Barrington meets the challenge from Buffalo Grove
In the days preceding the kick-off between his Barrington club and Buffalo Grove, the co-leaders of the MSL East, Fillies coach Ryan Stengren was rightly concerned about what to expect from the undefeated Bison. They’d put away their first nine opponents, doing so with as many as six freshmen in the starting lineup.
Stengren was able to breathe a sigh of relief Wednesday night after his club ended the Bison’s unbeaten streak with a 3-0 victory. That helped the Fillies (6-3-0, 5-0-0-15 points) on pace in the MSL West with Conant. Barrington and Conant meet Friday in a key divisional match.
“We knew they had a lot of speed and technical skill, and that they could possess and attack, but we still didn’t know a whole lot more about them, so we were naturally a little worried about (just) exactly what type of opponent we would be facing tonight,” said Stengren. “But we planned to pressure them as much as we could, and to try to control the middle. With both Mia (Calamari) and Anna Burnidge doing just that, we were able to get ourselves an important and very good win at home.”
The Bison, led by a young group of attacking players — Colleen Zickert, Jessica Kovach, Kelli Zickert and Kim Herzog and veteran striker Carolynn Wieland — have been in the fast lane this season, getting plenty of attention with their ability to carve up opponents. But Wednesday night, the Fillies didn’t allow much time for the visitors to linger on the ball, thanks to relentless tackling and a high percentage of wins on 50-50 balls.
“Obviously, Barrington is a high quality team and program, so we knew this would be our biggest challenge of the season,” said Bison coach Pat Dudle. “I know we were ready to play, and the effort was good, for the most part. But (Calamari) was the difference maker as far as I was concerned in the middle. And when they had their chances, they finished — and we didn’t.”
While Calamari, a sophomore, appeared to be at the center of everything, teammates Anna Burnidge and Aimee Pierce provided plenty of pace and energy on the outside. The Fillies’ backline stayed airtight for the most of the night, helping to keep the Bison far enough away from keeper Hannah Luedtke.
“I though the real difference for us tonight is when we moved Anna into the middle, that’s when things really began to go well for us,” said Stengren.
The Bison actually had the best two chances to start the match, the first coming in the seventh minute after a Skylar Groth corner led to Pierce clearing a loose ball off the line but back to Wieland, who missed from in close. Then at 17 minutes, Kovach, a freshman, got away from her mark and fired a left-footer off the frame from 22 yards.
“We missed with a toe poke and by hitting the bar, and maybe if one or both goes in (it’s) a different story,” said Dudle. “But Barrington made it difficult for us do much of what we normally with our attack and possession.”
Senior Ally Peterson’s crossing shot from a severe angle found the far inside net in the 24th minute, and moments later, Bison keeper Katie Okamoto punched a well-aimed inward swinger corner from Kathryn Avelon targeted for the spot.
The tide turned just after the break, and Fillies leading scorer Molly Pfeiffer was a key figure in the next goal.
Pierce broke free up the left side, and after losing a defender, she carried to the endline before sending a superb ball to the far post which found Pfeiffer on the tail end of her run for the one-timer past Okamoto.
“That second goal, which came right after the half, can really take a lot out of a team, and I felt that after Molly scored to make it 2-0,” said Calamari, who initiated the play from the just outside the midline.
Colleen Zickert sent sister Kelli through with a marvelous ball six minutes after the Fillies had doubled their lead, and with a surging run and carry, the sophomore was able to get in on Luedtke, who came alive to stop the close-range attempt to help keep the visitors off the scoreboard.
The Bison did their best to jump-start their attack after the Luedtke save, and while they were able to maintain possession, they seemed to lack the sharpness to be dangerous around the goal. Plenty of credit for that goes to the Fillies’ back four, and a midfield which rarely allowed their opponents time or space.
Peterson made it 3-0 in the 68th minute after Jenna Szczesny and Sara Condon helped their freshman teammate with some unselfish work.
“I know we can still play a lot better, but I thought we did a very good job of knocking the ball around and creating several good chances in that second half, so hopefully that’s something we can take into Friday at Conant,” said Stengren.
“Maybe this is a wake-up call to everyone about how competitive the MSL is, and especially the top clubs, and hopefully (it) came at a good time because we host Schaumburg this Friday,” said Dudle.