Boys soccer: Barrington, Fremd play to scoreless draw
After 100 minutes of soccer could not decide the winner, Barrington remained atop the Mid-Suburban West after a 0-0 draw with division rival Fremd Tuesday in Palatine at Hildebrandt Field.
"To have gone five points clear of Fremd with a win would have been fantastic, but I am not disappointed to get out of here with the draw and one point to be up two points on (them)," said Barrington coach Scott Steib after the 2½ hour contest was whistled over.
The Broncos (6-2-0, 3-0-1) entered the night with three consecutive shutout victories, two of which came over league opponents to give them 9 points, two more than the Vikings (2-2-3, 2-0-2), who were coming off a 1-1 draw with Rolling Meadows last Saturday.
"We're dealing with a few injuries, and some of us are playing in different spots to make up for the loss of those players hurt but that's no excuse and to be honest, this feels more like a loss than a draw," said Fremd's John Kading, starting at center-back for only the second time in his career.
The visitors were on top of their game during the opening 40 minutes, winning plenty of the play in the middle of the park, while keeping things organized and under control along the back thanks in part to its center-back duo of Jo Cidulka and Nate Horn.
Brendan Lodl, who was stationed just in front of his back line in the Broncos' 4-1-4-1 formation, proved to be a key figure in the Broncos' first half success, winning most of the tackles he was involved in while distributing well to his teammates in the midfield and up top.
"To come in here and play a team like Fremd to a draw is important to our chances of finishing on top of the division at the end," said the junior Lodl. "We got a little sloppy in the second half after a solid first half, but we fought hard to earn one point."
The visitors had the better of the chances in the first half, the best coming just before the intermission when Henry Wachsman sent a near perfect cross field ball to C.J. Steib, who headed wide.
From the hour mark, and through the first ten-minute extra session, the Vikings enjoyed most of the play, inspired by several free kicks, corners and deep throws, which they have proved most dangerous during the first third of the season.
If it wasn't a dead ball opportunity coming from Russell Beaupre, Ryan Sapiente or Jake Schoffstall, it would be Kading, however none of their attempts would find its way into the back of the Broncos' net.
"We just need to get more creative in our attack, and when we do, it will open things up for us on both sides of the ball," suggested Kading.
The two extra sessions would see the referee book a handful of players on both clubs, and in the 98th minute, he would send off one from each side forcing each to play a man down.
"It wasn't always the prettiest soccer out there tonight but, again, to come away with one point to stay two ahead of Fremd was a nice accomplishment," said Scott Steib.