Cats bow out to Barrington
LISLE -- Moments after Barrington High scored its first goal here on Monday night, a Benedictine University student working the sideline made this observation to a fan wearing a Libertyville High hat:
"It's the beginning of the end for you guys."
And though, based on the match's final score, the kid was technically right, he was completely wrong in his assessment of Libertyville High's boys soccer program.
You see, the 3-0 loss to super-power Barrington in the IHSA Class AA super-sectional hosted by Benedictine University wasn't the beginning of the end for the Wildcat program.
Rather, it was the end of the beginning.
In just one year under the direction of head coach Andy Bitta , Libertyville improved from 3-11-3 to 14-6-0 and earned regional and sectional plaques for the school's trophy case.
What we learned here Monday was what the Wildcats must do to take it to the next level ... and take to the next level they will.
The difference in the game, basically, was the difference in talent. Barrington (22-2) has at least four players with the "wow!" while Libertyville has just one ( Alvaro Castro ).
The good news is that no community in the state has a better feeder soccer program than Libertyville. And sooner rather than later a group of those "Wow!" players with Freddy Adu-like skills are going to show up wearing the incredibly cool Orange & Black Wildcat uniforms.
When that occurs, it will be Libertyville making the trip to the state finals at North Central College in Naperville that Barrington is making this weekend.
Monday's match was competitive for the first 30 minutes, and, in fact, Libertyville had much the better of the play with the wind at its back.
But in the 32nd minute, Barrington crossed the ball over the heads of a dozen players and onto the foot of Ata Ozbay . With Ozbacy in control and unguarded from point-blank range, Libertyville's keeper Jim Palac had no chance.
At halftime, Bitta urged his players to pressure the Barrington net, but the Broncos' superior talent made that impossible.
The first 30 minutes of the second half were a shooting gallery on Palac, with three balls going in with only two of them counting as goals. The other was ruled offsides.
Afterward, Bitta told his troops to "keep your heads up and be proud."
He's already looking forward to the next Wildcat team taking the next step and making it to state.
"We're talking already about how to down there," he said. "We'll build on this."
The coach praised his graduating seniors and thanked them for providing the leadership for making a winning season possible.
What has to happen next is for the juniors, sophomores and freshmen to raise their level of their games.
It says here that they will.
