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Great saves by Bartlett’s Justin Busch and a winning varsity debut in net from Glenbard West’s converted sweeper Aaron Griffin made rookie goalkeepers the focus of Thursday’s non-conference match in Glen Ellyn.

But Hilltopper forward Nathan Hall’s own focus on finishing provided the turning point in a 2-1 victory for Glenbard West (10-2).

Sprinting up the right side off a nice pass from Andrew O’Connell, Hall fired a low 18-yard shot past Busch with 7:03 left to break a 1-1 tie. But Hall’s two-goal night took maximum effort against a Bartlett defense that snuffed out numerous other threats.

“We were definitely frustrated with our performance,” Hall said. “We had a lot of chances and just didn’t finish.”

First-year goalkeeper Busch’s acrobatics were a major reason for the missed chances. He came off his line in the 16th minute to brilliantly block a 12-yard blast by Hall, and the highlight film continued from there. Three minutes later, Glenbard West's Paul Selman nicely dribbled around two defenders to create an open 8-yard shot, but Busch answered with a great kick save to his right.

In the second half, more of the same: Busch made a diving save of a David Ortega 25-yard rocket with 25:40 left, dove to intercept a dangerous Shawn Herrera cross in traffic with 19:20 to go, then made a leaping deflection over the crossbar of a Selman shot at the 13:30 mark. Selman had athletically headed a loose ball into open space in the box and launched a perfectly placed shot, but Busch answered the challenge.

“Our defense and the play of Justin Busch in the back is just phenomenal, keeping us in every game,” Bartlett coach Ben Beary said.

Just as phenomenal is Busch’s road to success in the frame.

“Justin moved from defender mid as a JV player last year, just because he knew we needed a keeper,” Beary said. “He’s such an athletic talent in the back and a good basketball player. He’s got great instincts and great hands – I already can’t wait to see what he’s going to do next year as he grows and matures back there.

“This game could have gotten out of hand easily, but he kept us in it. He had two or three (saves) that were game savers when it was 1-1.”

Glenbard West co-captain Griffin has similarly answered the call in net for the Hilltoppers.

“Our starting goalkeeper Robbie (White) fractured his ankle and is going to be out for a little bit, and I was the backup,” Griffin said. “I played up until sophomore year and that’s when I kind of lost the height advantage, so I switched back to a field position. Sophomore year’s the last time I played goalie.

“I’m still trying to shake off the cobwebs. It’s been a while, and at practice yesterday I noticed the tempo has increased (since last time at goalkeeper) so it’s been a little bit of adjustment both with the pace of the game and communicating with the back line again. But overall it’s coming together quite nicely.”

The Hilltoppers had some shaky moments early in Griffin’s debut in goal. Miscommunication on a clearing attempt in the 22nd minute left Bartlett’s Carlos Avina with a 30-yard shot towards an open net, but defender O’Connell recovered to head the ball away in the crease.

Then off a Matt Seidl cross 16:33 before halftime, Avina stepped in front of a clearing attempt by a Hilltopper defender and blasted a 12-yard shot into the lower part of the net to give Bartlett a 1-0 lead.

Ex-defender Avina has provided a spark for the Hawks (1-13), who scored just three goals in their first nine games and were shut out seven times. Bartlett has six goals in its last five games, with no shutouts in that span.

“We moved Carlos up, and that’s helped us get a little more consistency up top,” Beary said. “We’ve tried almost every combination. All season long we’ve been tweaking and adjusting, and we finally found some kind of a rhythm. That’s a big improvement from where we were.”

Speaking of improvement, Griffin quickly settled into his new position with shutout play over the last 56 minutes. That included a catch at the far post of Andrew Gott’s nicely struck 30-yard free kick with 13:30 left in the game.

Defenders Connor Kinna (blocked shot) and O’Connell (steal in the box) also made key plays in the final 10 minutes, both with the score still 1-1.

“Coming into this game we just got a new goalie, so it was a tough transition,” Hall said. “But we worked through that, and I thought we played better in the second half.

“The first goal we let up was kind of messy. Besides that, I thought we had a pretty good game.”

Hall had a great game himself, making his first scoring impact with 9:49 left in the first half. After Selman nicely won a loose ball in the box and sent a pass to the right of the net, Hall fired a 12-yard shot into the far corner to tie the game at 1.

The Hall-Selman combination was a handful all night, with great defensive plays by Bartlett’s Adam Jones, Chris Kibler, Alex Smith and Gott limiting even more challenges to Busch. Kibler blocked two threatening shots (one a 15-yard Hall blast off a Ben Ruby throw-in), and Gott played strong 1-on-1 defense to deny Hall on another strong end line threat set up by a Selman rush.

“The power of Nathan and the speed of Paul is almost unstoppable,” Griffin said. “Both of them combined, it’s just a speed outbreak. Having them up front is really the key to our scoring offense.”

Selman didn’t even enter the game in the second half until 24 minutes remained, but made an instant impact. Bartlett’s Smith made a great sliding deflection to deny a Selman breakaway with 21:30 left, and then came Busch’s earlier mentioned leaping save of a great individual play by Selman nine minutes later.

“Paul really stepped up,” Hall said. “His speed definitely showed in this game. He almost scored in the second half, and probably should have scored. He was close so many times.”

Despite a grueling schedule and a young squad that features six sophomores, Bartlett continues to battle top competition toe-to-toe.

“We’ve had ups and downs all season, but this is definitely an upswing,” Beary said. “It’s a testament to our team. It would be really easy for a young team to give up at this point, but we’re battling every single game. We’re heading in the right direction and seeing more consistency on offense.”

Limiting the damage by the explosive Hilltoppers was another positive.

“We’ve struggled with teams that have all that speed up top and who use that as their primary weapon,” Beary said. “So we’ve been improving. We knew what they were going to come out with today, and I thought we matched it better than we have in the past. I really think this game could have gone either way, but overall our heads are up because we’re showing improvement.

 “Our guys have never gone into a game expecting to lose. Their attitudes are right where they need to be. We’re improving as a team and as individuals, and we’re young so it’s still going to take time.”

The win was Glenbard West’s fourth in a row, as the Hilltoppers (3-1 in the WSC Silver) gear up for key remaining conference games Tuesday against Downers North and Oct. 9 with first place Hinsdale Central.

“We grinded,” Griffin said. “It wasn’t our best game, but we fight for the victories we get and we really don’t take anything for granted.”