Barrington survives
slow start, ousts Palatine
Broncos win 5-0 in final boys game for Palatine coach Filian
By Bobby Narang
BARRINGTON — Barrington’s first playoff game in two seasons started off in not-so-grand fashion.
Early in Tuesday’s Class 3A Barrington Regional semifinal against no. 15-seed Palatine, the second-seeded Broncos were outshot 4-1.
It was a jarring start for the heavily favored home team.
“I don’t take anything for granted in the playoffs,” Barrington coach Scott Steib. “I don’t care what seed any team is. I’ve been through this enough times. You just don’t know what’s going to happen in the playoffs. We almost were in a big hole. Palatine was playing well at the start.”
Something clicked for the Broncos in the second half. Maybe it was the slowly rising moon over the visitor’s grandstand. Or was it the Pirates succumbing, the visitors' youth?
Either way, the Barrington woke up in the second half. The fireworks came from four different players in the 5-0 win Tuesday.
The Broncos (14-3-2), ranked third in final regular season Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, survived an early scare to host Libertyville in the championship game Saturday at 4 p.m. The Wildcats defeated Waukegan 2-0 in the second semifinal on Tuesday night.
After his team defeated the Bulldogs, Libertyville coach Kevin Thunholm said he expects a challenging game against the Broncos.
“We have a very young team, so a lot of our kids have never experienced the playoffs before,” Thunholm said. “We only had a couple guys on our team when we won regionals two years ago. It’s different for us not being the hunt for once.
"We’re embracing this opportunity to maybe be the team that’s being overlooked a bit. Barrington is a really good team. We’re trying to embrace every second of this.”
Palatine (2-12-3, 2-8-1) finished fourth in the Mid-Suburban League West Division after wins wins over Conant and Schaumburg.
Barrington, which defeated the Pirates 2-0 in Barrington on Sept. 8, scored three goals in the first 13 minutes of the second half to spoil Palatine coach Willie Filian’s quest for an upset victory. The legendary Palatine coach announced his decision to retire earlier this fall. After the girls season, he'll have 34 seasons of Pirates memories to look back on.
After the tough loss, Filian received numerous emotional hugs from several players and called his three decade-plus career a blessing. The former coach and player at Northern Illinois said his 1994 state boys championship team will always be remembered. It was recently inducted into the Palatine Hall of Fame.
“It feels weird because it’s been so many years coaching soccer,” Filian said. “It’s always been, whether making a run or getting knocked out of the playoffs, what are we doing to prepare for next year. The season never ends. It’s weird now because there’s no next season for me. Hopefully, one of my assistants is the new head coach.
:Unfortunately, we didn’t have a very good year on the varsity, but our freshmen team made it to the MSL tournament championship game. Our JV1 made it to the tournament championship. Our JV2 won it last year. There’s good kids coming through the program. For me, it hasn't sunk in yet. I’ve been on that treadmill for coaching for years and years. You don’t think it will ever stop.
“What’s special to me is all the guys who have come back and checked in. We have several of them on our staff. Having that connection to the people you have coached or worked with is special. It’s really cool. I have the highest respect for the coaching community, like Scott at Barrington. It’s been a blast. I have no complaints. The better team won tonight.”
Steib said it was an honor to coach against Filian.
“The last couple of weeks for us, at the MSL meetings, the coaches have really honored Willie,” Steib said. “It’s an amazing thing to go 34 years. I’m not going to coach that long. It’s amazing how long that is, and the success he’s had, winning state titles and MSL titles.
"He’s made the game better, left the game in a better place than he found it. It’s been great competing against him. He’s a high character guy. It’s a big loss. It’s been great coaching against Willie in the summers and falls, and even a few springs. I wish him all the best.”
On the pitch, Barrington senior David Gomez’s goal, off an assist from Kieran Londegan, in the 33rd minute was the lone shot to hit the back of the net in the first half. Gomez’s long, lofting shot was a prelude to the floodgates opening.
“That goal really lit us, and we started to gain control after that,” Steib said. “I’m proud of the guys for staying the course and not panicking. Palatine was very dangerous, so you have to give them credit. It wasn’t about us playing poor, but about Palatine getting after it.
"I thought after that (goal), we responded very well. Any playoff result is a good result. But we played a lot better the last 70 minutes of the game.”
At halftime, Filian had an engaging halftime talk with his players in what would turn out to be his last in-game pep session. He fell just a notch short of 400 career wins.
After his team gathered together on the five-row bleachers in the far northern corner of the stadium, Filian preached to his team the entire 10-minute halftime session.
Standing five feet away from his players, Filian pleaded with his hands and speech for his team to build off a strong first-half effort.
A five-minute delay due to a net issue on Palatine’s side pushed back the start of the second half. But when the whistle sounded, Barrington was ready.
The Broncos took advantage of a mental lapse by the Pirates when Chris Kilayko scored off a rebound shot from Mathew Klujian in the 42nd minute for a 2-0 lead. It was the senior's third goal of the season.
Just over four minutes later, Jeremiah Gascho notched his fifth goal of the campaign on an excellent cross from Kilayko in the 34th minute to increase the lead to 3-0. The Broncos continued their second half goal party, when Ben Yaney scored his third goal of the season from 15 yards in the 53rd minute for a 4-0 edge.
Palatine seemed to run out of gas in the second half after a spirited and energized showing in the first 40 minutes. The Pirates had four prime chances early in the game. Tony Milenkov’s header was saved by Barrington’s Iker Villagomez in the eighth minute. Villagomez added a punchout save in the 10th minute and a diving save in the 16th minute.
Palatine sophomore midfielder Daniel Reyes blasted a shot off the post in the 17th minute, while Jesus Leyva’s cross to Michael Gbemibade was headed over the net in the 19th minute.
Barrington ended the scoring with Mattie Vitale's first varsity goal. He knocked in a header from close range off a corner kick from Gascho in the 66th minute.
Palatine junior defender Liam Rhattigan said the Barrington took advantage of a questionable non-call on Barrington’s second goal.
“The first half all of us had energy and wanted to get after it and were pressing,” Rhattigan said. “We were the better team. We had most of the possession. In the second half we get one unlucky non-call on one of their goals, and we all put our heads down; and we started losing our marks. It then turned to mayhem. They took control of the game from that moment.
“I’m excited for next year. We’ll have a new coach who will probably bring a new style of play. We had good energy this season. I’m excited to see our team next season.”
Despite Barrington’s second half deluge of goals, Palatine senior goalie Diego Maradiaga performed well in the net in the final game of his career. He finished with nine saves, including five in the opening 29 minutes before exiting after a yellow card late in the second half.
“As a team, I feel we could’ve done better, but overall I’m proud of the guys,” said Maradiaga, a first-year starter. “Barrington scored that second goal. I thought it was offsides. That really brought us down. We were trying to get back in the game. We didn’t have some calls go our way. We were fighting hard and trying to give it all out for coach. But it happens.”
Barrington goalie Iker Villagomez tallied five saves to earn the clean-sheet.
“We had a poor start in the first 20 minutes, but we were strong in the back,” Villagomez said. “This game was really important for us, just to give us a good start in the playoffs. We’re looking forward to winning a state championship. The first half was not good, but that first goal in the second half gave us a lot of motivation to keep fighting. We have to give it our all and are looking forward to state.”
Palatine senior Osvaldo Navarrette, a first-year varsity starter, said he was disappointed not sending Filian off on a better note.
“We played well in the first half," he said. "After that second goal, we got really frustrated. We also got very tired and we kept losing our marks and Barrington capitalized on it.”
Barrington sophomore defender Vitale was all smiles following the shutout victory. Tuesday’s game marked Vitale’s return from a calf injury that had sidelined him since Sept. 8. Ironically, Vitale suffered the injury against the Pirates in their regular-season battle. Vitale had another reason to smile after his landmark goal.
“This is my first game back in about seven weeks,” Vitale said. “I had been doing training the last three days. I’ve been confident on headers, and just made eye contact with Jeremiah on the goal. It was awesome to score, especially in front of a big crowd.
“It was disappointing to have an injury. I took rehab seriously, and I'm glad to be back. As a team, we just have to keep fighting and stay strong and keep winning games.”
Starting lineups
Palatine
GK Diego Maradiaga
D Kristian Hernandez
D Liam Rhattigan
D Osvaldo Navarrete
D David Lopez
MF Daniel Reyes
MF Zachary Sondergaard
MF Aaron Garcia
F Isaac Lara
F Jesus Leyva
F Tony Milenkov
Barrington
GK Iker Villagomez
D Michael Vitale
D Mathew Klujian
D Ryan Chang
D Kyle Wanca
MF David Gomez
MF Jeremiah Gascho
MF Jack Peterson
MF Kyle Horak
F Ben Yaney
F Kieren Londergan
Chicagoland Player of the match: Jeremiah Gascho, sr., MF, Barrington
Scoring summary
First half
Barrington — David Gomez (Kieran Londergan), 33rd minute
Second half
Barrington — Chris Kilayko (Mathew Klujian), 42nd minute
Barrington — Jeremiah Gascho (Chris Kilayko), 46th minute
Barrington — Ben Yaney (David Gomez), 53rd minute
Barrington — Mattie Vitale (Jeremiah Gascho), 66th minute
slow start, ousts Palatine
Broncos win 5-0 in final boys game for Palatine coach Filian
By Bobby Narang
BARRINGTON — Barrington’s first playoff game in two seasons started off in not-so-grand fashion.
Early in Tuesday’s Class 3A Barrington Regional semifinal against no. 15-seed Palatine, the second-seeded Broncos were outshot 4-1.
It was a jarring start for the heavily favored home team.
“I don’t take anything for granted in the playoffs,” Barrington coach Scott Steib. “I don’t care what seed any team is. I’ve been through this enough times. You just don’t know what’s going to happen in the playoffs. We almost were in a big hole. Palatine was playing well at the start.”
Something clicked for the Broncos in the second half. Maybe it was the slowly rising moon over the visitor’s grandstand. Or was it the Pirates succumbing, the visitors' youth?
Either way, the Barrington woke up in the second half. The fireworks came from four different players in the 5-0 win Tuesday.
The Broncos (14-3-2), ranked third in final regular season Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, survived an early scare to host Libertyville in the championship game Saturday at 4 p.m. The Wildcats defeated Waukegan 2-0 in the second semifinal on Tuesday night.
After his team defeated the Bulldogs, Libertyville coach Kevin Thunholm said he expects a challenging game against the Broncos.
“We have a very young team, so a lot of our kids have never experienced the playoffs before,” Thunholm said. “We only had a couple guys on our team when we won regionals two years ago. It’s different for us not being the hunt for once.
"We’re embracing this opportunity to maybe be the team that’s being overlooked a bit. Barrington is a really good team. We’re trying to embrace every second of this.”
Palatine (2-12-3, 2-8-1) finished fourth in the Mid-Suburban League West Division after wins wins over Conant and Schaumburg.
Barrington, which defeated the Pirates 2-0 in Barrington on Sept. 8, scored three goals in the first 13 minutes of the second half to spoil Palatine coach Willie Filian’s quest for an upset victory. The legendary Palatine coach announced his decision to retire earlier this fall. After the girls season, he'll have 34 seasons of Pirates memories to look back on.
After the tough loss, Filian received numerous emotional hugs from several players and called his three decade-plus career a blessing. The former coach and player at Northern Illinois said his 1994 state boys championship team will always be remembered. It was recently inducted into the Palatine Hall of Fame.
“It feels weird because it’s been so many years coaching soccer,” Filian said. “It’s always been, whether making a run or getting knocked out of the playoffs, what are we doing to prepare for next year. The season never ends. It’s weird now because there’s no next season for me. Hopefully, one of my assistants is the new head coach.
:Unfortunately, we didn’t have a very good year on the varsity, but our freshmen team made it to the MSL tournament championship game. Our JV1 made it to the tournament championship. Our JV2 won it last year. There’s good kids coming through the program. For me, it hasn't sunk in yet. I’ve been on that treadmill for coaching for years and years. You don’t think it will ever stop.
“What’s special to me is all the guys who have come back and checked in. We have several of them on our staff. Having that connection to the people you have coached or worked with is special. It’s really cool. I have the highest respect for the coaching community, like Scott at Barrington. It’s been a blast. I have no complaints. The better team won tonight.”
Steib said it was an honor to coach against Filian.
“The last couple of weeks for us, at the MSL meetings, the coaches have really honored Willie,” Steib said. “It’s an amazing thing to go 34 years. I’m not going to coach that long. It’s amazing how long that is, and the success he’s had, winning state titles and MSL titles.
"He’s made the game better, left the game in a better place than he found it. It’s been great competing against him. He’s a high character guy. It’s a big loss. It’s been great coaching against Willie in the summers and falls, and even a few springs. I wish him all the best.”
On the pitch, Barrington senior David Gomez’s goal, off an assist from Kieran Londegan, in the 33rd minute was the lone shot to hit the back of the net in the first half. Gomez’s long, lofting shot was a prelude to the floodgates opening.
“That goal really lit us, and we started to gain control after that,” Steib said. “I’m proud of the guys for staying the course and not panicking. Palatine was very dangerous, so you have to give them credit. It wasn’t about us playing poor, but about Palatine getting after it.
"I thought after that (goal), we responded very well. Any playoff result is a good result. But we played a lot better the last 70 minutes of the game.”
At halftime, Filian had an engaging halftime talk with his players in what would turn out to be his last in-game pep session. He fell just a notch short of 400 career wins.
After his team gathered together on the five-row bleachers in the far northern corner of the stadium, Filian preached to his team the entire 10-minute halftime session.
Standing five feet away from his players, Filian pleaded with his hands and speech for his team to build off a strong first-half effort.
A five-minute delay due to a net issue on Palatine’s side pushed back the start of the second half. But when the whistle sounded, Barrington was ready.
The Broncos took advantage of a mental lapse by the Pirates when Chris Kilayko scored off a rebound shot from Mathew Klujian in the 42nd minute for a 2-0 lead. It was the senior's third goal of the season.
Just over four minutes later, Jeremiah Gascho notched his fifth goal of the campaign on an excellent cross from Kilayko in the 34th minute to increase the lead to 3-0. The Broncos continued their second half goal party, when Ben Yaney scored his third goal of the season from 15 yards in the 53rd minute for a 4-0 edge.
Palatine seemed to run out of gas in the second half after a spirited and energized showing in the first 40 minutes. The Pirates had four prime chances early in the game. Tony Milenkov’s header was saved by Barrington’s Iker Villagomez in the eighth minute. Villagomez added a punchout save in the 10th minute and a diving save in the 16th minute.
Palatine sophomore midfielder Daniel Reyes blasted a shot off the post in the 17th minute, while Jesus Leyva’s cross to Michael Gbemibade was headed over the net in the 19th minute.
Barrington ended the scoring with Mattie Vitale's first varsity goal. He knocked in a header from close range off a corner kick from Gascho in the 66th minute.
Palatine junior defender Liam Rhattigan said the Barrington took advantage of a questionable non-call on Barrington’s second goal.
“The first half all of us had energy and wanted to get after it and were pressing,” Rhattigan said. “We were the better team. We had most of the possession. In the second half we get one unlucky non-call on one of their goals, and we all put our heads down; and we started losing our marks. It then turned to mayhem. They took control of the game from that moment.
“I’m excited for next year. We’ll have a new coach who will probably bring a new style of play. We had good energy this season. I’m excited to see our team next season.”
Despite Barrington’s second half deluge of goals, Palatine senior goalie Diego Maradiaga performed well in the net in the final game of his career. He finished with nine saves, including five in the opening 29 minutes before exiting after a yellow card late in the second half.
“As a team, I feel we could’ve done better, but overall I’m proud of the guys,” said Maradiaga, a first-year starter. “Barrington scored that second goal. I thought it was offsides. That really brought us down. We were trying to get back in the game. We didn’t have some calls go our way. We were fighting hard and trying to give it all out for coach. But it happens.”
Barrington goalie Iker Villagomez tallied five saves to earn the clean-sheet.
“We had a poor start in the first 20 minutes, but we were strong in the back,” Villagomez said. “This game was really important for us, just to give us a good start in the playoffs. We’re looking forward to winning a state championship. The first half was not good, but that first goal in the second half gave us a lot of motivation to keep fighting. We have to give it our all and are looking forward to state.”
Palatine senior Osvaldo Navarrette, a first-year varsity starter, said he was disappointed not sending Filian off on a better note.
“We played well in the first half," he said. "After that second goal, we got really frustrated. We also got very tired and we kept losing our marks and Barrington capitalized on it.”
Barrington sophomore defender Vitale was all smiles following the shutout victory. Tuesday’s game marked Vitale’s return from a calf injury that had sidelined him since Sept. 8. Ironically, Vitale suffered the injury against the Pirates in their regular-season battle. Vitale had another reason to smile after his landmark goal.
“This is my first game back in about seven weeks,” Vitale said. “I had been doing training the last three days. I’ve been confident on headers, and just made eye contact with Jeremiah on the goal. It was awesome to score, especially in front of a big crowd.
“It was disappointing to have an injury. I took rehab seriously, and I'm glad to be back. As a team, we just have to keep fighting and stay strong and keep winning games.”
Starting lineups
Palatine
GK Diego Maradiaga
D Kristian Hernandez
D Liam Rhattigan
D Osvaldo Navarrete
D David Lopez
MF Daniel Reyes
MF Zachary Sondergaard
MF Aaron Garcia
F Isaac Lara
F Jesus Leyva
F Tony Milenkov
Barrington
GK Iker Villagomez
D Michael Vitale
D Mathew Klujian
D Ryan Chang
D Kyle Wanca
MF David Gomez
MF Jeremiah Gascho
MF Jack Peterson
MF Kyle Horak
F Ben Yaney
F Kieren Londergan
Chicagoland Player of the match: Jeremiah Gascho, sr., MF, Barrington
Scoring summary
First half
Barrington — David Gomez (Kieran Londergan), 33rd minute
Second half
Barrington — Chris Kilayko (Mathew Klujian), 42nd minute
Barrington — Jeremiah Gascho (Chris Kilayko), 46th minute
Barrington — Ben Yaney (David Gomez), 53rd minute
Barrington — Mattie Vitale (Jeremiah Gascho), 66th minute