Loyola keeps Barrington quiet, wins state title
The onslaught of offense that carried the No. 1-seeded Barrington Fillies into the Illinois High School Hockey girls state championship game Friday at the United Center was silent for too long in the spotlight. And by the time it was heard, it was a little too late.
Second-seeded Loyola used 2 goals each from sophomore Anne Bloomer and junior Tess Dettling to defeat the Fillies 5-3 in a game that wasn't as close as a 2-goal spread might suggest.
Co-op Barrington (23-4-2) scored twice in the 72 seconds of regulation time to cut into Loyola's 5-1 edge.
“It was a tough loss, but, we didn't come out to play the way we should have, didn't shoot like we should have, didn't charge their goalie like we should have,” said Barrington coach Rob Renner. “They looked a little calmer, like they were having more fun — we looked overwhelmed at times.”
Loyola scored less than five minutes into the first period on a power play tally by Dettling, beating sophomore goalie Eryn Cooley (28 saves) on a rebound. Dettling raised her stick again with pride after scoring Loyola's fifth goal of the game, with 7:08 remaining. She grabbed the puck on the left side of the slot, eluded a Barrington defenseman, skated around the net then attempted to stuff the puck in the net on the right, but the puck simply caromed off Cooley.
Bloomer grabbed the game's MVP Award, along with team's third and fourth goals, and an assist on freshman Valerie Caldwell's second-period shorthanded goal at 9:12.
“It wasn't what we wanted, but it was a pleasure to be here,” said Barrington senior forward Andrea Renner (St. Viator), who tallied her 47th and 48th goals of the season on the United Center ice. She scored with 1:12 remaining, and then tapped in another goal with :17 left, assisted by junior Abbey Brush.
“I think we were really nervous at first. As the game went on, we got more comfortable, but at that point, it was too late.”
Barrington only forced Loyola sophomore goalie Tianna Lavalle to make 19 saves — and just two in the first period.
“We knew coming in that it would be hard to beat them; they have way more players, way more endurance,” said Barrington senior Nicole Guagliardo, who will play next fall at Mercyhurst University and was the Fillies' second-leading scorer this season (32 goals, 18 assists in 27 games played), yet she was kept off the scoresheet in her final high school game.
“We're proud that we got here; our main goal (this season) was to get to the United Center and, sure, we wish we would have won it, but we got here. In the third period, we were running out of legs.”
Still, she added, “If we had played like we did (in the final minutes), I think we would have had them.”
Loyola finishes 19-3-5 and claims its first girls hockey state championship since 2004, and this was the Ramblers' third consecutive trip to the United Center.
“We asked the girls to play a very specific style of hockey in this game, knowing how much skill and talent the other team has. Everyone had specific jobs, and they committed to it as a team,” said Loyola coach Conor Sedam. “We knew we had more players and one of the things we wanted to do was wear them down.”
The Ramblers did that, aided no doubt by a longer game. The game featured 15-minute periods as opposed to 13, which is standard in girls regular-season games. Plus, the Ramblers had 2 power play tallies.
“Penalties killed us,” Coach Renner said.