Girls soccer: Barrington topples Hononegah for sectional crown
Barrington's girls soccer team shut down another opponent - on Reopening Day in Illinois, no less.
Barrington defeated visiting Rockton Hononegah 2-0 in a Class 3A sectional final Friday night, extending the program's remarkable streak of consecutive sectional championships to 12 under Fillies coach Ryan Stengren.
The Fillies' defense, including senior goalkeeper Coast Liapis, hasn't allowed a goal since beating Fremd 3-2 in double overtime on May 12.
"That was just a grind," Stengren said after his club improved to 16-1-2 on a toasty Friday night. "Good, very good. But it was more of a good 'effort' game.
"Not our best 'soccer' game," added the coach of the 3A state champions in 2017 and '18 and the 3A state runner-up in '19. "Most of our girls would agree with that assessment."
His girls will return to the home pitch to face St. Charles East and vie for a fourth-straight Final Four berth at the Barrington supersectional on Tuesday at 6 p.m. St. Charles East (22-0-1) edged visiting St. Charles North 1-0 on PKs in another sectional final Friday night.
Third-seeded Hononegah (15-2-0) arrived in Barrington on a 12-match winning streak, one more than Barrington's unbeaten stretch. The Indians nearly stunned the hosts in the second minute following a corner kick. The first shot of the night banged off the crossbar, and, seconds later, Liapis made the first of her 3 saves.
Top-seeded Barrington struck for its first goal a minute later. Fillies sophomore midfielder Brooke Brown delivered a deft, 3-yard pass to alert junior forward Riley Raynor, who poked a 5-yarder past Hononegah senior keeper Paige Taborski (6 saves).
"Riley," Brown said, "made a good run. I saw her; I passed the ball to her. She always makes good runs for us."
Brown tallied the other goal of the night with 54 seconds left in the first half. Barrington sophomore defender Ellie Sanchez used her left foot to loft a fetching cross above a sea of scrambling players in the box. Brown settled it and blasted it toward twine from close range.
"If our early shot doesn't hit the crossbar and goes in instead, maybe it's a different game," Indians coach Jay Bigwood said. "But we knew coming in that you can't play 97-98 percent and expect to beat a team like Barrington. You have to be at the very top of your game to have a chance. That team is very disciplined, very organized.
"It's a well-drilled group, with a lot of skills," he added.
Stengren's crew kept pushing until the end, lining up for 4 corner kicks in the final 13 minutes.
A sampling of other Barrington highlights: Fillies senior back Kate McGreevy thwarted Hononegah's top threat, senior forward Lauren Wedig, on a 1-v-1 in the eighth minute and diffused another Hononegah foray by booming a pass toward the midfield seconds later; senior forward Lara Lubinsky and junior forward Kate Lubinsky taxed the Indians' backs, particularly in the second half; and Fillies junior Nicole Gwiasda provided steadiness in the midfield.