Highland Park stops Buffalo Grove's playoff run
Highland Park ended the postseason dreams of Buffalo Grove with a 2-1 victory Tuesday afternoon in the Class 3A Palatine boys soccer sectional semifinals.
The Giants earned a spot in Friday's sectional championship against No. 3 seed Fremd (17-5-1), which edged Libertyville 1-0 in the second match of the day at Chic Anderson Stadium.
Tony Barrios' 54th-minute PK conversion capped a strong second-half opening by the No. 13 seed Giants (13-6-4) and made the difference in ending the season for the 14th-seeded Bison (11-11-2).
"We had couple of great chances along the way, but Highland Park was a very good team, and to be honest, they played a much better second half than we did," said Buffalo Grove coach Rick Carlson, whose team had previously beaten top seed Warren and Mid-Suburban League champ Wheeling. "Although we played with great effort and a lot of heart, it just wasn't enough today."
"It wasn't our best effort of the season," said Highland Park coach Blake Novotny, "but as we told the boys beforehand, it doesn't always have to be pretty at this time of the year as long as you come out with a good result. And today we did."
Highland Park took control by getting the first goal at 16 minutes after the Bison looked sharper until that point.
"We weren't very sharp at the start, but we got back into the game with some terrific play on the outside from guys like Ian Valadez, and very good work from our back line, which went to the ball hard and won a lot of balls in our own end as well," Novotny said.
Tommy Quirk's angled shot from the far side found the net for the Giants.
Just under a minute later, after Carlson brought on fresh legs up top, the Bison drew even when Christian Miguel slotted under keeper Carlos Pineda after he allowed a Mike Kotylar corner to slip through his gloves.
"That was unfortunate for Carlos, but he came back and responded very well afterward and didn't allow that one mistake stay with him the rest of the way," said Novotny.
The senior made a stunning point-blank save on Hans Haller at the 26th minute after Haller's long throw wasn't cleared out of the area.
The Giants created plenty of pressure after the break, with Zach Kohn, Barrios and Valadez providing the spark in the Highland Park attack, forcing Haller, Ryan Drum and Connor Reid to defend more than they would have liked.
Then a strong run into the box from Aidan Subra resulted in the junior being hauled down.
BG keeper Daniel Sempoch guessed one way, Barrios went the other way, and suddenly the Bison were chasing the lead once again.
"One play, and one mistake in the box, and we pay for it," said Carlson.
The Bison didn't fold after the Barrios PK, and three minutes later they a glorious opportunity to equalize when Hector Herrara put a brilliant ball to an unmarked ball Masciopinto at the back post. The senior headed his attempt down, and it bounded up and over the open goal.
"Zach was right there, but he got on top of its just by this much," said Carlson.
The Bison pushed another defender into the midfield to add numbers, and even moved Haller back in goal to take advantage of his strong foot and ability to play more of a keeper-sweeper position in the final 10 minutes of regulation. But on this day, the Giants were able to manage their lead with a solid tactical approach down the stretch.