Boys soccer: Barrington shuts out Jacobs
With its 3-0 loss on the first day of its own boys soccer tournament, Barrington immediately put itself at the bottom of its four-team group, while watching its hopes of reaching the final of the Barrington Classic apparently fading away.
But as luck would have it, the Navy Division of the Classic would be tightly bunched after the second day of play, with just one point the difference between first and third place.
Thursday night at Barrington Community Stadium, a Henry Wachsman-inspired Broncos (3-2-0) exploded for 3 second-half goals to defeat Jacobs 3-0 and advance into the final Saturday night against Marmion Academy.
"We made a mess of things for ourselves with that 3-0 loss to Boylan on Monday afternoon," said Broncos coach Scott Steib, whose club is back in the final for the first time since 2017, when it lifted the trophy following a 5-2 victory over Jacobs.
"That was a spirited, hard-fought game we had tonight, and one that we played well on both sides of the ball while also getting a clean-sheet against a very good opponent, which is something we take a great deal of pride in."
"We knew after that tournament-opening loss that we had to come back and play much better in order to have a chance to reach the final, and that 2-1 win over Lake Zurich put us back in it so tonight we controlled our own destiny," said Wachsman.
Before the opening whistle, Jacobs led the group with four points, followed by Barrington and Boylan each with three following Boylan's 2-1 loss to Lake Zurich in the opener Thursday.
With a victory by either side enough to send them through into the final, each and every 50-50 ball, whether in the air or on the ground was not for the weak of heart.
The foul-filled 80 minute contest went box-to-box all night long at breakneck speed at times, with some terrific defensive play mixed in with several quality chances from both sides sprinkled in.
"It was a terrific game. We had our chances and maybe if we put one or two in it's a different result," said Jacobs (2-1-2) coach Colin Brice. "We get into this tournament for the level of competition we'll play knowing the four games we play in a week will help prepare us for the later stages of the regular season, then the state series so despite the loss there was a lot we learned about ourselves and what we'll need to work on going forward."
The Golden Eagles' dynamic duo of Liam Armstrong and Johnny O'Connor were at the heart of the Jacobs attack for most of the evening and it was a pair of first half guided missiles from Armstrong that Brice spoke of as potential goals for his club.
Armstrong drove his 22-yard free kick off Broncos keeper Daniel Hesselbeins' gloves then the post before falling over the end line at six minutes.
The senior later rattled the bar from 30 yards on yet another free kick, this one coming in the 22nd minute.
The Broncos made the brighter start in the second period and led by Nico Argyros, Michael Horak, C.J. Steib and Wachsman the home side would enjoy most of the play in the attack during the first quarter hour of the half.
Wachsman ran onto a loose ball 30-yard away from Jacobs keeper Preston Krahl before unleashing an unstoppable left-footer than bent the nets outward at 43 minutes.
Krahl was at his best moments later when he stopped Argyros after teammates Wachsman and Horak created his chance from in close.
Horak made it a two-goal advantage at 48 minutes with a spectacular angled effort from the right side in which he bent into the far inside netting from 25 yards.
Brice went to a 3-5-2 formation in the 52nd minute in hopes of generating more attacking thrust for the Golden Eagles but except for a handful of free kicks and deep throws, Hesselbein was not put to a serious test in the closing quarter hour.
Wachsman finished the scoring when he converted his spot kick in the 69th minute.