Barrington used a four-goal second half explosion to defeat host Prospect Wednesday night in Mt. Prospect to earn a well deserved 4-0 victory at George Gattas Memorial Stadium in a rematch of the 2022 MSL Soccer Cup final.
The Broncos (4-0-1, 2-0-1) enjoyed most of the possession and play in the first half. But they were unable to pry open a stingy and organized back line from the home side, who last time out would defeat Elk Grove, 4-1 just before its spring break vacation.
“Our effort tonight was 110%. (Our) communication was terrific, and we did a really good job defending. But give credit to Barrington, they played really well, especially in the second half,” said Knights senior Mia D’Onofrio, who was a key figure in the opening period in the middle of the park for the home side.
“It’s always tough playing that first game (coming) back from a week off at spring break. But when we came back strong in the second half, and scored that first goal, our attack really picked up, and we began to create a lot more chances to put them under pressure,” said Broncos senior Brooke Brown, who will play next fall in the Ivy League at Cornell University.
The Knights (2-1-2, 1-1-1) had their best opportunity on this cold and windy night just minutes into the second half when Jillian Sawadski was set free and in on Megan Holland, but the Broncos keeper did well to turn the close range effort around the back post to keep things even in the 45th minute.
Brown struck the opener in the 52nd minute on a lovely ball from Piper Lucier, who doubled Barrington’s advantage soon thereafter when Kate Lubinsky provided a superb helper to her sophomore teammate.
Junior Sarah Sarnowski added another onto the scoreboard at 62 minutes when her initial attempt was saved by Knights keeper Lily Baruch. But the ball spilled free near the spot where the opportunistic Sarnowski steered in her close range rebound effort.
An own goal in the 64th minute finished off the Broncos victory.
“It felt good to be back playing after having a week off, and to start things off with a win,” said Lubinsky, whose club will host Buffalo Grove this Saturday afternoon, while Prospect hosts Crystal Lake Central Thursday at 5 p.m.