Fillies stay unbeaten in MSL play
By Gary Larsen

 

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When a standard of play is set as high as Barrington coach Ryan Stengren likes to keep it, winning is not always enough.

Barrington stayed unbeaten in Mid-Suburban League play with Monday’s 2-0 win over visiting Schaumburg, and the Fillies now control their destiny in the MSL’s West division, but their coach doesn’t want them to be satisfied with the way the win played out.

“I don't want to take anything away from Schaumburg because they played very hard,” Stengren said, “and  I guess it's a good sign if you can find a way to win when it's not your best day, but our expectations are higher than our performance was today. I would hope moving forward they'll all look at each other and say 'we need to be better'.”

Played largely between the eighteens and void of a truly dangerous scoring chance for much of the night, Monday’s game between the Fillies and Saxons seemed typical of the slug-it-out nature of a conference rivalry.

“Obviously it wasn’t the prettiest game ever,” Barrington’s Emily Decraene said. “But the most important thing is that we got those scrappy goals.”

The box score shows that Sara Condon’s goal at 70 minutes on a Decraene assist was ultimately the only goal Barrington would need, and Jenna Szczesny added a second at 75 minutes on an Elli Ackermann assist.

The Fillies (11-3, 8-0 in MSL play) earned a few corner kicks early in the game but Schaumburg (9-2-2, 3-2-2) goalkeeper Brooke Schocker got to them first.

The scoreless first half didn’t provide much for fans beyond two or three passes strung together at best, as neither Schocker nor Barrington keeper Hannah Luedtke were forced to make quality saves.

"We came out flat today and I don't know what the reason was for a game this important," Stengren said. "We didn't really start turning it on until the second half. Usually we have seven or eight, or ten kids playing purposeful soccer, and we didn't have that today. There was a lot of whacking the ball and running. Our energy level wasn't right.”

Aimee Pierce kept her effort up high for most of the night, as did the sophomore Decraene. The two were responsible for the creation of the game’s first goal, when Pierce got to a ball deep on the left side, Decraene overlapped, and Pierce found her.  "I just made the run, it was a simple pass back to Emily, and she just hit it perfect to Sara," Pierce said. "Then it was a one-time into the front post."

Condon’s left-footed volley from eight yards out was one of the few beautiful moments in an otherwise unattractive game.

“They definitely have really high pressure, and when they got the ball they could dribble at us,” Pierce said of Schaumburg. “But it was mostly their pressure that made it hard to connect and keep the ball.”

Decraene got singled out for her effort on Monday.

“Emily won every single  ball for us, she defended well, and she didn’t just whack a ball – she played with purpose today,” Stengren said. “So she did a little bit of everything for us. She was one of the bright spots in what was not our best performance. She won a lot of balls and her intelligence level in terms of reading the game was right on cue, she tackled well today, and she played purposeful balls."

The sophomore came into the season as a solid and athletic defender, and she has added to that list of qualities. “My passing and touches on the ball, and playing faster has been a struggle for me but especially this season I feel like those things have improved a lot,” Decraene said.

Szczesny broke behind Schaumburg’s backline and fired on Schocker at 75 minutes, but the Saxons’ keeper made a sweet save on it off her line. The ball deflected towards the right post where Ackermann fell to the turf after colliding with a Schaumburg defender.

Lying on the turf, Ackermann had the presence of mind to toe-poke the ball back across the goalmouth to Szczesny, who finished on the open-netter.

Luedtke made an exceptional diving save at the post in the finals minutes of play to preserve the Fillies’ 10 shutout of the season and their eighth consecutive clean sheet.

Barrington is the only team unbeaten in MSL play this year, with West rival Conant nipping at the Fillies’ heels with one conference loss. Barrington topped Conant 3-0 in their meeting this year.

The Fillies have Hersey, Palatine, and Prospect left to play in conference action, during a season in which the MSL has featured a large stable of quality soccer teams.

“There’s steep competition in our conference and every year it’s a challenge,” Barrington junior Aimee Pierce said. “We know we have to come out ready to play for every game. I like playing so many good teams. It keeps the bar high.”

"We just have to keep working hard, that's the best thing in any game. Energy and effort," Decraene said.