Late goal hands Saxons a hard-fought loss
By Gary Larsen

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Schaumburg’s 2012 season has been built on athletic tape, bags of ice, and guts, and it was the Saxons’ grit that brought out the best in Barrington on Thursday night.

It’s never a picnic to play Schaumburg on its home field, no matter the season, and Barrington was happy to get the 1-0 win on a Danny Jaderholm goal scored late in the contest.

“I’m real happy,” Barrington coach Scott Steib said. “I was worried about tonight because we did not play well on Tuesday (in a 4-0 win over Wheeling). I tried to tell them that (Schaumburg) is the defending West champ, I don’t care what their record is, and they’re in every game. Look how close we came to not scoring tonight. This was a great win. I’m very proud of them tonight.

"The intensity level was like October intensity and we could have had a couple of goals. I’m impressed with their ability to work hard but then still calm it down and still play. And that’s a great goal by Danny Jaderholm.”

The Broncos (14-2-2, 7-1-0 in Mid Suburban League play) had the clear edge in attacking pressure throughout, but Schaumburg (3-6-3, 3-5-1) kept the Broncos out of net and stayed occasionally and persistently dangerous in a scoreless tie through 64 minutes.

Schaumburg coach Hamid Mehreioskouei has been urging his boys to aim more focus on those one-vee-one situations that occur at crucial points in the game. But it was the Broncos’ Jaderholm who shined in the night's most crucial one-vee-one scenario.

Barrington’s Zach Rowe – besides playing a stalwart defensive role all night for the Broncos – sent in a long cross from the right side at 65 minutes. Jaderholm got to it at the far post and found himself facing away from the goal with a defender on his back.

One quick turn to his left and a one slight touch ahead later, Jaderholm won the one-vee-one battle by hammering a shot inside the near post that stretched the back netting from 12 yards out. It was Jaderholm’s fourth goal of the season.

“I just put it on target. We’ve been telling our forwards to make the keeper make a save, and that’s what I was focusing on,” Jaderholm said.

“We came out trying to start the game a little harder and at a faster pace tonight. Schaumburg definitely gave us that attitude coming in and in the second half we just needed to keep it going. We had a feeling that a goal was going to come. We just had to keep pushing. So we fought and kept hustling in the final third of the field.”

Mehreioskouei fielded a team of workhorses on Thursday. But the Saxons need to take that next step in order to turn blue-collar efforts into wins.

“What you saw has been the whole season for us. We bust our tails and every game we’ve lost has been a one-goal loss except for Hinsdale Central, and in the five games prior to this we’ve been up in every game,” Mehreioskouei said.

“Our team has come down to this: tactically, we’re making all the right decisions, but the game of soccer comes down to a one-vee-game at some point. So while you’ve got to get the ball to your forward, at some point he has got to beat someone and put it in the net. And we’ve given up three goals this year just like the one we gave up tonight, where we’ve got a defender on someone’s back and we let him cut back across. So we’re failing to identify certain defining moments in the game, and those moments are costing us.”

The Broncos established a pattern of pressure early on, earning them a steady stream of Ethan Claes corner kicks and freekicks. Schaumburg met every challenge on Barrington’s set pieces.

At 13 minutes, Barrington’s Connor Hennelly found enough space 25 yards out to tee up a shot that Saxons keeper Dan O’Connell tipped over the crossbar. O’Connell stopped another shot taken at the post from close range at 15 minutes.

Barrington’s Ohio State-bound senior Craig Zahour headed a ball just wide at 50 minutes, and at 55 minutes Broncos freshman Kendall Stork broke in alone on Schaumburg keeper Dan O’Connell, who charged out and redirected Stork’s shot over the endline.

Schaumburg’s Kacper Wasilewski sent a ball ahead at 69 minutes with teammate Collin Walther running on, but the speedy Rowe recovered to break up the play.

Steib considers this Barrington team to be the best he’s had since 2008, and its mix of size, athleticism, and skill in the attack was on display against the Saxons.

“All season, Ethan Claes and Connor Hennelly and Craig (Zahour) in the middle have probably been as good a three as any I’ve seen,” Steib said. “Danny is capable of that more often, Kendall (Stork) has been good all season, and Jack Hoots has been good as well.”

Barrington keeper Pat Deroche was also protected well by defenders Rowe, Dylan Nelson and Fernando Telles, and the three-man rotation on the outside of Danny Balleno, Tyler Anderson, and Jason Frenk has helped keep things tight in back.

“We gave up 29 goals in 22 or 23 games last year, and this year that number (11 goals against) is considerably lower. Dylan and Fernando have been outstanding center backs and (Rowe) played very well tonight.”

The Broncos have scored 35 goals and Thursday’s win marked their 10th shutout in 18 games. The win also keeps Barrington on a collision course with Palatine on Thursday that could decide which West Division team plays in this year’s MSL Cup game.

Meanwhile, the injury gods have been merciless on Schaumburg this season. A top-shelf defender in junior Christian Mikalowski played in his first game of the year on Thursday, but minutes into the game the Saxons lost one of their most dangerous attacking players to an ankle injury in freshman Jessie Lopez.

“My starting left back has been out for a month, Kristian (Pawlikowski) up top was out for three weeks with a high ankle sprain, and my starting left back threw up before the game. He’s got the flu and he didn’t start,” Mehreioskouei said.

Minutes after Lopez left the field, starting keeper Marty Faleni dove at the post and made an outstanding save on a head shot taken by Barrington’s David Conrad, but Faleni banged his arm on the goal and also had to leave the game. O’Connell replaced Faleni and played rock-solid between the pipes from there.

Still, if the Saxons can get healthy and simply continue to follow senior captain Wasilewski’s lead, and find that extra edge they need in the defining moments of close games, teams at York’s Class 3A Sectional had better watch out for the No. 12 seed.

Wasilewski was seemingly everywhere on Thursday, playing hard-nosed soccer from endline to endline. “We’ve used him everywhere on the field this year except in goal,” said Mehreioskouei, who was also happy to see Mikalowski finally back on the field.

“He reads the game better than half the coaches I see,” Mehreioskouei said. “His ability to read the game, his leadership in back line, his communication – we’ve been missing that. We’ve not been a unit back there, but he brings us that presence.

“Now we’ll approach the last five games of the regular season like they’re playoff games, and try to pinpoint the mistakes we’re making. But I think we’ll get there.”