Boys soccer: Prospect bounces back, downs Barrington
Prospect grabbed back 3 points it was unable to secure Tuesday night when it earned a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Barrington Wednesday in MSL boys soccer action.
While Tengis Tulga produced the eventual match-winner with his on-target 28th minute long range finish, it was the Knights' (4-2-2, 2-2-1) strength up the middle that proved the difference according to head coach Mike Andrews.
"Edmund Conroy, our center back, was composed and played under control, while Joe (Boduch) won a million balls for us in the middle, Patrick (Limanowka) was great all night and of course our keeper, Szymon Mocarski, continues to keep us in every game, every night," said a proud Andrews.
The Knights lost a key MSL East division contest on Tuesday to Buffalo Grove (3-1) to fall 8 points behind the Bison, who sit atop the league table with a perfect 4-0-0 overall record.
"The team wasn't down after that loss because we knew we played very well against a really good opponent so our confidence was still high coming into tonight," suggested Boduch.
"I'm not sure when the last time a team from Prospect beat Barrington, but it's a really big win for us, against a program that is always one of the best in the MSL, and the state."
The speed of play, quick touches, and use of the entire park, both in width and length, made for a fast-paced, exciting opening quarter hour, until the ability of the home side to win more balls, and connect passes helped them enjoy more of the play.
An alert Tulga took advantage of an opportunity to stun the Broncos (5-4-1, 2-3-0) when a ball played back to Cal Uhryniak by one of his teammates drew the keeper far off his line.
When the senior drove the ball out of the area Tulga brought down the long ball and with an eye on an open net he quickly sent a looping ball into the back of the net.
"It was an evenly played game up until that point, so that was not a good goal to concede at all," admitted Broncos head coach, Scott Steib.
Five minutes after the opener, the visitors nearly drew back even, if not for a brilliant glove save by Mocarski, who swapped away a point-blank effort fro Omkar Prabhavalkar, who flicked a long throw from Brian Coble on frame.
The Broncos' attempts to counter, or even generate something off dead ball opportunities were ineffectual, despite the efforts of Niko Argyros, and others but when Limanowka finished a Declan Flanagan helper at 70 minutes, the chances for the visitors to come back were dashed.
"Prospect is an older, more experienced team, and it showed at times as we just were not dialed in at the level we need to be," said Steib.
"We still have things to work on, and it appears it's going to take us some time to do just that."
The Broncos will compete in Freeport this weekend at the Pretzel Invite, while the Knights take a few days off in advance of another key league contest with Wheeling next Thursday night.
"Again, the effort, heart, desire and work rate is something this team continues to do each time out, and to come away with a win against one of the best says a lot about these guys," said Andrews.