Stars' 2nd-half flurry too much for Barrington
St. Charles North's boys soccer team erupted for 3 second-half goals to defeat tourney host Barrington 3-1 to improve its record in pool play to 1-1-0 with the victory.
The North Stars (2-2-0) will meet group leader Warren today at 5 p.m., looking to gain a win and an extra 3 points as they chase second place in their division and the chance to play for a third-place trophy on Saturday evening at the 21st annual Barrington Classic Tournament.
"We're very happy to have earned a victory tonight, and happy with the 75 minutes of good soccer that we played," said Stars coach Eric Wilson, whose club fell to New Trier 3-1 in its tournament opener on Tuesday afternoon.
Wilsons' statement to a good 75 minutes of soccer was in reference to a dreadful five minutes of play from the opening whistle during which the hosts would offer an early warning signal when Joe Micci scored his first career varsity goal after running free into the box and heading a serve from teammate Greg Navitsky in close.
"We got ourselves into a big hole in the first five minutes of the match because our defense let down," said Wilson, "and it looked like it could be a long night if we kept that type of play up."
"I thought we did a good job of not hanging our heads (after) that goal and knowing that we could get ourselves back into the match if we played together as a team," said Stars central defender Dan Figura, who helped his club draw even just after intermission.
Wilson and his staff had to be encouraged by the work from the midfield, which began to slowly take control with possession and plenty of 50-50 winners, and with the speed of Noah Anthony on the flank beginning to break down the Broncos (1-3-0) in its own end, the visitors took the run of play away from the home side as the break drew nearer.
"We had a tough night defending, and we gave the ball away far too many times to have a chance to win tonight," said Barrington coach Scott Steib.
In a tightly called match that led to 7 yellow cards, the North Stars got the go-ahead goal at 57 minutes after Figura sent the equalizer into the back of the net after an Anthony corner.
The home side howled when the center official awarded a PK on what seemed to be a non-call when a long ball out of the back by the Stars appeared to be heading harmlessly over the endline and the contact having little to do with the run of the play.
Angelo Catalano easily converted his spot kick, then later Mike Winhoffer's zig-zag run helped the sophomore catch an Anthony assist and redirect past Broncos keeper Will Cotopolis.
"Taylor Williams and David Pacheo worked and ran hard for us tonight up top, and Craig Zahour played like a veteran and not the freshmen that he is, while Will Farrell gave us so much effort in the back," said Steib. "But tonight was not our best match of the year, and we've got to stop making the same mistakes if we hope to be a competitive team from here on out."
The Broncos will face New Trier tonight at 7 p.m. today.