Barrington, CL South to meet for title
Barrington girls soccer coach Ryan Stengren’s defensive game plan was simple. Don’t allow Huntley standout Aimee Wronski to score.
Stengren’s Fillies executed his plan to perfection.
Using multiple defensive alignments, the Fillies held Wronski without a goal and to only 1 shot on the net in posting a 1-0 win over the Red Raiders in semifinal action of the Class 3A Jacobs sectional in Algonquin Tuesday night. It was the third straight year Barrington ended Huntley’s season in sectional play.
“Our defense was absolutely tremendous, especially on Wronski,” said Stengren. “We had one man mark her and a half cover on her and a midfield cover her. We just didn’t make any mistakes on defense. They played extremely hard. Huntley is a great team, but so are we.”
Huntley’s Ashley Schorr scored a goal, but time had expired in the match.
The Raiders end the season 19-2-1 while Barrington (15-7) advances to play Crystal Lake South in Friday’s championship game at 6 p.m. The Gators defeated Hononegah 1-0 in overtime Tuesday.
Wronski’s only shot came midway through the first half. Harassed by several Barrington defenders, the Illinois State-bound senior unleased a shot on goal from 10 yards out, but the ball sailed over the net.
Barrington, which outshot Huntley 6-4, tallied the game’s lone goal with 30:49 left when Catie Curran scored off a perfect feed from Aimee Pierce.
“It was an awesome feeling to score the game-winning goal in such an important game,” said Curran. “Aimee Pierce gave me a perfect cross and I was able to score. We came into this game with a great mindset and a lot of good energy. Huntley is a very tough team, but our defense was great.”
Huntley’s Katlyn Owens had 3 saves while Kelly Pedersen registered 2 saves for the Fillies.
“The work rate and effort was good,” said Huntley coach Kris Grabner. “We resorted to the way we played early in the season. We didn’t possess the ball very well.”
CL South 1, Hononegah 0: Kali Loescher was trying to get a good solid shot on the goal.
The Crystal Lake South senior got a little more than she bargained for.
Loescher’s hard shot from 20 yards out bounced off Indians goalkeeper Courtney Carlson’s hands into the goal with 7:31 left in the first overtime to give the Gators a 1-0 win over Hononegah in sectional semifinal action of the Class 3A Jacobs sectional Tuesday night. The Gators will play Barrington at 6 p.m. Friday for the sectional title.
Hononegah outshot South (18-7-2) 12-2.
“I was just trying to get a shot on frame,” said Loescher. “The ball knuckled a little and their goalie was unable to hold on. We had faith in ourselves even though they had a lot more shots on goal.”
South coach Brian Allen praised his team’s perseverance.
“In the overtime, we wanted their goalie to handle the ball and test her,” said Allen. “Kali hit a great shot that was tough to handle. In tournament play, it is survive and move on. I looked at the girls’ eyes in the overtime and they looked confident. The game Saturday that went to PKs was good for us. We played with great discipline. Our defense broke but didn’t break.”
South goalie Elizabeth Quinn came up with a stellar effort in the nets.
The senior keeper came up with 9 saves, including 3 on shots by Indian standout Brea Edwards.
“Quinny kept us in the game with some tremendous saves,” said Allen. “She was outstanding. She made some great saves on Edwards. She played with great confidence and poise.”
Hononegah finished the season at 19-2-2.