North Stars shine at Barrington, notch state finals berth
Sammy Gage and Paige Dusek both struck goals in the first half, Dusek's a back-breaker at 40 minutes, while keeper Kristen Manski was brilliant to help St. Charles North stave off a brave battle from Barrington and claim a 2-0 thriller over the host Fillies on Tuesday night.
The North Stars' girls soccer supersectional title over host Barrington advances coach Ruth Vostal's club into the Final Four of the 3A state soccer tournament, which begins Friday at North Central College in Naperville. St. Charles North (22-1-1) will meet Sandburg at 5 p.m.
"It's not really fair to compare this team to the 2004 team, but this team has had a lot of heart and fight in them all season long, and tonight, coming to play a great team like Barrington before their home fans, they were able to come through with another important victory, with Kristen (Manski) once again there for us when we needed her," said Vostal, who led the North Stars to a second-place trophy in 2004 after falling in the championship match 2-1 to New Trier.
Both Vostal and Barrington coach Ryan Stengren praised Manski, a four-year standout who easily was the Stars' most effective player after making several remarkable challenges off her line to punch away well-aimed strikes from the Fillies (24-3-3) - a Caroline Condon blast, an Amy Johnson free kick among them - as the hosts responed with a vengeance following the Gage goal at 22 minutes.
"We've come to depend on Kristen during her career, and all throughout the season, and tonight was no different as we have so much confidence in her," Vostal said.
"She was clearly the difference out there," said Stengren, who hailed the efforts of Manski as well as his own team for its ability to generate chances on both sides of the halves, including most of the second half as the Fillies threw numbers forward in hopes of scoring.
"We knew that (Barrington) had a few really good attacking players that we needed to keep our eyes on tonight," said Gage, "and with Kristen's work in goal and our defense staying organized and composed for most of the night, we were able to keep them out of the net, especially when they came after us in the second-half."
Gage unleashed a left-footed low drive that squirted through the gloves of keeper Kelly Pedersen to give the visitors the lead. The North Stars then had to weather a flurry of chances from the Fillies, beginning with a Johnson free kick and ending with the Condon attempt, all wrapped around a nice build-up that Sara Condon, Morgan Stachura created before Aimee Pierce headed wide.
Dusek doubled the Stars' lead just moments before intermission when she finished a rebound given up by Pedersen from a strike by Leah DeMoss, which had enough pace and fade to fall free inside the 6-yard box.
"Even at 2-0 we knew were still generating chances, and with 40 minutes to go, we also knew there was time to cut the lead and (then) really make a game out of it," said Johnson, an all-state backliner.
With more urgency, the Fillies turned up the pressure on the Stars, who did well to keep most of the play in front of them while packing in to protect its lead. Manski, again, further demonstrated her skill in the air, particularly at 53 minutes when the senior punched a superb long ball from Johnson clear of the 18 and then saw a clever follow from Caroline Condon land atop the net.
With Lisa Manski, Kaitlyn Batka and Kara Miller each winning 50-50's and tackling to near perfection, the Fillies' were to solve the North Stars.
"We're like family, and the hardest thing for me right now is knowing that I won't be seeing my teammates everyday - because now we're done," said a tearful Johnson.