Broncos shut down high-flying BG
By Mike Garofola

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It was the Tuesday night main course in the MSL.

Barrington, sitting just behind Palatine in the MSL West, versus Buffalo Grove, which entered the crossover fray level with Hersey in the East.

The game featured contrasting styles, to be sure. The Broncos had their sturdy backline and a wonderfully-talented trio of midfielders led by the Ohio-State bound Craig Zahour, and his mates Ethan Claes and Connor Hennelly.

Buffalo Grove had its gifted attacking trio of Irving Eloiza, Irving Balboa and Demo Drakoulis, each capable of striking at a moment’s notice, along with four or five teammates who easily could be go-to players on most other clubs.

An intense struggle was expected with so much to gain in the conference, and in the early exchanges it appeared that the host Bison (8-3-0, 3-3-0-9 points) might have too much firepower for the visitors, who struggled to defend the high-flying home side.

But the final score line hints that the Broncos (8-2-0, 4-1-0-12 points) mighty defense and timely scoring survived a harried first period. Barrington walked away from Grant Blaney Stadium with a well-earned 2-0 victory to remain close to unbeaten Palatine in the division race, while BG coach Rick Carlson’s club goes into training today still even with Hersey, who fell 2-0 to Palatine on Tuesday.

"Barrington was a terrific opponent. They’re well-coached and organized, and we just didn't get it done tonight when we had to," began Carlson, whose club travels to rival Wheeling on Thursday night.

"We came out very strong and created plenty of chances, but looking back, maybe not enough quality chances, so we didn't take advantage of the situation at hand tonight. It was a tough, physical game to be sure, and with the way the center official allowed the play to be physical, it certainly favored the way Barrington plays.

"But to be also fair, that was not the deciding factor in the final score. Barrington put the ball into the back of the net and we didn't, and that ultimately is what decided our fate."

That the Broncos survived the first-period onslaught from Mr. Eloiza and his mates truly was a testament to its backline, keeper Pat Deroche, and a little bit of good luck, which every side needs during the course of a long season.

Zach Rowe, Jason Frenk, Dylan Nelson and Fernando Telles were an air-tight unit when they needed to be along the back, with Telles providing quality service out of the back and the others getting forward when the time was right. With Zahour stationed just in front of the defensive quartet, and withdrawn slightly behind Claes and Hennelly, the Broncos were able to weather an offensive storm like no other in the MSL this fall.

"Irving (Eloiza) is an amazing player, and he is so capable of un-balancing any defense with his speed, pace and ability to pass and create anytime he has the ball," said Zahour.

"He was a real handful for us in the first half, but we did our best to keep our shape, and really came out and changed things in the second half right from the start."

That's when Hennelly would stun the home side just 5 minutes after the intermission, positioning himself in such a way that allowed the junior to steer his one-timer past Bison keeper Anthony Pawlicki and through a crowded 6-yard box.

Hennelly’s goal ultimately stood as Barrington’s game-winner. "To see that ball go into the back of the net was such a relief," said Hennelly.

Hennelly and Claes had to be at their best, as the two seemed to be constantly chasing, tackling, and battling a Bison midfield that made something out of nothing in a blink of an eye during the Bison’s superb first-half of soccer

"You can just go down the list after Irving, and if it's not him, then it's No. 10 (Irving Eloyza), No. 2 ( Balboa), No. 9 (Drakoulis), and even their guys in the back," said Steib.

"They had so much pace in that first half, and were so impressive on the ball, We were in trouble a lot in that half, but we held pretty well, and Craig (Zahour) played a near-flawless game to be the difference maker out there for us tonight."

BG's strong opener would stretch the Broncos in their own end about as far as they could go, with Balboa going close in the first 6 minutes, after watching Eloyza nearly get in on Deroche if not for an offsides flag.

The Bison were sprung free all throughout the first half as their passing game came together after the opening whistle, with Eloiza, Eloyza, Balboa, and even Alexix Herrera out of the back all pinging the ball around as if it were on a string.

"We've been talking about what to expect tonight, and in that first half, you could see how dangerous they could be. I mean, that's a team that averages four goals a game, right?" said Zahour.

Balboa got himself free on the far right side and looked to have found a goal with his looping cross to a wide open net, but the senior would watch in disbelief as his shot hit the back post. The ball bounded out and away from Deroche, directly to an on-charging Aldo Figueroa, whose smash ended in Deroche’s gloves.

Unfortunately for the Bison, that’s how things would go.

"We did so well creating, and passing, and spending so much time in their end, but in the final third we just didn't do the things we needed to, to get into the back of the net," said a disappointed Eloiza.

Nick Kaczkowski, and later Zach Masciopinto would deliver quality minutes in the midfield for the Bison, who continued to press forward but continued to find nothing of value on frame.

The Broncos were finally able to be dangerous on a couple of occasions, and would actually grab the run of play as the first period neared its end, giving them some momentum that carried over and led to the first of two Hennelly strikes.

Zahour found Danny Jaderholm, whose enterprising run was highlighted by a delicious touch past a pair of BG defenders, leading to a wonderful cross and shot over the bar by Kendall Stork that awakened the Broncos faithful in the 25th minute.

Later, a ball from the back from Telles gave Stork another chance to test BG keeper Anthony Pawlicki, who beat the freshman to the 50-50 ball.

Just before intermission, Rafa Arcos’ early serve earned a corner for the Bison, with Masciopinto putting a defender under pressure.

"We talked at the half about how hard we had to work to keep them out of net, and how important it would be to get a good start in the second half, and maybe put one in ourselves," said Steib.

Which is exactly what Steib’s lads did.

After Claes' inward-swinging corner was kept alive beautifully by Rowe, the ever-opportunistic Hennelly shocked the Bison from in close to give the Broncos the lead and ignite a terrific opening 10 minutes of the second period.

After Balboa and Drakoulis' hopeful shots were stopped by Deroche, the Broncos went about searching for another goal, with some fresh legs off the bench providing the impetus for their newfound life.

David Conrad and Sean Kim were brought on by Steib and instigated some trouble, with Kim brushing the bar with a right-footed cracker, after another Claes corner. Jaderholm and Rowe were the masterminds of Hennelly's second goal, and the goal at 61 minutes would change the complexion of the contest, reducing Buffalo Grove to a game of catch-up.

"Barrington played smart. They managed their lead really well," began Eloiza.

"They played the way the game should be played. Tough, physical, but still able to knock it around and possess when they had to, and they also scored off a set piece, which has been something we haven't defended very well all season long."

"Maybe if we still had Markus (Fiordaliso) and (Matt) Bloom here another year, those guys would have cleared all of that stuff out of the air, but we don't, so we've got to get better at defending set-piece and dead-ball chances."

After conceding the Hennelly goal, the Bison were back to stroking it around the middle of the park once again, albeit with more urgency with each touch as they looked to cut the lead in half.

Drakoulis tested Deroche, as did Eloyza when both he and Eloiza found space going from right to left. But in the end, the Bison were unable to beat Deroche, or match the physical nature of the game in the second period.

With many of the 50-50 challenges now whistled as fouls, unlike earlier in the match, both sides took exception to the chippy play which became a trend in the final 10 minutes of regulation,

A handful of bookings would be issued, but nothing more as the center official whistled the end of the match.

"This was a confidence building win for us, no doubt," offered Zahour.     

"We came in here and were able to get (3) points against a high-powered team. We had a few nervous moments in that first half but in the end we played good physical soccer, the type of soccer you have to play in order to win close games like this."

Steib admitted beforehand what a result like this would mean to the Broncos' cause, and afterwards was impressed with both the Bison and what his lads accomplished against them.

"They have so much individual talent, and they obviously showed what they could do, especially in that first half,” Steib said.

"But I very proud of our guys, and the result we earned tonight. We're thrilled to get the three points, but we've got to now turn our attention to Rolling Meadows, which is going to be another tough match for us."