New-look Conant takes down
Barrington in title match
Offensive-minded Cougars overcome early deficit for 2 OT win
By Mike Garofola
BARRINGTON -- The wait was well worth it.
After an hour weather delay before the preceding third place game, the 33rd annual Barrington Classic championship game finally got going at 7 p.m. before a raucous crowd at Barrington Community Stadium.
The game delivered just about everything any soccer fan would want: a box-to-box nonstop heart-pounding pace; remarkable goals scored; and a bonus 20 minutes from two overtimes. The seven-goal thriller saw Carson Belcher deliver the game-winner to push Conant to a 4-3 victory over their host.
With their super start to their season, the Cougars (5-0-1) have signaled to one and all that all they are back and ready to make their mark after an impressive come-from-behind performance over their longtime Mid-Suburban League West Division rival. And Barrington manager Scott Steib is ready to sound the warning to the rest of his conference and the Chicagoland area.
"It is hard to believe that Conant has everyone back from their two-win season from a year ago, plus just one new (impact) player, and that they are playing at such a high level of entertaining, attack-minded soccer. It truly is amazing, and good for (manager) Jason (Franco) and his boys," said the gracious Steib.
"Playing Barrington this early in the season wasn't something that we desired, but we also wanted to know how we measured up against a team that plays (so) hard, brings plenty of pressure, and will go at you for 80 minutes each time out. Only tonight it was 100 minutes,” said Franco. “After a disastrous start, we came back and played really well as a team to get a trophy all the guys really wanted at the start of this week."
"It was a great game; it had everything," said Broncos star central defender and tri-captain, Mathew Klujian. “Conant is a great team and deserved their win tonight.
“We did so many things really well. I know we all learned a lot from this game. There's plenty of work for all of us, but it was a good week of soccer for this team. We all gained a lot of experience from our pool play games and tonight."
The home side was on its front foot from the opening whistle and got the start it hoped for. Seemingly coming from nothing through the run of play on a simple counter, junior Daniel Gawronski bagged his first varsity goal when his side-footed one timer off a lovely helper from Max Miller stunned the Cougars in the second minute.
"We were immediately on our heels two minutes into the game, then found ourselves chasing two goals after no. 11 (Philip Jackowski) scored that incredible goal in the 15th minute,” began Franco.
"We were a little shocked at that point, but I thought we got our feet back under us shortly thereafter. We pulled one back a few minutes later. That really helped us gain back our confidence to allow us to play more like we know we can."
Klujian kept the Cougars under pressure with a handful of searing left-footed free kick serves after the Gawronski opener. Perhaps his best in the first quarter hour gave Jackowski a go that went just wide of the back post.
Moments later, the junior bagged his 30-yard wonder goal high into the upper-right corner as his right-footed effort tailed away from the outstretched gloves of Cougars keeper Varun Mittal.
"We played a little loose at the start, and that second goal was amazing," said Cougars senior Peter Cirbo, who runs the show in the middle of the park for his club. “But there really wasn't any panic from us. We knew with the way we can score goals, we could get ourselves back in the game."
Cirbo is a part of an attack force that has now scored 26 goals in its first six contests. That is an amazing four more than Conant’s 2-16-1 2021 team scored.
"Everyone is back and with the addition of Krystian (Niziolek) from club, we have a core that worked really hard during the offseason to get better," said Cirbo. “We know, if we continue to work hard, there isn't really anyone around that can match the way we attack.”
Klujian and his backline mates Logan Cidulka, Paco Hernandez and Adam Walocha, were mindful of the Cougars ability to jump into the attack and strike quickly. They did well to keep their opponents at bay, but the inability of the Broncos to match the Cougars first and second ball success allowed the eventual tournament champs to slowly grow into the match.
"We just did not do as well as we can and have at winning balls tonight,” bemoaned Steib. “Especially in the middle of the park where Conant did such a good job all night long."
The visitors came to life with a series of chances. The first came when Frank Mari put Kanau Takahashi through and forced Walocha into a tackle.
Two minutes later, A.J. Baran headed a Cirbo back-post free kick wide. That was followed by Takahashi's angled effort going wide and a brave punch-out from Broncos keeper Iker Villagomez on a bending effort from Cirbo
"I think we all knew a goal or two was coming for us,” Cirbo said. “We really wanted to get one before the half for sure."
It came in the form of an own-goal when Carson Belcher found a way to set himself free along the endline before driving his pace-filled pass toward the spot. There it found its way off a Broncos player into the back of the net in the 23rd minute.
The Belcher effort signaled an increase in urgency, speed of play, voracious tackling and 50-50 challenges.
Veteran referee and Deerfield girls head coach Rich Grady, who has done his fair share of international, MLS, college and prep games throughout his long officiating career, did well to keep things under control. He stopped play to ease tensions with a discussion or two, while booking four players during this energy-filled contest.
Cirbo went over the bar in the 34th minute, and Niziolek forced Villagomez into action two minutes before the close of an exciting first half.
"(As) the first half went on, they had most of the possession," said Klujian. “We fought hard on both sides of the ball, but we knew they would come at us after the break.”
"We talked at the half about getting back even and to just to continue to playing the way we were,” said Cirbo. “If we did, we knew more goals would come."
The midfielder proved prophet when he bagged the equalizer. He ran onto a superb ball sent in from Niziolek and redirected past Villagomez at 49 minutes.
The Cougars faithful erupted, as did the attack of their favorite young men. Now brimming with confidence, they went in search of the lead.
Niziolek, Cirbo, Belcher, and Mari, whom Franco would later praise for his work-rate and creativity, were now making a major impact on the Cougars fortunes going forward.
An athletic, bike effort from Mari was saved by Villagomez, as was a nifty snap-shot by Niziolek.
Then Takahashi surprised Villagomez with a 35-yard knuckle-ball bomb that suddenly put the Cougars up 3-2 just before the hour.
"They had all the momentum, and that goal could have been the end of us," said Steib. “But we showed a lot of heart to get back thanks to a well-hit corner from Jack Peterson.”
After the senior delivered his inward swinger into the box, it bounced around like a pinball until it found the hand of a Cougars' player.
Peterson calmly steered in his spot-kick to earn his fifth goal of the season and more importantly a draw in the 60th minute.
In the finals of pool play Thursday, a second half Peterson PK, and Patrick Tabb goal against Boylan advanced the Broncos.
"Credit Barrington, they came right back to put us under (pressure) to get that corner, which is something we'll need to work on in training," said Franco.
If possible, the final 20 minutes of regulation was played with more fierce and fast action than the first hour. Play went end-to-end as each team looked to pry open the other to get what they hoped would be the game-winner.
Jackowski saw his close-range try blocked on the way in before Conant’s Belcher went close. A nifty heel flick from Niziolek allowed Cirbo an attempt on frame but Klujian found a way to get just enough of it to send it out of danger.
"The game got much looser and wide open later on, because I think both teams’ legs were getting a little heavy. But each side came back in overtime to play with so much pace and energy," said an admiring Franco.
Belcher, who earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors over several worthy others, scored the eventual game-winner in a moment of brilliance. At full speed, he went left, then right and finally left again before a stunning finish that brought his bench to its feet.
"Just a great goal by no. 11 (Belcher). What can you say?" asked Steib.
"Belcher has really come through for us," said Cirbo of his teammates, who scored his team-high eighth goal of the season in the 81st minute.
The Broncos (4-2-1) did not hang their heads with 19 minutes of overtime play left. Max Miller headed over the bar and created a pair of free kicks taken by Klujian.
The home side pushed numbers forward during the second extra-session and created a trio of deep throws and two corners. Another Klujian free kick came in the 99th minute. Conant cleared the offering out of the area and soon after, Grady's whistle ended this marathon match.
"It was a hard-fought soccer game. I saw a lot of positive from this loss, so we'll get back to work at it before our next game," said Klujian, who along with his teammates will prepare for the league opener Tuesday at Schaumburg.
"Congrats to Jason and his boys. They played great," said Steib. “It was a great early season game. We hoped to come out ahead, but they are an entertaining team to watch, and tonight, a well-deserving tournament champion."
"The guys are thrilled with this win for the tournament title,” Franco said. “It was a great game. We showed we have a few things to clean up.
“in addition to the usual guys who do so much in our attack, I thought that Carson Hagler was amazing in the middle for us tonight, doing so much on both sides of the ball to help us when we needed it most. Our outside back Oliver Wozny did too," said Franco.
The Cougars have another big test when they travel to reigning league champion Fremd on Tuesday night for their league-opener.
Starting lineups
Conant (4-4-2)
G- Varun Mittal
D- A.J. Baran
D- Aarav Raina
D- Luis Dominguez
D- Oliver Wozny
MF- Frank Mari
MF- Peter Cirbo
MF- Kanau Takahashi
MF- Carson Hagler
F- Krystian Niziolek
F- Carson Belcher
Barrington (4-4-2)
G- Iker Villagomez
D- Adam Walocha
D- Matthew Klujian
D- Logan Cidulka
D- Paco Hernandez
MF- Patrick Tabb
MF- Max Miller
MF- Ali Saber
MF- Daniel Gawronski
F- Jack Peterson
F- Philip Jackowski
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Carson Belcher, sr., F, Conant
Referee: Rich Grady
Scoring summary
First half
Barrington: Gawronski (Miller) 2'
Barrington: Jackowski (U/A) 15'
Conant: own-goal (Carson Belcher), 23'
Second Half
Conant: Cirbo (Niziolek) 49'
Conant: Takahashi (U/A) 58'
Barrington: Peterson (PK) 60'
First overtime
Conant: Belcher (Niziolek) 81'
Second overtime
No scoring
Statistics
Shots on goal
Conant: 9
Barrington: 5
Shots off
Conant: 9
Barrington: 6
Offsides
Conant: 6
Barrington: 4
Corner kicks
Conant: 7
Barrington: 4
Fouls
Conant: 15
Barrington: 10
Yellow cards
Conant: 2
Barrington: 2
Barrington in title match
Offensive-minded Cougars overcome early deficit for 2 OT win
By Mike Garofola
BARRINGTON -- The wait was well worth it.
After an hour weather delay before the preceding third place game, the 33rd annual Barrington Classic championship game finally got going at 7 p.m. before a raucous crowd at Barrington Community Stadium.
The game delivered just about everything any soccer fan would want: a box-to-box nonstop heart-pounding pace; remarkable goals scored; and a bonus 20 minutes from two overtimes. The seven-goal thriller saw Carson Belcher deliver the game-winner to push Conant to a 4-3 victory over their host.
With their super start to their season, the Cougars (5-0-1) have signaled to one and all that all they are back and ready to make their mark after an impressive come-from-behind performance over their longtime Mid-Suburban League West Division rival. And Barrington manager Scott Steib is ready to sound the warning to the rest of his conference and the Chicagoland area.
"It is hard to believe that Conant has everyone back from their two-win season from a year ago, plus just one new (impact) player, and that they are playing at such a high level of entertaining, attack-minded soccer. It truly is amazing, and good for (manager) Jason (Franco) and his boys," said the gracious Steib.
"Playing Barrington this early in the season wasn't something that we desired, but we also wanted to know how we measured up against a team that plays (so) hard, brings plenty of pressure, and will go at you for 80 minutes each time out. Only tonight it was 100 minutes,” said Franco. “After a disastrous start, we came back and played really well as a team to get a trophy all the guys really wanted at the start of this week."
"It was a great game; it had everything," said Broncos star central defender and tri-captain, Mathew Klujian. “Conant is a great team and deserved their win tonight.
“We did so many things really well. I know we all learned a lot from this game. There's plenty of work for all of us, but it was a good week of soccer for this team. We all gained a lot of experience from our pool play games and tonight."
The home side was on its front foot from the opening whistle and got the start it hoped for. Seemingly coming from nothing through the run of play on a simple counter, junior Daniel Gawronski bagged his first varsity goal when his side-footed one timer off a lovely helper from Max Miller stunned the Cougars in the second minute.
"We were immediately on our heels two minutes into the game, then found ourselves chasing two goals after no. 11 (Philip Jackowski) scored that incredible goal in the 15th minute,” began Franco.
"We were a little shocked at that point, but I thought we got our feet back under us shortly thereafter. We pulled one back a few minutes later. That really helped us gain back our confidence to allow us to play more like we know we can."
Klujian kept the Cougars under pressure with a handful of searing left-footed free kick serves after the Gawronski opener. Perhaps his best in the first quarter hour gave Jackowski a go that went just wide of the back post.
Moments later, the junior bagged his 30-yard wonder goal high into the upper-right corner as his right-footed effort tailed away from the outstretched gloves of Cougars keeper Varun Mittal.
"We played a little loose at the start, and that second goal was amazing," said Cougars senior Peter Cirbo, who runs the show in the middle of the park for his club. “But there really wasn't any panic from us. We knew with the way we can score goals, we could get ourselves back in the game."
Cirbo is a part of an attack force that has now scored 26 goals in its first six contests. That is an amazing four more than Conant’s 2-16-1 2021 team scored.
"Everyone is back and with the addition of Krystian (Niziolek) from club, we have a core that worked really hard during the offseason to get better," said Cirbo. “We know, if we continue to work hard, there isn't really anyone around that can match the way we attack.”
Klujian and his backline mates Logan Cidulka, Paco Hernandez and Adam Walocha, were mindful of the Cougars ability to jump into the attack and strike quickly. They did well to keep their opponents at bay, but the inability of the Broncos to match the Cougars first and second ball success allowed the eventual tournament champs to slowly grow into the match.
"We just did not do as well as we can and have at winning balls tonight,” bemoaned Steib. “Especially in the middle of the park where Conant did such a good job all night long."
The visitors came to life with a series of chances. The first came when Frank Mari put Kanau Takahashi through and forced Walocha into a tackle.
Two minutes later, A.J. Baran headed a Cirbo back-post free kick wide. That was followed by Takahashi's angled effort going wide and a brave punch-out from Broncos keeper Iker Villagomez on a bending effort from Cirbo
"I think we all knew a goal or two was coming for us,” Cirbo said. “We really wanted to get one before the half for sure."
It came in the form of an own-goal when Carson Belcher found a way to set himself free along the endline before driving his pace-filled pass toward the spot. There it found its way off a Broncos player into the back of the net in the 23rd minute.
The Belcher effort signaled an increase in urgency, speed of play, voracious tackling and 50-50 challenges.
Veteran referee and Deerfield girls head coach Rich Grady, who has done his fair share of international, MLS, college and prep games throughout his long officiating career, did well to keep things under control. He stopped play to ease tensions with a discussion or two, while booking four players during this energy-filled contest.
Cirbo went over the bar in the 34th minute, and Niziolek forced Villagomez into action two minutes before the close of an exciting first half.
"(As) the first half went on, they had most of the possession," said Klujian. “We fought hard on both sides of the ball, but we knew they would come at us after the break.”
"We talked at the half about getting back even and to just to continue to playing the way we were,” said Cirbo. “If we did, we knew more goals would come."
The midfielder proved prophet when he bagged the equalizer. He ran onto a superb ball sent in from Niziolek and redirected past Villagomez at 49 minutes.
The Cougars faithful erupted, as did the attack of their favorite young men. Now brimming with confidence, they went in search of the lead.
Niziolek, Cirbo, Belcher, and Mari, whom Franco would later praise for his work-rate and creativity, were now making a major impact on the Cougars fortunes going forward.
An athletic, bike effort from Mari was saved by Villagomez, as was a nifty snap-shot by Niziolek.
Then Takahashi surprised Villagomez with a 35-yard knuckle-ball bomb that suddenly put the Cougars up 3-2 just before the hour.
"They had all the momentum, and that goal could have been the end of us," said Steib. “But we showed a lot of heart to get back thanks to a well-hit corner from Jack Peterson.”
After the senior delivered his inward swinger into the box, it bounced around like a pinball until it found the hand of a Cougars' player.
Peterson calmly steered in his spot-kick to earn his fifth goal of the season and more importantly a draw in the 60th minute.
In the finals of pool play Thursday, a second half Peterson PK, and Patrick Tabb goal against Boylan advanced the Broncos.
"Credit Barrington, they came right back to put us under (pressure) to get that corner, which is something we'll need to work on in training," said Franco.
If possible, the final 20 minutes of regulation was played with more fierce and fast action than the first hour. Play went end-to-end as each team looked to pry open the other to get what they hoped would be the game-winner.
Jackowski saw his close-range try blocked on the way in before Conant’s Belcher went close. A nifty heel flick from Niziolek allowed Cirbo an attempt on frame but Klujian found a way to get just enough of it to send it out of danger.
"The game got much looser and wide open later on, because I think both teams’ legs were getting a little heavy. But each side came back in overtime to play with so much pace and energy," said an admiring Franco.
Belcher, who earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors over several worthy others, scored the eventual game-winner in a moment of brilliance. At full speed, he went left, then right and finally left again before a stunning finish that brought his bench to its feet.
"Just a great goal by no. 11 (Belcher). What can you say?" asked Steib.
"Belcher has really come through for us," said Cirbo of his teammates, who scored his team-high eighth goal of the season in the 81st minute.
The Broncos (4-2-1) did not hang their heads with 19 minutes of overtime play left. Max Miller headed over the bar and created a pair of free kicks taken by Klujian.
The home side pushed numbers forward during the second extra-session and created a trio of deep throws and two corners. Another Klujian free kick came in the 99th minute. Conant cleared the offering out of the area and soon after, Grady's whistle ended this marathon match.
"It was a hard-fought soccer game. I saw a lot of positive from this loss, so we'll get back to work at it before our next game," said Klujian, who along with his teammates will prepare for the league opener Tuesday at Schaumburg.
"Congrats to Jason and his boys. They played great," said Steib. “It was a great early season game. We hoped to come out ahead, but they are an entertaining team to watch, and tonight, a well-deserving tournament champion."
"The guys are thrilled with this win for the tournament title,” Franco said. “It was a great game. We showed we have a few things to clean up.
“in addition to the usual guys who do so much in our attack, I thought that Carson Hagler was amazing in the middle for us tonight, doing so much on both sides of the ball to help us when we needed it most. Our outside back Oliver Wozny did too," said Franco.
The Cougars have another big test when they travel to reigning league champion Fremd on Tuesday night for their league-opener.
Starting lineups
Conant (4-4-2)
G- Varun Mittal
D- A.J. Baran
D- Aarav Raina
D- Luis Dominguez
D- Oliver Wozny
MF- Frank Mari
MF- Peter Cirbo
MF- Kanau Takahashi
MF- Carson Hagler
F- Krystian Niziolek
F- Carson Belcher
Barrington (4-4-2)
G- Iker Villagomez
D- Adam Walocha
D- Matthew Klujian
D- Logan Cidulka
D- Paco Hernandez
MF- Patrick Tabb
MF- Max Miller
MF- Ali Saber
MF- Daniel Gawronski
F- Jack Peterson
F- Philip Jackowski
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Carson Belcher, sr., F, Conant
Referee: Rich Grady
Scoring summary
First half
Barrington: Gawronski (Miller) 2'
Barrington: Jackowski (U/A) 15'
Conant: own-goal (Carson Belcher), 23'
Second Half
Conant: Cirbo (Niziolek) 49'
Conant: Takahashi (U/A) 58'
Barrington: Peterson (PK) 60'
First overtime
Conant: Belcher (Niziolek) 81'
Second overtime
No scoring
Statistics
Shots on goal
Conant: 9
Barrington: 5
Shots off
Conant: 9
Barrington: 6
Offsides
Conant: 6
Barrington: 4
Corner kicks
Conant: 7
Barrington: 4
Fouls
Conant: 15
Barrington: 10
Yellow cards
Conant: 2
Barrington: 2