Homecoming crowd spurs
Prospect past Barrington
Knights pick up 1st win of the season behind Hutnyk's brace
By Bobby Narang
MT. PROSPECT —Dimitriy Hutnyk cherished his fifth goal of the season and second of the game against Barrington on Friday evening.
On the surface, there was nothing eye-catching about it. The junior forward beat a defender to the ball and knocked in a short shot with just under two minutes remaining. But with a large and growing Homecoming crowd in attendance ahead of the Prospect football game against Evanston, Hutnyk made the most of the moment. After putting the game away, he turned upfield and skipped a few steps toward his teammates.
Yes, it was time to celebrate.
And what a perfect time to do it. The Knights notched their first win of the year with a 2-0 decision over perennial Mid-Suburban League powerhouse Barrington. It was Prospect’s first win against the Broncos since 2018.
The Knights (1-4-3, 1-1-1) were all smiles after Hutnyk’s insurance goal. Before Friday’s game, the Knights had endured three scoreless games, a 4-3 defeat to highly ranked Stevenson, a 3–2 loss to Glenbard West, a 3-3 tie with Mundelein and a 2-2 draw against Elk Grove on Tuesday.
“It was really tight toward the end; but with that second goal I knew that this was it and they couldn’t come back,” Hutnyk said.
“We were really stressful at the end. They were on our end a lot, just nonstop pressuring us. But I think that late goal just relieved our stress, and we were able to kick it out and win the game.”
Early in the game, Hutnyk started to feel a tad bit frustrated after coming up empty on three close-in attempts that were all saved by Barrington goalie Iker Villagomez.
Now he is full of excitement as he hopes the result sparks a turnaround for the Knights.
“This win feels great, and I think we can start a winning streak now,” Hutnyk said.
Prospect senior defender Sam Heintz said he immediately felt a sense of relief following Hutnyk’s insurance goal with 1:39 left. It was a joyous moment, Heintz said.
“I had never beaten Barrington, so this was a really good feeling beating Barrington in my senior year,” Heintz said. “It was really nice having fans. We had great energy today, and the fans made us more energetic.
“When Dimitriy made that (second) one, I knew it was over. We weren’t going to have overtime. We could go to the football game, and finally we had won.”
A week after recording 14 saves in a scoreless draw against St. Patrick, Prospect senior goalie Ethan Erickson notched another clean-sheet on a Friday. He recorded four saves, helped by the solid play of his backline which deflected numerous shot attempts.
“This feels great,” Erickson said. “It feels good to shut out a good team. This could be the start of something good. We’re starting to come together. I think we will be solid from now on. We’re coming together and can only go up from here.”
Hutnyk scored his first goal off a penalty kick in the 50th minute. He earned the try after he juked a defender in the corner by passing the ball between his legs and was then taken down.
Hutnyk took a few breaths, a couple of stutter-steps and nailed the penalty kick shot into the left side.
Several minutes after the conclusion of the game, Prospect coach Michael Andrews tried not to let out any emotions, but the enormity of the victory before a big football pre-game crowd brought him to finally break out with a smile.
“This feels fantastic,” Andrews said. “The message going into the game was to forget everything that had happened thus far and to come out and be the best team we could be. I think they made a statement tonight. We kept the pressure on them pretty consistently for 80 minutes.
“I’m really pleased with the effort and composure and the quality of soccer. Dimitriy is always hungry to score, but in a big game like this, it’s great to see the relentless attacking efforts. When you are attacking that hard, the chances are going to come, and the goals. I’m happy for his double.”
The Broncos (4-3-2, 0-1-1) have struggled since their four-game winning streak ended after a 4-3 overtime loss to Conant last Saturday in the final of their Barrington Classic. Since then, the Broncos tied with Schaumburg and fell to Prospect.
The visitors had numerous attempts, including three shots in the final nine minutes. Barrington senior midfielder Alexis Salazar’s missed shot with 8:55 summed up his team’s frustrating game. Standing eight yards in front of the box, Salazar had luck on his side when the ball landed near him for an open shot. He plopped the ball over the bar, then fell to the ground in anger at the missed golden opportunity. Villagomez was a bright spot in the net with seven of his eight saves coming in the first half.
“We have a lot of knocks and a lot of injuries,” Barrington coach Scott Steib said. “Coming in off a tie that kind of got our moral wavering, we came out flat and were lucky not to give up two or three goals in the first half.
“Iker did a great job keeping us in the game. In the second half, we were in the game and created a couple of chances. We gave up a well-deserved goal on a PK. We had a great chance at (nine minutes). We threw everybody forward last few minutes, and they found us on the counterattack and grabbed the second (goal).
“It’s a disappointing loss this early in conference. To not have a win yet puts the fight for a conference title in jeopardy. We will come back next week. Congrats to Prospect getting their first win.”
Barrington junior Philip Jackowski said everyone has to play at a high intensity. The Broncos’ best first half shot came on a free kick with 45 seconds left until intermission.
“I think it comes down to the effort we put into the game,” Jackowski said. “We came out flat. That really lost the game. We have to play better and give 100 percent.”
Starting lineups
Barrington
GK: Iker Villagomez
D: Mathew Klujian
D: Adam Walocha
D: Nico Haussner
D: Paco Hernandez
MF: Ali Saber
MF: Patrick Tabb
MF: Alexis Salazar
MF: Max Miller
F: Jack Peterson
F: Philip Jackowski
Prospect
GK: Ethan Erickson
D: Nick Casaletto
D: Sam Heintz
D: Tymek Czerwiec
D: Daniel Barbaric
MF: Luis DeSantiago
MF: Chris Morys
MF: Adam Toporkiewicz
MF: Massimo Mho
F: Michael Casaletto
F: Dimitriy Hutnyk
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Dimitriy Hutnyk, jr. F, Prospect
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Prospect: Hutnyk (penalty kick), 50’
Prospect: Hutnyk (Toporkiewicz), 79’
Prospect past Barrington
Knights pick up 1st win of the season behind Hutnyk's brace
By Bobby Narang
MT. PROSPECT —Dimitriy Hutnyk cherished his fifth goal of the season and second of the game against Barrington on Friday evening.
On the surface, there was nothing eye-catching about it. The junior forward beat a defender to the ball and knocked in a short shot with just under two minutes remaining. But with a large and growing Homecoming crowd in attendance ahead of the Prospect football game against Evanston, Hutnyk made the most of the moment. After putting the game away, he turned upfield and skipped a few steps toward his teammates.
Yes, it was time to celebrate.
And what a perfect time to do it. The Knights notched their first win of the year with a 2-0 decision over perennial Mid-Suburban League powerhouse Barrington. It was Prospect’s first win against the Broncos since 2018.
The Knights (1-4-3, 1-1-1) were all smiles after Hutnyk’s insurance goal. Before Friday’s game, the Knights had endured three scoreless games, a 4-3 defeat to highly ranked Stevenson, a 3–2 loss to Glenbard West, a 3-3 tie with Mundelein and a 2-2 draw against Elk Grove on Tuesday.
“It was really tight toward the end; but with that second goal I knew that this was it and they couldn’t come back,” Hutnyk said.
“We were really stressful at the end. They were on our end a lot, just nonstop pressuring us. But I think that late goal just relieved our stress, and we were able to kick it out and win the game.”
Early in the game, Hutnyk started to feel a tad bit frustrated after coming up empty on three close-in attempts that were all saved by Barrington goalie Iker Villagomez.
Now he is full of excitement as he hopes the result sparks a turnaround for the Knights.
“This win feels great, and I think we can start a winning streak now,” Hutnyk said.
Prospect senior defender Sam Heintz said he immediately felt a sense of relief following Hutnyk’s insurance goal with 1:39 left. It was a joyous moment, Heintz said.
“I had never beaten Barrington, so this was a really good feeling beating Barrington in my senior year,” Heintz said. “It was really nice having fans. We had great energy today, and the fans made us more energetic.
“When Dimitriy made that (second) one, I knew it was over. We weren’t going to have overtime. We could go to the football game, and finally we had won.”
A week after recording 14 saves in a scoreless draw against St. Patrick, Prospect senior goalie Ethan Erickson notched another clean-sheet on a Friday. He recorded four saves, helped by the solid play of his backline which deflected numerous shot attempts.
“This feels great,” Erickson said. “It feels good to shut out a good team. This could be the start of something good. We’re starting to come together. I think we will be solid from now on. We’re coming together and can only go up from here.”
Hutnyk scored his first goal off a penalty kick in the 50th minute. He earned the try after he juked a defender in the corner by passing the ball between his legs and was then taken down.
Hutnyk took a few breaths, a couple of stutter-steps and nailed the penalty kick shot into the left side.
Several minutes after the conclusion of the game, Prospect coach Michael Andrews tried not to let out any emotions, but the enormity of the victory before a big football pre-game crowd brought him to finally break out with a smile.
“This feels fantastic,” Andrews said. “The message going into the game was to forget everything that had happened thus far and to come out and be the best team we could be. I think they made a statement tonight. We kept the pressure on them pretty consistently for 80 minutes.
“I’m really pleased with the effort and composure and the quality of soccer. Dimitriy is always hungry to score, but in a big game like this, it’s great to see the relentless attacking efforts. When you are attacking that hard, the chances are going to come, and the goals. I’m happy for his double.”
The Broncos (4-3-2, 0-1-1) have struggled since their four-game winning streak ended after a 4-3 overtime loss to Conant last Saturday in the final of their Barrington Classic. Since then, the Broncos tied with Schaumburg and fell to Prospect.
The visitors had numerous attempts, including three shots in the final nine minutes. Barrington senior midfielder Alexis Salazar’s missed shot with 8:55 summed up his team’s frustrating game. Standing eight yards in front of the box, Salazar had luck on his side when the ball landed near him for an open shot. He plopped the ball over the bar, then fell to the ground in anger at the missed golden opportunity. Villagomez was a bright spot in the net with seven of his eight saves coming in the first half.
“We have a lot of knocks and a lot of injuries,” Barrington coach Scott Steib said. “Coming in off a tie that kind of got our moral wavering, we came out flat and were lucky not to give up two or three goals in the first half.
“Iker did a great job keeping us in the game. In the second half, we were in the game and created a couple of chances. We gave up a well-deserved goal on a PK. We had a great chance at (nine minutes). We threw everybody forward last few minutes, and they found us on the counterattack and grabbed the second (goal).
“It’s a disappointing loss this early in conference. To not have a win yet puts the fight for a conference title in jeopardy. We will come back next week. Congrats to Prospect getting their first win.”
Barrington junior Philip Jackowski said everyone has to play at a high intensity. The Broncos’ best first half shot came on a free kick with 45 seconds left until intermission.
“I think it comes down to the effort we put into the game,” Jackowski said. “We came out flat. That really lost the game. We have to play better and give 100 percent.”
Starting lineups
Barrington
GK: Iker Villagomez
D: Mathew Klujian
D: Adam Walocha
D: Nico Haussner
D: Paco Hernandez
MF: Ali Saber
MF: Patrick Tabb
MF: Alexis Salazar
MF: Max Miller
F: Jack Peterson
F: Philip Jackowski
Prospect
GK: Ethan Erickson
D: Nick Casaletto
D: Sam Heintz
D: Tymek Czerwiec
D: Daniel Barbaric
MF: Luis DeSantiago
MF: Chris Morys
MF: Adam Toporkiewicz
MF: Massimo Mho
F: Michael Casaletto
F: Dimitriy Hutnyk
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Dimitriy Hutnyk, jr. F, Prospect
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Prospect: Hutnyk (penalty kick), 50’
Prospect: Hutnyk (Toporkiewicz), 79’