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Stork’s scoring leads Barrington by Huntley

ROCKFORD — Kendall Stork kept up his postseason scoring pace. The Barrington freshman had his third straight 2-goal game to lead the Broncos past Huntley, 2-1, in the semifinals of the Class 3A Auburn regional here Tuesday night.

The Broncos advance to play Warren in Friday’s 6 p.m. sectional final.

Stork book ended his goals around a score by Jason Zobott that kept the Red Raiders in the game.

In a game of wildly fluctuating momentum, the final surge went Barrington’s way. The Broncos came out strong, with Stork scoring on a penalty kick in the 27th minute.

Huntley controlled the middle portion of the game. But Zobott’s goal, a header off a corner kick by Jaime Quintana, was the only goal the Raiders could muster.

Then the Broncos (19-3-3) seemed to raise their energy level again. Suddenly, the ball resided in Huntley’s end of the field, and when Stork scored again, on a header following a corner kick, the Broncos had the lead for good.

“I’ve just been looking for the ball. I’ve been taking on more people than I was in the regular season. I’ve been attacking more and opening up opportunities for other people.”

Barrington coach Scott Steib credited his bench for the increased energy level late in the game. He went to his bench more than usual, playing 18 or 19 players.

“I felt like unless I could get my (starters) out of the game, they were going to make a mess of it by just giving the ball away,” Steib said. “And by putting in those (bench players) — they’re not as calm, they’re not as composed, they increased the work rate, and that sort of leveled everything. It was a matter of just finding the right kids who were going to match the work rate and then our kids got a chance to catch their breath and look at it.”

“They turned the energy around on us and we got a little flat again,” said Huntley coach Kris Grabner. “The first 30 (minutes), that’s about as flat as I’ve ever seen us. But to bring the energy back and to come back like that was great.”

Huntley (17-7-1) had a couple of chances to take the lead, but couldn’t convert. Lucas Baker came in untouched on a breakaway, but Bronco keeper Pat DeRoche made a diving save.

Grabner knows Stork well, having coached him at the club level for six years.

“Unfortunately, they’ve got a freshman on their team who just has a knack for finding the goal,” Grabner said. “He’s always been one of the best goal scorers I’ve ever met.”

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