Broncos force second tie in two nights vs. Marmion

By Gary Larsen

After his side’s 1-1 tie with Marmion on Wednesday, when asked where his players had improved most through the first four games of the season, Barrington coach Scott Steib pointed to his heart.

“Right here,” he said.

For the second time in two nights, Barrington (0-2-2) rallied to force a tie. David Pacheco’s second-half goal came in the 71st minute, capping a long and solid spell of attacking pressure by the Broncos.

“We’ve been down 1-0 the last two games and we’ve come back,” Barrington senior Charlie Giovenco said. “We should have won last night (a 1-1 tie with Lake Zurich) and we should have won again today. But we need to pick it up in the first half. It has to be for the entire game.”

“We’ve definitely picked up our intensity,” Barrington senior Reid Strain said. “We’re playing harder, winning balls, and that’s showing on the field. We’re creating more opportunities and we’re playing much better.”

A 4-0 loss to Glenbrook North on opening night aside, Barrington has been in a position to win each of its other three matches. The Broncos lost 3-2 in overtime to Palatine before posting a pair of ties to start this year’s Barrington Classic tournament.

A Barrington win on Thursday over St. Charles North would put them in Saturday’s title game. North tied 1-1 with Marmion and won 2-1 over Lake Zurich in tournament play.

Steib was happy with his boys’ effort, playing a second consecutive hard-fought game in as many days.

“We really played hard tonight. I’m impressed that we could come back and play with that much energy on the second night,” he said. “There’s a lot of kids playing a lot of minutes.

We still can play harder, getting into challenges and stuff, but it’s getting better. We were better in the air tonight, but we have to start making plays at critical moments.”

Barrington’s attacking pressure was prominent throughout against a Marmion (3-0-3) team that is playing solid defense as its attack develops this season.

Giovenco fired near the post in the game’s 8th minute, but Marmion keeper Evan Lefelstein’s kick-save thwarted the threat. Strain sent a ball just high in the 20th minute, and Taylor Williams sent a shot wide 4 minutes later.

Marmion scored in the 25th minute when Mike Frasca drove up the right side and crossed a ball that Broncos’ keeper Will Cotopolis came out and got a hand on. The ball fell to Joe Romanos, who finished on it for the Cadets.

Barrington had most of the ball through 40 minutes, but Marmion had the lead. Steib’s halftime talk wasn’t complicated.

“It was (Steib) telling us to play how we know how to play, and getting after it,” Giovenco said. “We knew we had a lot of possession. We just got a little bit unlucky in the first half so we just wanted to come out strong in the second.”

Barrington kept the ball on Marmion’s half for much of the second half. Williams went high with a header in the 57th minute and couldn’t quite reach a cross to the far post thereafter.

The pressure finally paid off in the 71st minute. Strain and Williams combined deep on the right side, and that work eventually sent a ball to the far post, where Pacheco finished on it.
 
Barrington saw a pair of late chances go awry, with Max Mohr turning the corner deep on the left side and centering to Williams, whose shot flew wide. Pacheco sent a penalty kick off the post and out of bounds with only three minutes left in regulation, and then walked away in agony over the lost opportunity.

Still, Barrington was again in position to win a game for the third time in four matches.

“What we can go forward with is our speed and our counterattacking, and playing to our forwards, which has been working out great,” Giovenco said. “We can definitely build on our defense, making sure we defend better and don’t overcommit.”

Strain also sees promise in a much more dangerous attack than the one that was present last year in Barrington.

“It gets frustrating that we make (shots) in practice, but not here,” Strain said. “There’s more pressure in a game but we have to put them in the back of the net if we want to win games. We’re creating a lot of chances. Now we have to start putting them in the back of the net.”

“We’ve got fourteen seniors but we don’t have a ton of depth or experience in that fourteen,” Steib said. “Charlie, Dan Barber, Taylor Williams, Max (Mohr), David Pacheco, Erik Buchel – those guys are all doing fine.

I thought Charlie played well out wide tonight (Strain) has been playing well with his back to goal, turning, and being deceptive. He put a couple guys in tonight and he’s been playing strong. And this is only his second game. He’s been out with an injury for four weeks and now it’s ‘welcome back, to three games in a row’.”

Nikko Maher also saved the day in the waning moments, clearing a Marmion shot off the goal line to preserve the tie.

The Broncos play St. Charles North at 7:00 PM tonight in Barrington for the chance to advance to Saturday’s title game. They host MSL rival Hoffman Estates on Tuesday before heading off to the Great Midwest Classic in Indianapolis next weekend.