Sports
Boys Soccer: McGarrity Leads Young Titans Into Playoffs
After graduating a dozen seniors from last year's team, Glenbrook South has come back to take second in the conference.
soccer coach Paul Agombar had no qualms about bringing up a handful of sophomores to the varsity level in 2011. After losing a dozen seniors from last year’s squad, the Titans were in need of some retooling.
Yet even with the influx of youth, it’s a senior that’s leading Glenbrook South (10-6-2) to another promising season. Senior Branden McGarrity, who was named all-conference last season, has scored 20 goals for Glenbrook South this season, helping the Titans to the No. 4 seed in the Class 3A Evanston Sectional.
“We’ve had a good season with good results and have improved steadily as the season’s gone through,” Agombar said. “Not only are we getting good results, but we seem to be playing better as time goes on. It’s a very satisfying season so far.”
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Good results might be the biggest understatement of the season. The Titans scored 5-1 victories over New Trier and Glenbrook North in September while also edging Lake Forest 3-2 last weekend. Ricky Galvez scored the game-winning goal with 20 seconds left to give Glenbrook South its 10th win of the season.
McGarrity has had his moments as well. He scored two goals in the lopsided win over New Trier and had hat tricks against Loyola Academy and Glenbrook North.
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“It’s extremely difficult to get the ball off of him; he’s got fantastic close control, good awareness of the players around him,” Agombar said. “Although he’s scored a lot of goals he’s not a selfish player. He’s an excellent finisher.”
Agombar has been impressed by the way Glenbrook South’s defense has come together. The Titans returned only one player back from last season’s backline and took time to develop a chemistry defensively. But once that happened, he said, it set the tone for the rest of the season.
“That’s the most critical part,” Agombar said. “If you don’t give up a lot of goals you always have a chance of winning. That breeds confidence for the rest of the team.”
Glenbrook South has a few remaining games before starting the playoffs in two weeks. They open on Oct. 18 against Steinmetz at Niles North. Before then, Agombar doesn’t expect to make many adjustments.
“We’re not trying drastically to change anything,” Agombar said. “Just reinforcing the things that we are doing because what we have been doing has been successful.”
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