Bartlett makes most of chances against HE

By Curt Herron

Capitalizing on the limited opportunities it receives is critical whenever a team reaches postseason play.

And Bartlett demonstrated that point all too well during its regional opener against Hoffman Estates on Wednesday.

In a clash of Hawks in the first match at the Class 3A Wheaton North Regional, Bartlett scored goals on its first two good chances.

Then coach Ben Beary's squad added another tally just before the break to claim a 3-0 halftime advantage.

That turned out to be all of the scoring in the match as Bartlett captured a 3-0 victory over Hoffman Estates.

As a result, Bartlett (15-5) advances to Saturday's regional finals, which has been rescheduled to 2 p.m. from 11 a.m.

Its opponent will be Wheaton North (6-9-5), which captured a 1-0 victory over Lake Park in Wednesday's final match.

Bartlett last played for a regional title in 2005, when it fell to St. Charles North in the finals.

Although the program has yet to win a regional championship, it played in the sectional finals in 2000.

Hear Bartlett coach Ben Beary interview

Although it didn't have that many chances against Hoffman Estates, Bartlett looked good on the plays that it did score on.

The first of those came on what proved to be the initial good opportunity for either squad, just 11:42 into the match.

Brian Roman started things with a corner kick and Joe McCullough got a touch on it before Carmelo Abate put in a short shot.

It wasn't long before Bartlett got another nice scoring chance, which it again was able to convert for a score.

That came with 22:51 left in the half when Eric Kennebeck got the ball to Tommy Russo, who sent a pass from the side of the net to Roman, who then scored from close range.

Hear Bartlett's Tommy Russo interview

Hoffman Estates finally generated the first two of its rather limited number of scoring chances within the next few minutes.

But Bartlett keeper Jeff Gal gathered up a short attempt and then deflected another shot following a header.

Gal also got into the mix offensively in the opening half by sending a pair of long free kicks to his fellow keeper.

With just over 11 minutes left in the half, Fabio Aiello was stopped on a long-range shot and Gal later halted a long free kick.

That set the table for Bartlett's final score, which came with just 20 seconds remaining in the first half.

Anthony DiNuzzo served up a free kick that eventually went to Brett Dini, who headed a short shot that was deflected but went into the net.

Owning a 3-0 halftime lead, it was up to defenders Brett Palmer, David Wade, Dini and Aiello and keeper Gal to main the advantage.

And that's just what they did as Hoffman Estates only managed about three other chances, with a couple of those in the final minutes.

The shutout was the second straight for Gal and his defenders and also marked the ninth time this year that they had blanked an opponent.

Hear Bartlett's David Wade interview

Meanwhile, Bartlett also didn't challenge the net often after the break and had no real good scoring chances down the stretch.

The best threats that the victors received came on a liner from Kennebeck, a header from Russo and a short shot by Mike DiNuzzo.

Although pleased to kick of the postseason in a good fashion, it's clear that Bartlett's players have bigger goals in mind.

To make program history by winning a regional title, they'll have to get past an equally defensive-minded Falcons squad on Saturday.

Bartlett starters vs. Hoffman Estates

Bartlett 3, Hoffman Estates 0

Hawks Schedule

Postseason play