Beastly Stevenson shocks
beautiful Barrington in OT
Broncos dominate match, but Patriots win on long free kick
By Ken Keenan
BARRINGTON -- The Beautiful Game showed its nasty side to Barrington in a regional semifinal Tuesday night, as the host Broncos thoroughly dominated Stevenson before falling 1-0 on a penalty kick in the first 10-minute overtime.
Controlling the play with nearly 100 percent of possession time, Barrington relentlessly pressured the Patriots from the start, resulting in numerous high-quality scoring chances. Stevenson simply had no answer for the Broncos, aside from junior goalkeeper Jeremy Klaber -- Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match -- and a couple of his friends: the crossbar and goalpost.
Stevenson senior defender Max Warren scored on a restart from 30 yards out, blasting a rifle shot that nipped the crossbar prior to dropping in past Barrington sophomore keeper Alex Ruffolo with 9.8 seconds left in the initial OT session.
But Barrington's domination started long before that. Junior forward Hans Pallan set the tone when he banged a hard left-footed shot off the crossbar in the 14th minute.
With 5:30 remaining in the first half, Broncos senior midfielder Casey Slingo -- left free to roam through the Pats' back third -- rang a shot off the far pos. Three minutes later, Barrington senior forward Giles Phillips headed a ball off the crossbar from in tight. Pallan had no less than nine other stellar opportunities in the first half, including three shots on goal and as many headers that each narrowly missed the target.
"It's a cruel game," said Stevenson coach Mark Schartner, whose squad advanced to the Barrington Regional final while improving to 9-7-5 overall. "It's not always fair and equitable. We knew Barrington was a talented team, but it's hard to score goals in our game."
As his team licked its wounds at game's end, Barrington coach Scott Steib said. "I've never coached a game so one-sided. To dominate so much and lose ... tonight the game was cruel."
Phillips said, "These are the worst types of games. You play to the best of your ability, so it's tough not winning it."
Klaber said he was jacked up on adrenaline during the Broncos' onslaught, adding that he enjoys being busy in protecting his net.
"I just tried to do anything I could," he said. "As our coach says, any save is a good save. And the post -- that's what happens sometimes. It can be nerve-racking, but I love getting shots on me. It feels amazing to get that zero on the board and go on to the next round."
In the second half, Barrington -- which finished the 2014 campaign at 15-8-0 -- picked up right where it left off, with Phillips heading a ball wide in the 41st minute and then putting another on net five minutes later after coming up with a steal. Broncos sophomore forward Kyle Owen also had his share of chances, putting a shot off the side of the cage with 30:52 left in regulation, shooting a ball over the crossbar a minute later and then getting robbed by an acrobatic Klaber save in the 69th minute.
Klaber then made back-to-back saves on Phillips after a flawless passing sequence among senior defender Tyler Anderson, sophomore midfielder Zach Carbonara, sophomore defender Nash Pirie and Owen with 10:40 left before OT. The Pats' keeper also stymied senior defender Jack Harrington with an incredible save during a scramble exactly five minutes later.
"He's been doing that all year. I think he's the best goalkeeper in northern IIllinois," Schartner said.
"(Klaber) won us the game," Warren said. "He kept us in it and gave us a chance to win. We started out really nervous -- we weren't mentally in the game -- but 0-0 at halftime, we knew it was our game. I felt we did a great job disrupting Barrington's plays. We wanted to win and we played as a team."
Warren said he regularly practices penalty kicks similar to his game winner.
"I knew when the moment came I'd be ready for it," he said. "It feels great ... one of the happiest moments in my life so far."
The Broncos were at the other end of the spectrum, knowing they did all they could to pull out a win and keep their season going.
"We did a lot, especially at the beginning," a misty-eyed Pallan said. "We thought we'd get one (goal), but it didn't end up going that way. At halftime, Coach (Steib) said it was the best half we've played all year. We have to finish, though, and that didn't happen. Even after they scored, we thought we still had a chance, and we kept fighting to the end. Everyone gave it their all."
Added Steib, "I'm proud of my guys. We did everything we could, short of winning. We lost to Stevenson -- and to the game."
Starting lineups
Stevenson
GK: Jeremy Klaber
D: Thomas Ricchio
D: Matt Treiber
D: Max Warren
MF: Sam Zwirn
MF: Jun Min
MF: Kizuki Niimi
MF: Avery Delgado
MF: Ethan Marx
F: Mitch Gullett
F: Cari Li
Barrington
GK: Alex Ruffolo
D: Tyler Anderson
D: Shawn Owen
D: Nash Pirie
D: Jason Frenk
MF: Casey Slingo
MF: Brian Tapia
MF: Austin Grzebieniak
F: Hans Pallan
F: Giles Phillips
F: Kyle Owen
Man of the Match: Jeremy Klaber, Stevenson
Officials: Mario Castillo, Mike Schmickley, Alex Mavros
beautiful Barrington in OT
Broncos dominate match, but Patriots win on long free kick
By Ken Keenan
BARRINGTON -- The Beautiful Game showed its nasty side to Barrington in a regional semifinal Tuesday night, as the host Broncos thoroughly dominated Stevenson before falling 1-0 on a penalty kick in the first 10-minute overtime.
Controlling the play with nearly 100 percent of possession time, Barrington relentlessly pressured the Patriots from the start, resulting in numerous high-quality scoring chances. Stevenson simply had no answer for the Broncos, aside from junior goalkeeper Jeremy Klaber -- Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match -- and a couple of his friends: the crossbar and goalpost.
Stevenson senior defender Max Warren scored on a restart from 30 yards out, blasting a rifle shot that nipped the crossbar prior to dropping in past Barrington sophomore keeper Alex Ruffolo with 9.8 seconds left in the initial OT session.
But Barrington's domination started long before that. Junior forward Hans Pallan set the tone when he banged a hard left-footed shot off the crossbar in the 14th minute.
With 5:30 remaining in the first half, Broncos senior midfielder Casey Slingo -- left free to roam through the Pats' back third -- rang a shot off the far pos. Three minutes later, Barrington senior forward Giles Phillips headed a ball off the crossbar from in tight. Pallan had no less than nine other stellar opportunities in the first half, including three shots on goal and as many headers that each narrowly missed the target.
"It's a cruel game," said Stevenson coach Mark Schartner, whose squad advanced to the Barrington Regional final while improving to 9-7-5 overall. "It's not always fair and equitable. We knew Barrington was a talented team, but it's hard to score goals in our game."
As his team licked its wounds at game's end, Barrington coach Scott Steib said. "I've never coached a game so one-sided. To dominate so much and lose ... tonight the game was cruel."
Phillips said, "These are the worst types of games. You play to the best of your ability, so it's tough not winning it."
Klaber said he was jacked up on adrenaline during the Broncos' onslaught, adding that he enjoys being busy in protecting his net.
"I just tried to do anything I could," he said. "As our coach says, any save is a good save. And the post -- that's what happens sometimes. It can be nerve-racking, but I love getting shots on me. It feels amazing to get that zero on the board and go on to the next round."
In the second half, Barrington -- which finished the 2014 campaign at 15-8-0 -- picked up right where it left off, with Phillips heading a ball wide in the 41st minute and then putting another on net five minutes later after coming up with a steal. Broncos sophomore forward Kyle Owen also had his share of chances, putting a shot off the side of the cage with 30:52 left in regulation, shooting a ball over the crossbar a minute later and then getting robbed by an acrobatic Klaber save in the 69th minute.
Klaber then made back-to-back saves on Phillips after a flawless passing sequence among senior defender Tyler Anderson, sophomore midfielder Zach Carbonara, sophomore defender Nash Pirie and Owen with 10:40 left before OT. The Pats' keeper also stymied senior defender Jack Harrington with an incredible save during a scramble exactly five minutes later.
"He's been doing that all year. I think he's the best goalkeeper in northern IIllinois," Schartner said.
"(Klaber) won us the game," Warren said. "He kept us in it and gave us a chance to win. We started out really nervous -- we weren't mentally in the game -- but 0-0 at halftime, we knew it was our game. I felt we did a great job disrupting Barrington's plays. We wanted to win and we played as a team."
Warren said he regularly practices penalty kicks similar to his game winner.
"I knew when the moment came I'd be ready for it," he said. "It feels great ... one of the happiest moments in my life so far."
The Broncos were at the other end of the spectrum, knowing they did all they could to pull out a win and keep their season going.
"We did a lot, especially at the beginning," a misty-eyed Pallan said. "We thought we'd get one (goal), but it didn't end up going that way. At halftime, Coach (Steib) said it was the best half we've played all year. We have to finish, though, and that didn't happen. Even after they scored, we thought we still had a chance, and we kept fighting to the end. Everyone gave it their all."
Added Steib, "I'm proud of my guys. We did everything we could, short of winning. We lost to Stevenson -- and to the game."
Starting lineups
Stevenson
GK: Jeremy Klaber
D: Thomas Ricchio
D: Matt Treiber
D: Max Warren
MF: Sam Zwirn
MF: Jun Min
MF: Kizuki Niimi
MF: Avery Delgado
MF: Ethan Marx
F: Mitch Gullett
F: Cari Li
Barrington
GK: Alex Ruffolo
D: Tyler Anderson
D: Shawn Owen
D: Nash Pirie
D: Jason Frenk
MF: Casey Slingo
MF: Brian Tapia
MF: Austin Grzebieniak
F: Hans Pallan
F: Giles Phillips
F: Kyle Owen
Man of the Match: Jeremy Klaber, Stevenson
Officials: Mario Castillo, Mike Schmickley, Alex Mavros