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Pietro's 2 goals lifts Hersey past Barrington By Darryl Mellema There really weren't that many clear-cut scoring chances in Hersey's 2-0 Tuesday night victory over Barrington. But the visiting Huskies had the best finisher on the field in senior Kyle Pietro, who netted both goals in Hersey's Mid Suburban League success. “(Kyle) played fullback for me last year in most of the big games,” Hersey coach Darren Llewellyn said. “I had to convert him into a forward. He's had six goals in the last five games. I think he's getting better.” The match transpired in a way that suited Hersey (9-1-3, 2-1-1) well. The Huskies scored within the first six minutes and then were able to allow their organized defense and compact midfield to dominate the match. “I just told the guys I didn't think we played badly,” Barrington coach Scott Steib said. “I told them we played against a team that makes it really tough to play. Everything in the final third is contested and there are so many bodies back there.” Barrington (2-9-1, 2-2) had chances – even a few solid attempts at goal. But the Broncos were never allowed an extended period of possession and pressure. “That sort of epitomizes our season,” Barrington coach Scott Steib said. “We haven't made those plays all season.” And the fact that Pietro scored two goals and Barrington was unable to find the back of the net was not just coincidence. “I don't think it's a luck thing,” Steib said. “I think making those plays is a characteristic.” Hersey used a quick break from a cleared Barrington corner kick to score the first goal of the match in the seventh minute of play. Pietro got the ball on the left wing, and the Hersey senior dribbled into the Broncos penalty area before unleashing a low shot that found the right side-netting. “We've been talking for the last few days about how to counter that – to counter their counter,” Steib said. “You just have to slow the game down by being physical at midfield. Maybe they have a restart at midfield instead of a breakaway. We had two guys who had a chance to slow him down a little bit and didn't. (Pietro) comes down and he works hard. He's fast and has a good left foot.” Taylor Williams attempted to bring Barrington level immediately, but his sharp shot was saved by Hersey goalie Greg Janicki. Pietro had another strong shot on goal in the 15th minute but Will Cotopolis made a diving save. True scoring chances were hard to find in the middle portion of the first half. Barrington nearly tied the match in the final minute of the first half when Tony Shin hit a hard shot when free in front of goal, only to see the ball skim the crossbar and go out of play. “We've only scored seven goals,” Steib said. “It's a skill. It's a hard one to coach. But you try to develop it and do things in training to bring it out. But we're doing it. We're developing it. We have a lot of guys who are feeling their way through their first varsity season. And all of this helps us next year and later this year.” Piettro scored the key second goal with 15 minutes to play in the match when he took a bouncing ball, popped it into the air and into the net. The final goal-scoring chance for either team fell to Barrington's Will Farrell with seven minutes left. Farrell hit a free kick from 20 yards over the bar.
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2009 Schedule
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