North Stars edge hosts to earn spot in Barrington finals

By Mike Garofola

Two wonderful goals from Mike Winhoffer were enough for St. Charles North to beat tourney host Barrington 2-1 Thursday night to claim a place in the championship match Saturday evening with Rockford Boylan.

The North Stars (5-0-2) booked their spot in final after an impressive start, with Winhoffer getting into the back of the net at nine minutes,

Then they saw a rejuvenated Broncos side came back strong, and after all of their hard work to draw even, was dashed when the opportunistic Winhoffer drove home the game-winner in the 65th minute.

And the dagger happened a bit later when a nasty storm came from nowhere to end this match prematurely in the 73rd minute.

"It's kind of a tough way to lose a match, but we did it to ourselves as well," said Broncos head coach Scott Steib.

"We (maybe) played our most physically challenging match of the year, which was good, but we also did some things that we have to stop (doing) or we're just not going to make that step forward like I know we can."

Steib was bemoaning the fact that both of Winfoffers' strikes, especially the second from the striker, were in part due to some trouble along the back to clean things up.

That allowed Winhoffer to put a cap on an outstanding first 10 minutes of high-speed soccer from both sides.

Brandon Stanko's free kick, struck with plenty of pace and directly into the area and near the spot, stayed free long enough for the North Stars junior to slot past Broncos' keeper Will Cotopolis.

"It was the kind of good start that we were looking for," said Stars head coach Eric Willson, of the early goal.

Plenty of crisp tackling, which made each and every 50-50 challenge not for the meek, whether in the air or on the floor, would lead to several stoppages to care for the injured.

That included the Stars' terrific midfielder Noah Anthony, who provided a scare for the North faithful after the senior bumped heads during a 50-50 in the middle of the park.

Anthony who eventually returned, as did Zack Matuszak, who suffered a cut inside his mouth during the early stages.

Once back, Anthony immediately energized the Stars attack, quickly helping his teammates gain back the run of play.

That came after the homeside had gained the edge with some fast pace of its own by using quick touches through Craig Zahour in the middle, and constant use of the width of the Broncos' turf.

"You could see how important Noah is to our attack when he was out, and after he returned, and when the ball stayed on the floor (and not in the air) we did a pretty good job going forward," offered Willson.

Cotopolis was far busier than he would have wanted to be as intermission came closer, with the senior Anthony providing a few scary moments for the Broncos' faithful.

Consecutive inward swing serves screamed into the area at 38 minutes before Anthony came this close to connecting with Jared Casey on a near post run moments later.

Just after the break, Anthony sent another dangerous serve to Matt Rasmussen, who smashed his shot in close on the roof.

With the Broncos struggling to slow the Stars, and trying to gain back some control, the visitors once again found another gear with Anthony at the helm, with Matuszak and Stone along for the ride, providing the necessary pace and energy to keep the pressure on.

As it appeared it would only be a matter of moments before the Stars would double their lead, the Broncos would make something out of nothing at 62 minutes when Zahour finished at the back post a superb free kick from Dan Barber at the near touchline.

"That goal brought us to life, but (right) away we gave them an easy chance to go-ahead by allowing their guy so much time and space with the ball to score," said Steib.

Nick Lutsch would be the architect on Winhoffers' second goal, sending a well-paced serve to Anthony, who in turn drove a shot at Cotopolis - resulting in a rebound to his left.

Winhoffer would swoop in, and with what seemed like an eternity for Steib and his staff, carried freely towards the back post before driving home the winner.

Then eight minutes later, a gorgeous night suddenly turned ugly, and minutes after the school's THOR-Guard sent everyone to safety, the skies opened up and the winds howled.

After nearly 20 minutes of waiting, officials called the match for good.

"We're obviously happy for the win, although it's not the way we wanted to win, but it's nice to get through, and into the final," admitted Willson.