Boys soccer: Barrington rallies to tie Rolling Meadows
Jack Ball helped rescue a point for Barrington Tuesday night against high-flying Rolling Meadows with his penalty kick conversion to earn the visiting Broncos a 1-1 draw at Robert Hoese Field.
The host Mustangs (10-2-1, 5-0-1), who came into this contest with the best overall record in the MSL, continue to chase division-leading Hersey by one point (17-16). The Huskies tied Conant at home.
"We obviously would have liked to earn three points to put us ahead of Hersey, but we were unable to finish our chances, especially in the first half, (and) Barrington's hard work and great effort was another reason it ended 1-1 tonight," said Mustangs coach Brett Olson.
"I think we should all be proud of the effort our team put in against a team that has such a fantastic record," said Broncos sophomore defender James Rollinson.
"We had a very good start tonight, and actually played a very good first half of soccer. It was too bad we gave up their goal right before the half," said Rollinson's teammate Nico Hauser.
The home side had two glorious opportunities to find the back of the net long before Christian Jablonski bagged the opener just moments before the intermission, including a chance by Alex Kociubinski in the 27th minute.
The Mustangs’ leading scorer was able to collect a ball that spilled free of a Broncos player near the midline before taking the ball with speed in on Ethan Smith.
The Broncos keeper came off his line without delay to hopefully cut the angle of Kociubinski (8 goals, 7 assists) whose effort to the back post went just wide.
"(It) all happened pretty fast. I could have put that one in for us, but I was a little unlucky on that," said the Mustangs captain, who nonetheless played a strong game up top in the Mustangs’ 4-3-3 formation.
A terrific effort from Max Golich to go endline before sending a dangerous ball into the Mustangs box resulted in a hand ball — sending Ball to the spot.
The Broncos captain steered in his spotkick to equalize at 57 minutes.
A frantic final quarter hour saw both sides create plenty of deep throws, corners, free kicks and a handful of chances on frame only to have the final whistle end this contest even at 1-1.
"We got away from playing our brand of soccer, especially in the second half, but it was still important to earn the draw and one point," said Jablonski.
Next up for the Mustangs is Buffalo Grove this Friday evening while the Broncos (5-3-4, 2-3-1-7 points) host Conant on Friday.