Broncos score late to pull out win over Grenadiers

By Dan Santaromita
Photos courtesy of Vanessa Strain

In soccer, over an hour of frustration can all be washed away in mere seconds of joy.

Barrington experienced that feeling on Wednesday against Elk Grove.

The Broncos scored twice in the last 10 minutes to pick up a 2-1 win against the visiting Grenadiers in a Mid Suburban League crossover.

Coach Scott Steib's squad controlled the run of play for most of the match but had trouble getting shots off.

"I think Barrington was better than us for all but 15 seconds when we scored that header in the first half," Elk Grove coach Joe Bush said. "We really didn't get anything going."

That header came from Ernesto Rodriguez with Nick Jordan getting the assist.

"The first half was kind of blah," Bush said. "We got a chance and we scored. Coach Steib told me it was going to happen. He said 'Back post we're weak. We just don't go up for the ball.'"

Steib was annoyed with his team's lack of intensity, especially early on.

"There's an expectation I have of intensity and work rate that we were a whole universe away from most of today," Steib said. "In the second half it got better, but it's still not good enough.

"I'm proud of them for finding a way to win because we've lost a lot of these games, but there are a lot of things that we've got to do better."

There was more physical play from both sides and notably more energy from Barrington in the second half.

The Broncos (4-6-2, 3-2) had most of the possession in the last 40 minutes but couldn't get near Grenadier goalkeeper Frankie Ortiz's net.

The Grens began to show a bit of confidence with their only chances of the half coming with about 15 minutes remaining. At that point Barrington was starting to look desperate.

In the 71st minute, Bronco midfielder Nikko Maher made a great run with the ball, slicing into the Elk Grove penalty box and putting a shot on goal that Ortiz was only able to block.

Reid Strain bashed the loose ball into the net to equalize.

"We went to three up top and said 'Go forward, go forward and we'll eventually put one in," Strain said. "I kept saying we got 18 minutes to score, 15 minutes to score and we knew we would score.

"We have this saying, 'D squared, damn determination'. Coach said it during halftime and I guess that got through to us and we picked it up."

The Broncos stayed aggressive and a similar play resulted in Grant McAndrew slamming home the winner on a very nice shot with just 50.1 seconds remaining. Lasse Haataja was credited with the assist.

Despite the win, Steib came away with more questions about his team, which hosts Conant Friday in a key MSL West matchup.

"I was starting to sell myself that we were a team that could make a run and the way we played today left me with a lot of doubts, especially in the first half," he said.

"It was just lifeless. You gotta have life, you gotta be willing to get into tackles, you gotta be willing to do the dirty work. We've just got a team of nice kids.

"They're really nice guys and I mean that sincerely, but sometimes you gotta have an edge about you and we don't have enough of that."

The Broncos have struggled with consistency this season and Strain thinks the problem is slow starts like this one.

"We have to come out hard the first half, not just the second half," Strain said.

"We always let up goals in the first 10-15 minutes and then we've got to battle back. We've got to start off winning 1-0 and then keep playing hard."