in the middle for 80 grueling minutes, agreed that the first half might have been Barrington's best 30-35 minutes of soccer this season.
An interesting sidebar to this match was the battle between a pair of all-state candidates in Ozbay and Saxons senior defender Josh Beard.
The duo wouldn't disappoint as each had the upper hand at times. But the Saxons' tactical move of having Beard shadow Ozbay's every move eventually created space and opportunities for Mangone and Ingraffia, as well as Ozbay's partner up top, Noel Irions, to force the visitors into defending more than they would have liked.
It was Irions who found the back of the net at 18 minutes to complete a wonderful quarter of play by the home side.
The senior found enough pace to slot past freshman goalkeeper Ben Beard in close as both Ozbay and Tommy Arns got credited for the helpers on the go-ahead goal.
Schaumburg coach Hamid Mehreioskouei pushed Beard forward at 21 minutes with the hope of igniting a stagnating attack, but it wasn't until intermission neared that Beard's presence up top would be felt.
A beautifully crafted set-piece drew the visitors even when Josh Pirahmadi ran onto a Beard free-kick to re-direct under Unak. But that turned out to be the lone highlight of a rather nondescript 40 minutes of attacking soccer by a club which had entered the match with 8 wins in its last 9 matches, including its last four in the conference.
"We played our worst half of soccer (of) the season and were still even with Barrington at the break," said Mehreioskouei. "We then probably played our best half in the second-half, even after giving up a bad goal, then got in on (their) keeper twice and didn't finish.
"Needless to say, it is a tough loss to swallow."
The Saxons controlled the run of play following intermission and looked as adventurous and confident as Barrington did in the first half.
Declan Geraghty's long and well placed serves led to several dangerous scrums in front of Unak. Erhan Caglayan, Lucas Portuese, Pirahmadi and Beard all looked refreshed in the Saxons' attack.
However, Ozbay roared down the left side and his left-footed shot got past Ben Beard at 48 minutes - an unfortunate result for the Saxons' young keeper, who'd turned away a pair of close-range attempts to help keep his team right there.
Unak, who on Friday night was the guest of the hospital emergency room as he was examined for what was feared to be a broken leg, up in sensational style to turn away Geraghty twice and Beard on a one-timer during a 10-minute stretch.
"We withstood a lot of pressure during the middle of the second-half, then gained back some of (momentum) to help us control the final five, six minutes to get the win," said Steib.