Girls soccer: Barrington blitzes Burlington Central
Barrington would overwhelm Burlington Central 10-3 Friday night as pool play continued in the 19th annual Naperville Invite in a game played at Barrington Community Stadium, and as a part of the Fillies' Mairin Wallner Memorial Tournament, but the final score did not discourage Central (11-4-0) head coach Jessica Arneson, who kept the evening all in perspective.
"We came into this tournament, and this particular game with a lot of excitement, and anticipation to be playing against some of the best 3A teams in the state, knowing that we might come up on the short end of things but this loss tonight doesn't mean a thing, because we learned a lot about ourselves as a team, and found out we can play with a real quality opponent," said Arneson.
The Rockets would stun the MSL leading Fillies (10-1-1) with three set pieces strikes, two from leading scorer Jordan King and another by McKenzie Freeman, who each unloaded freekick attempts into the back of the net with King firing in the opening goal at two minutes, before the home side exploded for six in the next 38 minutes to go into the break with a 6-2 advantage.
"We cannot come out and have the type of start that we did tonight," admitted Barrington junior Jackie Batliner, who scored two herself, the first coming in a stretch when the Fillies poured four past keeper Abby Ciganek within seven minutes, who despite the lopsided number on the scoreboard, played a strong game between the sticks for her club.
Freshman Taylor Abbott, one of seven rookie players on the BC roster, was superb along the back, as she showed to be voracious in the tackle and the ability to go from one end of the box to the other in seconds in her attempt to slow the Fillies' attack.
"Barrington plays so quick, and they get it forward so fast, and for the most part I thought we did well with it but when we didn't, the ball ended up in the back of our net," admitted Arneson.
Michayla Herr and freshman Ashley Prell, who recorded helpers on the last four goals of the match, all would score during the Fillies' first-half blitz, along with Kayla Keck, who had enough time to tee-up her 25-yard attempt in the 23rd minute.
Keck would later drive a header past Ciganek after elevating to meet a corner serve from Prell.
"Once we found some energy, our game began to pickup (and) so did the way in which attacked, and that's when we finally started to a lot of quality chances for ourselves," said Batliner.
Schutter would register a hat trick with a pair of brilliant second half strikes, her best coming just before the hour with a well aimed left-footer into the far side netting.
The Fillies are now 2-0 in the tournament, and will await their next opponent following Saturday's results, while the Rockets meet Rockford Boylan Saturday at noon in Barrington.
"This is the type of game that will help prepare us for the rest of the season, and especially the postseason when the 2A state series begins for us," said Arneson.