McGuinness magnificent in Hersey win
Shane McGuinness was unable to recall in all his years of playing soccer the last time he had lost in shootout --probably because the Hersey keeper never had.
McGuinness was brilliant Thursday night, proving to be invincible by saving 3 of 4 shots in the shootout to help the Huskies upset favorite Barrington 2-1 and capture their second straight MSL Cup before a big crowd on the Broncos' home pitch.
After it was impossible to separate these two sides in 100 minutes of back-and-forth action, McGuinness stopped a trio of Broncos' PK attempts -- while teammates Gilberto Roman, Kent Busse and Mike Madsen had a 100 percent success rate from the penalty spot.
That gave the Huskies (9-8-2) the right to lift the hardware high, to the delight of fans and friends.
"What a brave effort tonight," said Hersey coach Darren Llewellyn. "We did a terrific job of staying within the tactical approach that we've set forth, and we responded when needed to come away with a very big win in a match that many figured we wouldn't even be in after the start this team had this season."
The Huskies' well-documented 1-6-0 beginning this season included a 6-0 drubbing at the hands of these same Broncos (17-2-0).
Thursday it appeared Barrington might be well on the way to another blowout just 10 minutes into the match.
Francesco Furio knifed inside a pair of markers to redirect a header just inside the near post after Jack Valentine flicked Matt Beightol's serve into the area.
"I was really afraid after Furio put in the early goal," Llewellyn said.
Broncos midfielders Cameron Reilly, Ryan Nolan, Ryan Mangone and Valentine, marauders in the middle of the park up to, and after the Furio strike, took advantage of the Huskies up the flanks with quick change of field service and ball movement up the side to keep the Huskies' defending more than they would have liked -- but still airtight.
"We struggled with playing against 20 in the box," said Broncos coach Scott Steib, who saw his club throw everyone forward and near or inside the 18, only to have 10 Huskies back behind the ball to defend.
"Our guys in the middle and in the back kept their shape, movement and rotated well almost all throughout the match when Barrington was attacking," Llewellyn said.
Despite the Broncos owning at least 85 percent of the possession in the first 30 minutes, the Huskies were able to net the equalizer.
Hersey super sophomore Alex Gardasevic received the ball over the top from defender Nick Boyle and drilled a shot low the other way past keeper Tom Unak, who made a gallant challenge off his line.
"My left foot isn't very strong, and the guys always tease me about having a weak left foot, but I was able to score the goal that way," said Gardasevic, who has scored a dozen goals since being promoted to the varsity in the Huskies' eighth match of the season.
That goal gave the eventual champs the confidence they needed after intermission, which meant a more lively --and at times dazzling -- second half that saw both sides have some of their best chances come from dead-ball opportunities.
Long, well-aimed throws by Hersey's Griffin Dwyer and the Broncos' Beightol resulted in stressed-filled times for each keeper and back-line mates. Beightol nearly found Valentine in the 80th minute.
The Broncos won two corners in succession in the first OT session after Andrew Komnick went just wide of the back post on a free kick at 87 minutes in -- which McGuinness turned away -- but they couldn't convert either.
Reilly had a go at 97 minutes, but McGuinness pushed the ball up and over the woodwork. Kyle Pietro sent Gardasevic on a scoring chance two minutes later, only to have Unak stop him in close.
That left the match to be settled by penalty kicks.
McGuiness proved the Huskies' hero, kick-saving Reilly in the first round, Furio with a right glove stop and finally blocking Paul McCool to ice the victory and the title.
"I hadn't lost in a PK situation in 15-16 matches from the time I played keeper in club (soccer), and I wasn't going to tonight," McGuinness said