Barrington boys hockey coach Steve Martins lauded the play of Broncos goaltender Marcus Kunzmann after Sunday’s 5-2 Scholastic Hockey League win over two-time defending state champion New Trier Green.
In turn, Kunzmann did what a good goalie does: He applauded his defensemen.
“Max Kunzmann, Koty Krull, Alex Timperman, Mike Brusa, Gary Barbera — I had a lot of help back there,” Marcus Kunzmann said. “The defense really came through for us.”
The Broncos’ offense was also solid throughout, getting two goals from Anthony Iacullo and one apiece from Will Hood, Max Kunzmann and Casey Dodge. Matt McVickers had a pair of assists.
But with New Trier chasing a one-goal deficit after two periods, it was Barrington’s defense that withstood the Trevians’ skilled, polished offense.
“We actually beat [New Trier] in overtime last Sunday but we had some fortuitous bounces and had some calls maybe go our way, so this was a big one,” Martins said. “New Trier is a deep, skilled team. Before this year, we couldn’t remember the last time Barrington beat New Trier in hockey.”
The Broncos got a pair of late third-period goals from Iacullo to put the game away at North Shore Ice Arena.
Barrington struck first less than two minutes in, winning a faceoff in New Trier’s zone and sending a puck out to Hood, who wristed a shot past Trevians goalie Jack Junge on his glove side.
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New Trier answered two minutes later when Brendan Kenny took a puck behind Barrington’s net and centered it to Graham Soman, who buried it.
The game’s next two goals came when Barrington capitalized on power plays.
Max Kunzmann’s slap shot found the back of the net with Barrington enjoying a two-man advantage, and Dodge made it 3-1 on another power-play goal.
“Barrington is well-coached and they work hard,” New Trier coach Chad Bidwill said. “But penalties on this team kill us. We’re a fast, skilled hockey team and when you’re in the box as much as we were, your best players run out of gas.”
Barrington killed a New Trier power play to start the second period and Marcus Kunzmann made a pair of quality saves before the Trevians’ Kevin Marren made it 3-2 on a breakaway goal with 1:28 left in the period.
New Trier came out in attack mode to start the third, but Marcus Kunzmann and company weathered the pressure. Barrington had a 2-on-1 breakaway that went for naught, Michael Brusa shot wide and another Broncos shot hit the post before Iacullo stepped into the spotlight.
Iacullo scored on a 2-on-1 breakaway with less than four minutes to play and scored again on an empty net with less than two minutes to go.
“The issue with this group is believing in themselves and they have really been coming on, believing they can beat anyone, and that’s a big thing,” Martins said.