Barrington claims victory; Conant loses key players to injury

Conant suffered much more than its first defeat of the season Wednesday night. The Cougars also lost two of their best players to injuries, including all-state sophomore Courtney Raetzman

The Cougars (3-1-0) were knocked from the unbeaten ranks on a cold and wet night by visiting Barrington (5-1-0, 3-0-0), which used a goal by Emily Hyde just after intermission to register a 1-0 victory in a key Mid-Suburban West match in Hoffman Estates.

"It was hard watching both Courtney and Brenna (Fitzpatrick) go down with injuries tonight," said Conant junior Paige Wentzel, who moved into the middle for Fitzpatrick, an all-area midfielder last season, when the junior was unable to go after suffering what appeared to be an injury to her right hip minutes before intermission.

"The absence of Courtney is obvious. We're just not the same team without her," said Conant coach Jason Franco, who is hoping one of the best players in the state can come back soon from a right ankle sprain.

The Cougars' leading scorer was hurt when challenging a 50-50 ball near the midline at the quarter-hour mark and was carried off, silencing a crowd which just minutes earlier might have watched one of the better flurries of activities from both clubs.

"It's always tough to watch players on either side get injured, but we had to stay focused on what we came here to do (tonight) and that was to get back at the team which kept us from getting downstate, instead of them," said the Fillies' top defender and one of its captains, Amy Johnson. "It wasn't a very pretty game out there tonight, but we accomplished what we set out to do."

Strong northerly winds and an annoying game-long drizzle made the Cougars' turf that much faster for each side, and it was apparent during the early stages that both clubs would struggle to find their possession game.

The Fillies midfield of Caroline Condon, Catie Curran, Alexa Rowe and Sara Condon had its share of the play, which in turn allowed that quartet to find Hyde and her mate up top, freshman Molly Pfeiffer, in and around the final third. But a determined Conant backline headed by Kelly Foss and Sammi van Linde limited the scoring chances.

Hyde scored the game-winner when she slipped free on the left side before unleashing a shot which ricocheted off a Conant defender and past keeper Lindsay Fillingim, who was leaning the other way in anticipation of Hyde going to her right.

Despite the goal, Fillingim was flawless on the night, stopping Hyde with a strong run off her line at 61 minutes, then later punching a well-placed free kick from Johnson out of danger later on.

"We were lucky to have scored that goal, but we did some good things tonight," said Barrington coach Ryan Stengren, who was quick to add that the season is far from over, with plenty of work ahead for his club.

"Barrington's backline was the difference tonight, but we played with a lot of pride and heart despite the loss of Courtney and Brenna," said Franco.