Girls soccer: Barrington rolls past McHenry in 3A sectional; Lake Zurich blanks Huntley

Sarah Sarnowski and Barrington got off to a fast start and rolled past McHenry 7-0 at the McChesney Park Harlem Class 3A sectional Tuesday.

Barrington will meet Lake Zurich in Friday's sectional final at 5 p.m. Lake Zurich blanked Huntley 5-0.

Sarnowski scored a pair of goals just four minutes into the game to set the tone for the Fillies (20-0-2).

"Piper (Lucier) played a great ball to me to get things started," Sarnowski said. "We got on the way we wanted to start the game. I thought we worked real hard for that."

Barrington has been dominant in the state playoffs thus far. The Fillies have outscored their opponents 21-0 in their first three games.

"I thought the girls followed the game plan perfectly tonight," Barrington coach Ryan Stengran said. "They have been razor-focused in practice, I am happy how we came out to start the game. It has been like that all year."

Sarnowski, who is a junior, scored her first goal with less than three minutes gone in the game. She took a pass from Piper Lucier and split two McHenry defenders and fired a shot into the back of the net.

Just over a minute, Sarnowski struck again. She directed a header into the net to make it 2-0.

Barrington wasn't done.

Brooke Brown also scored on a header off a corner kick to make it 3-0.

Lucier, who is a sophomore, then got on the scoresheet for a pair of goals.

Lucier tallied her first goal when she stole the ball from a McHenry defender.

Lucier then swooped down the left side unabated and drilled her shot home to make it 4-0.

Lucier picked up her second of the game when she got a sweet pass from Kate Lubinsky and popped the ball into the net to make it 5-0.

"They were really into it, and we were as well," Lucier said. "It made the game more intense. We know that we have to be careful because this is tournament."

Lucier would later return the favor to Lubinsky. That's because Lucier's cross right in from of the McHenry net, found Lubinsky for the easy tap in a 6-0 lead.

Sky Lundy closed out the scoring for Barrington late in the game.

Thanks to Barrington defenders Roos Van Roekel, Meredith McGreevy, Ellie Sanchez and Hannah Blue along with midfielders Maddy Ziebarth and Lucy Stanton, McHenry had limited scoring opportunities. Keeper Megan Holland and Abby Raynor combined for just 1 save.

"Offensively and defensively we were very good in a lot of phases," Stengran said.

Lake Zurich 5, Huntley 0:

Then It was Lake Zurich's turn to take off on a fast start.

Lauren Bailey scored under four minutes into the match. She would later assist on another goal as the Bears (18-3-2) won their eighth in a row.

"We came out and played tough defensively," Lake Zurich coach Mike Castronova said. "We focused on a couple of their players. Offensively, we wanted to attack and try to go at their defenders.

Bailey got things going when she was able to knock a shot past the Huntley keeper.

With 14:02 left in the half, Bailey outfought a pair of Huntley defenders down in far eight corner. After a Bailey won the ball, she then delivered a solid cross to freshman Sydney Arendarczyk, who then popped the ball into the net for a 2-0 lead.

"It was a real good night," said Bailey, who would finish with 2 goals and assist.

"I really loved my assist the best. They both sandwiched me and somehow I got through them. It is always open in the middle, so I look there first."

Midfielder Mallory Collins then gave the Bears even more breathing room.

The junior intercepted a pass and then took one dribble before blasting a 35-yard shot. The ball tipped off the top of the fingers of the Huntley keeper before falling across the line for a 3-0 lead.

"I was surprised it went in," Collins said. "It was crazy. The energy was there, You got to take shots."

Huntley (17-4-3) had a couple of scoring opportunities. But they were turned away by keeper Saoia Morton, who had 6 saves.

Huntley's best scoring opportunity came late in first half. Brooke Maxedon made a very nice cross to a streaking Maize Nickle. But Morton slid across the front of the net to turn the shot away.

Morton came up with another big save in the 24th minute of the second half. She stopped Ava Trudeau on a breakaway to preserve the shutout.

"I love my defense," Morton said. "The defensive line always put themselves on the line for me, so I have to do the same."

Lake Zurich's Cammy Niepomnik scored for the Bears with 14:18 left and Bailey would add her second goal of the day on free kick to put the game away.