Boys soccer: Barrington ends Mundelein's run
A disastrous quarter hour would end up dashing the hopes of No. 13 seed Mundelein extending its postseason hot streak when No. 2 Barrington fired in three early goals en route to a 4-1 victory Tuesday night in the second Class 3A Fremd boys soccer sectional semifinal contest at Hildebrandt Field in Palatine.
Broncos Jack Peterson, David Gomez and Kyle Wanca stunned the Mustangs (11-8-3), who were looking to extend their win streak to six after sending off No. 3 Lake Zurich, then No. 6 Warren to advance into this contest against a Barrington club which will now face No. 1 Fremd Friday night in the sectional final.
"We could not have started this night any worse," admitted Mustangs coach Sebastian Falinski. "With the way we played after conceding those three goals it would have been nice to have seen what the result would have been if it stayed 0-0. But Barrington has a great program, and coaching staff led by Scott (Steib) and they did what they had to do in order to advance."
Peterson got the Broncos (16-3-2) off to a flying start when he ran onto a long throw and found a way to slot home the opener just three minutes into the contest.
"The last 3-4 games we have gotten off to such a slow start, so one of the things we talked about before tonight was to get a good start if we wanted to improve our chances to move on," said Peterson.
Gomez would double the Broncos' advantage when he was allowed to tee up his attempt from just outside the box, and the senior made the Mustangs pay when he unloaded an unstoppable smash that found its way just inside the far post.
Sixty seconds after the Gomez goal in the 16th minute, Wanca would elevate high above a crowd to redirect his header into the back of the net.
"It felt good to get off to such a great start because Mundelein outplayed us for the rest of the half, and into the second half until we finally got that fourth goal," said Broncos senior Ryan Chang, who along with his back line teammates Michael Vitale, Mathew Klujian, and Wanca weathered a storm of pressure from the Mustangs, who pulled one back just before the intermission.
The Mustangs were rewarded for their strong finish of the first period when Carson thumped his header past Broncos keeper Iker Villagomez just before the break.
"We told the guys at the half that we had to keep them out of the back of our net, or we would give them new life, and plenty of momentum going forward. We had to work hard in that second half until we finally put that fourth one in," said Steib.