Fillies improve to 3-2 with win at Wheeling
By Mike Garofola

 

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Fresh off the back of consecutive losses to state powers Naperville North and Neuqua Valley, Barrington (3-2-0, 2-0-0) looked a class apart against its MSL rivals this week, scoring five in a rout over Rolling Meadows on Wednesday night, before a five-goal second explosion helped the Fillies roll over Wheeling on Thursday 8-0.

Junior Molly Pfeiffer had a torrid evening on the visitors’ pitch, striking for the first goal of the match at 11 minutes, and later putting three into the back of the net within eight minutes to finish with four on the night, and seven in two matches after recording a hat-trick in the Fillies 5-2 victory against Rolling Meadows.

"We really feel that we played pretty well in those two games with Naperville North and Neuqua,” Pfeiffer said. “They’re both state ranked and nationally-ranked teams, and its games against tough opponents like them and the others we play because of our tough non-conference schedule that help us stay focused and prepared for every other opponent that we take on."

Pfeiffer scored 14 last year during her sophomore season, despite missing a handful of matches to injury.

"I know we could have been much sharper tonight, especially at the start and for the first 15-20 minutes,” Fillies coach Ryan Stengren said. “But we're still a work in progress as we work through getting healthy, and a rebuilt backline and new keeper.

“But throughout training camp and the early stages of the season, I've been happy with the way the girls just go about the business of preparing for our games, and with the effort they've given so far. Once we sort things out and get everyone together, we should be in good shape later on."

The Fillies will return from spring break to find Waubonsie Valley as its first opponent on Thursday, April 5, on the road.

Barrington struggled early on against a young, inexperienced side from Wheeling. Despite having just four back from its 2011 club, and several freshmen and sophomores, all new to the varsity game, Wheeling played with plenty of energy and pace in the first 20 minutes.

That effort did not go unnoticed by Pfeiffer and teammate Kathryn Avedon, as well as Wheeling coach Darren Llewellyn, now in his 5th year in charge.

"I was really impressed with the way they played, especially their two players up top (Alexa Laureano and Jessica Martinez), and how hard they played as a team even when they got down in the second half," offered Avedon, who fired in a long-range freekick at 25 minutes to give the Fillies a 2-goal lead at that point, while having a hand in two of Pfeiffer's four goals.

"Because so many of our girls are involved in other sports and activities we haven't really had them together as a full group but for a few days,” said Llewellyn, who led the boys program at Hersey to three straight MSL titles beginning in 2006.

“Last night (against Schaumburg) and tonight, we're kind of learning and teaching on the fly, and hoping to stay composed and organized for at least the first 20 minutes (then) see what happens afterwards," Llewellyn continued. "I thought we did pretty well for the first 20-25 minutes, but we did not do well on any of their set-piece chances, and especially anything in the air, which they converted so many times into the back of our net.

“They are very good at that but I guarantee you that will be something we really concentrate on beginning tomorrow."

The Fillies’ attack sputtered at the onset because of their inability to win 50-50 balls or connect through the middle, and particularly on the outside to the speedy Aimee Pierce, who rarely saw the ball in the first half hour as her mates were mostly a right-handed side during that time.

Anna Burnidge was especially active at the outside midfield on the right side, and with teammate Abby Taplett building things out of the back to Burnidge, the Fillies were constantly finding Pfeiffer and her running mate, Elli Ackerman on a regular basis, leading to the first goal of the match at 11 minutes, with Pfeiffer finishing what Avedon and Mia Calamari began.

Avedon calmly stepped up at the far touchline to send her looping left-footed freekick far into the right corner, and out of reach of Wildcats keeper at Elizabeth McDaniel at 25 minutes. Five minutes before half, Sara Condon broke free at the top of box before finishing with a well-placed low shot to give the visitors a 3-0 cushion at the intermission. 

"It's nice to get these two wins this week, but there's no such thing as an easy win, and Wheeling really played hard tonight," began the senior Avedon.

"We can't and won't let down against any opponent, and like (Molly) said, our tough non-conference schedule helps all of us to be ready for anyone that we play."

After a respectable first half of soccer by the home-side, things went from  bad to worse in a heartbeat.

Pfeiffer collected a loose ball to the far left of the 'Cats keeper McDaniel, and wasted little time in finding Pierce on the other side of the box.

With a wonderful first touch, the junior was instantly clear of her defender and when she reached the top of the box, she unleashed a well-paced low shot into the back of the net to make it 4-0 in the 46th minute.

Four minutes later, Ackermann got into the act when, after a Calamari corner, Pfeiffer once again spotted her mate for a tidy finish in close.

After that, it was time for the Molly Pfeiffer show.

The Fillies’ top scorer brushed past her marker to head Calamari's inward swinging corner, then took advantage of some indecision from the Wheeling backline to bury her third, and the seventh of the match in the 55th minute.

With the seven-goal advantage, the game clock was cut in half according to IHSA rules, and moments later Pfeiffer buried her fourth goal, and the Fillies last of this humid evening, with a little help from Pierce, who kept things alive with her usual high work rate.

Avedon, Samantha Frank, Meredith Slott and Taplett made things easy between the pipes for Nicole Collins, who wasn't forced to handle anything dangerous on frame from the hosts.

"We did pretty well against both Naperville (North) and Neuqua last week, and it's too bad we didn't handle a set-piece better against Neuqua, because we could have been zero-zero with them and then who knows what happens then," Pfeiffer said.

"We lost a lot of players from last year, and it's all just a work in progress for now, but it's slowly coming together for us, and if we continue to work hard, good things will happen later on," chimed in Avedon.