Ackermann’s late strike lifts Barrington
Ellie Ackermann penned herself into the book of Barrington girls soccer lore with the game-winning goal in the 80th minute as the host Fillies defeated Hersey 1-0 to capture the 23rd Mid-Suburban League Cup on Wednesday night at Barrington Community Stadium.
With the match seemingly headed for overtime, the sophomore striker brought down a serve on the right side from Abby Taplett, then promptly fired under a diving Morgan Harris, who just minutes earlier had made a brilliant point-blank reaction save on Jenna Szczesny to keep hope alive for the MSL East champion Huskies (15-6-2).
“Everything happened too quickly” said Ackermann. “I really don’t know what happened except Abby’s great ball in, and me turning and shooting.”
This much is certain: Barrington netted the fifth MSL Cup in program history.
“I think all of us were so nervous at the start, and it really showed in the way that we played in that first half,” said Barrington senior Sara Condon, who was one of the few remaining players from the Fillies club which defeated Hersey two years ago in a shootout. “Hersey is such a good team, and defensively they didn’t really allow us to do much of anything in the first half. But we came out in the second half with a lot more energy, and finally got back to playing the way that we were capable, which led up to Ellie’s awesome goal.”
The match was played without two of the premier players at their positions in the area, with Hersey backline star Olivia Stasiuk still on the mend from a concussion suffered at Conant early last week, and Fillies top scorer Molly Pfeiffer still unable to go as she continues to recover from a hamstring problem.
“Not having Ollie in the back was obviously a big loss for us, but Megan Boyle moved back in there and did a great job for us, as did her teammates Emily Moody, Sara Magnusson and Kayla Knauss,” said Hersey coach Brad Abel. “I really felt we did a very good job of keeping Barrington out of our end in the first half and not allowing much of anything at Morgan.”
Abel and his staff paired Lauren Gierman alongside Nicole Pietro at midfield, and while the Huskies missed the dangerous right foot of Gierman near the net, they did get solid performances from Meg Cerniglia and Kaitlyn Smetana, who played most of the minutes up top for the Huskies.
Hersey, with an organized and disciplined defense, had the run of play in the first 40 minutes while limiting the attack by the Fillies (15-5-0).
“We didn’t do much of anything in that first half — we couldn’t connect any passes, rarely won 50-50 balls or tackles, and pretty much played right into Hersey’s hands,” said Barrington coach Ryan Stengren.
Pietro went wide with her header in the 10th minute, and later, Casey Weyhrich and Cerniglia created an opportunity in the box which required Samantha Frank to clear. Minutes later, with the Huskies finishing strong before the break, Smetana put through Cerniglia, who broke free from her mark for a brief moment only to be closed down by the rest of the Fillies’ back line.
“I really felt Hersey owned the first half, and we (did) in the second half,” Stengren said. “Either way, there was a lot more urgency in our play after the break, and we finally began to connect a few passes and knock the ball around a little bit.”
Barrington got the second period underway with a nice little spark provided by Szczesny, Condon and Ackermann, and later from junior Aimee Pierce, who was injured just before intermission but was brought back on at 54 minutes and helped the Fillies with her speed on the wing.
Still, the Fillies still could not find a weakness in the defense played by the five-time defending MSL East champs.
The speed of play began to pick up from both sides with 10 minutes left, and Harris, a sophomore, stood tall with her heroic stop on Szczesny.
“Morgan made an incredible save on that shot in close to keep us in the match, but Ackermann is a great player, and she scored the big goal when they needed it,” said Abel. “We’re all very disappointed in the result, and nobody is feeling very good right now. But I can say that I am very proud of this team and the effort they put forth tonight, and in the end, that’s all you can ask from your players as a head coach.”
Barrington, meanwhile, had the opportunity to savor the heart-stopping finish to its MSL Cup triumph.
“It was like everything just stopped in time for just a second when Ellie scored,” said Condon, “and it’s just a great feeling right now to be the MSL champions.”