Broncos and Vikings square off in a wild one in Barrington

By Mike Garofola

So when did a win so early in the conference season become so important?

Wednesday night, if you ask the players and coaches from both Fremd and Barrington.

Fremd defeated the host Broncos 2-1, with senior striker Lorenzo Savino scoring both goals to help the visitors claim an important victory early on in the race for the MSL West, pulling the Vikings (7-1-2, 3-1-0-9 pts.) back even in the division alongside rivals Palatine and Conant following a productive week of soccer.

"We all knew how big this match was tonight, and what getting three more points with a victory against a division opponent would mean for our team," said Fremd junior mid Brian Hindle, whose teammates would hold off a tenacious Barrington side, which recently has begun to find its stride after getting out of the gate at 0-4-2.

"We've come a long way since the early going, and have pulled ourselves up to where a win tonight would have put us in a pretty good spot in the division," began Barrington head coach Scott Steib.

"But we got behind when Fremd came out and played so well, and we just didn't, and it's hard to put so much energy, both emotionally and physically into trying to get back (even), that sometimes there's nothing left at the end to do so."

The Broncos (3-6-2, 2-3-0, 6 pts.) fought and defended for the first 20 minutes in order to keep a revved up Vikings' side from inflicting a death blow by virtue of a third goal, after building a quick 2-0 lead just 10 minutes into the match.

The Vikings came out with pace and energy from front-to-back, and a third goal might have buried Barrrington’s hopes on the night.

"This team still has to learn to keep the 'pedal' down in order to finish off opponents, and tonight was a perfect example of keeping a team around long enough for them to pick themselves up and get back into the match when you've got them were you want them," Fremd head coach Steve Keller said.

"We just got too complacent," added Fremd senior Spencer Filosa, who along with Alex Prelipceanu and Alex Bochat were air tight in front of keeper Scott Sutarik. In the first half Sutarik saw little action, until called upon later to make a handful of goal-saving stops while forced to command his area with dangerous service flow in.

"We all knew to (get) that third goal would in all likelihood put (Barrington) away, but we just didn't play as well as we did in the first part of the first half, and we didn't finish chances that we created for ourselves," Hindle said.

The Vikings were already at top speed in the express lane when they found the back of the net just 8 minutes into the contest. Matt Burkhardt's cracker from in close was stopped by Barrington keeper Will Cotopolis, who unfortunately gave up a rebound to an alert Savino, who would finish with ease.

The Broncos suffered from their decision not to use a professional foul on Savino, who was flying unmarked along the left side in an enterprising run, and their inability to miss this tactical opportunity allowed the Vikings’ leading goal scorer to sweep in from the endline and slice in his second goal of the night to double the lead to 2-0.

"I don't know why we didn't just foul (Savino) when he had a head of steam, and was alone at 30 yards out, but those are the type of things we have to clean up in order to help ourselves compete in games like these," Steib said.

The Vikings came close to making it 3-0 in the first quarter hour when Savino went over the bar. Teammate Nick Tambellini headed wide at the back post, and Hindle and Filosa got together nicely on a cross only to see Hindle strike his header wide to culminate a wonderfully played sequence that forced Broncos' to defend with all their might.

Despite their growing confidence, the Vikings would concede a goal at 26 minutes, which suddenly brought the home side and its fiery crowd back to life.

Charlie Giovenco would initiate the Broncos' lone goal of the night when his defense-shredding through ball connected with Reid Strain in full stride, and the big forward did the rest with a deft shot past the diving Sutarik to pull the hosts back to within a goal at 26 minutes.

"We felt we were back in the match after the goal, but we've had a real problem getting behind and then chasing our opponents, and that's a tough way to play just about every night," said Strain.

Strain’s goal would help make for an entertaining, fast-paced second half as each side hounded and hammered from all quarters. According to Keller, the Broncos had the better run of things thanks to a higher work rate than his lads mustered.

"They came at us in the second half, and we panicked and didn't handle the pressure as well as I thought we should,” Keller said. “So credit Barrington, and I'll give some credit to our guys for bending but not breaking. I think that's a real positive for us to experience."

Sutarik was a key figure as the Vikings inflicted a steady diet of trouble from the hour mark on, and just after Savino's diving header near the spot went wide, and when Filosa and Burkhardt helped create a quality chance at 58 minutes.

Sutarik had to thank the woodwork for saving a guided missile from Taylor Williams just before intermission, and again when he was able to get enough of a piercing header from Eric Buchel to force the drive off the bar in the 63rd minute.

The senior stood firm during a handful of corners and deep throws to keep the area clear of trouble and the Broncos' just far enough away from equalizing, and he made his last big stop of the match at 77 minutes when Grant McAndrew had a go following a free kick.

"Steve played his position extremely well tonight, and showed a lot of the type of fearless play that we expect from the position. He has shown that all season long for us," Keller said of his keeper.

"(Their) keeper did a great job tonight,” Steib said. “We had our chances and didn't give up trying to get even.”

"We've played so many tight 1-goal matches. In fact, all but 2 of our 11 games have been decided by one goal, including 5 of our losses. We all realize that we need to change that, but I also know the guys are playing and getting better each time out."