Barrington tops Prospect, stays in thick of West race
With one division rival after another dropping out, it appears the Mid-Suburban West race is going to come down to the final week of the season for Barrington.
On Wednesday night the Fillies (16-1-1, 7-1-1) netted a hard-earned 2-0 victory over Prospect, which keeps them right with Schaumburg in the race for the divisional crown.
"There's a lot for us to focus on this week, especially with our quarterfinal match at the Naperville Invite coming up, but our main goal is to get into the MSL Cup for the first time since 2006, and tonight was another step in doing so," said Fillies defender Amy Johnson, who with Emmelie Herdes, Liz Sauer and Morgan Stachura weathered an early second-half storm by the host Knights to help maintain a 1-0 lead at the break. Emily Hyde put the match out of reach with her strike at 77 minutes.
"I thought we played pretty well for our first time on real grass this season, and although we were unable to finish on our chances, we still were able to create opportunities against a team that made it difficult once we got into the final third," said Hyde, who recorded the helper on Alexa Rowe's early goal.
Rowe, a senior, opened the scoring at six minutes after Hyde's endline run and carry on the left side allowed the Fillies' leading scorer to serve a wonderful ball to the back post, where Rowe finished easily.
After that goal, the game began to slowly develop into a duel between the Fillies' desire to possess and build the attack, and the Knights' ability to defend with as many numbers as it needed.
"I thought we played very tentatively in the first half, and almost in awe of the fact that we were up against one of the top teams in the state," said Prospect coach Tom Froats. "We defended with all of our heart, but we didn't generate any type of offense during that time."
The Fillies came close to breaking through for a second goal during the final 10 minutes before the break, with Megan McCabe stopping a one-timer from Molly Pfeiffer, then watching a pair of shots whipped wide of the Knights keeper.
Prospect (8-4-1, 3-5-1) awoke from its first-half doldrum, and almost immediately after intermission fashioned a handful of dangerous situations to a now retreating Barrington squad which held its breath when Susie Lello broke through - only to miss on her chance to equalize by going over the bar from in close.
"Our back line totally lost its shape, and we were fortunate not to give up the tying goal at the time," said Fillies coach Ryan Stengren.
The panic in the Barrington end finally would subside, and although the Knights played with more energy and pace than the first half, they still were unable to challenge keeper Kelly Pedersen. And the Fillies were able to maintain possession more than the Knights would have liked.
McCabe stopped a low drive from Hyde at 55 minutes, then later extended to her right to turn away a Rowe attempt. But she had virtually no chance to stop Hyde from doubling the score when, on the turn, she slotted neatly inside the post.
"It was a nervous time for us during those first five, six minutes after the break, but as we've said all year long, we control our own destiny, and tonight we continued to do so," Stengren said.
Buffalo Grove 3, Hoffman Estates 2, 2 OT: Hoffman Estates' Jackie Nailor tied the game with 30 seconds left in regulation to complete a 2-goal second-half comeback, but Carolynn Wieland gave host BG the victory in the second overtime with an assist from Kelly Mahoney.
Lauren Zickert and Jackie Concialdi had the other goals for BG, and Sarah Channer scored for Hoffman Estates.