Fillies blank Boylan to capture fifth straight sectional title

By Curt Herron

You can certainly forgive Barrington if it feels defensive about its performance in Friday's sectional championship match with Rockford Boylan.

Or perhaps it's more appropriate to say that the Fillies used another great defensive effort to help them win a fifth straight sectional title.

But however you summarize it, it's difficult to not come away impressed with the effort that Ryan Stengren's side turned in against the Titans.

Barrington limited a Boylan squad that had been averaging five goals an outing to a handful of attempts in the Class 3A Jacobs Sectional finals.

Senior Abby Reed entered the match with over 40 goals this year and more than 100 in her career but Aimee Pierce led efforts to shut her down.

With Meredith Slott, Emily Morin and Gabby McLaurin doing their part in the back, Barrington handed Boylan just its second shutout of the year.

Meanwhile, Annalise Avers scored twice and Mia Calamari chipped in with a goal and an assist as the Fillies claimed a 3-0 victory in Algonquin.

It was the eight straight win and seventh consecutive shutout for Barrington (17-4-1), which became the second team to get three goals against Boylan.

Barrington advances to Tuesday's 7 pm super-sectional at its own field, where it meets St. Charles North, which won 1-0 over Geneva at Hoffman Estates.

The North Stars have won two of the last three super-sectionals against the Fillies, who seek their first state trip since 2006, when they were second.

Since starting the season with a 4-3-1 mark, Barrington has rolled to 13 victories in its last 14 matches, allowing only three goals during that span.

And thanks to the defensive effort which halted Boylan's eight-match win streak, Hannah Luedtke saw few threats as she posted the team's 16th shutout.

"We shut down a girl who I think had 47 goals, and it wasn't just Aimee, but she was at the forefront of a collective team effort," Stengren said. "She (Abby Reed) didn't get too many clean looks at the goal, and the majority of that was Aimee leading the way, so I was pleased with her performance.

"Our defense isn't just our back four. We have a system that we play back there in which the girls know where they need to be and they understand it and are very disciplined in what they do. We have a lot of senior leadership back there and our goalie is a vocal leader, so the communication is great.

"That all leads to a shutout against one of the more dangerous teams that we've played. Rockford Boylan was great competition and Mark Couper runs a first-class program over there. Also, I thought that the refereeing in this sectional was outstanding in our two games, so I'd like to compliment them.

"I told the girls before the game that we were trying to win our fifth straight sectional, but you can't take it for granted. It's not easy to get here and all of the teams that you're playing now are good. But this is one of the more focused and hardest-working teams I've been around and they love each other."

Trying to limit one of the more prolific goal scorers to ever come out of the Rockford area was a challenge that Pierce was happy to make a run at.

And other than a liner that Reed fired off in the opening minutes of play which Luedtke hauled in, the Fillies backline managed to keep her at bay.

"We played a great defensive game today," Pierce said. "Abby Reed is a great player and a really touch matchup, so we had to communicate well and it took a lot of effort on all of our parts. Communication was definitely a key against her since she was running all over the place.

"Emily, Meredith and Gabby were always behind me and I had no doubt in my mind that if I did get beat, that they would take care of it and would clean up my mess. But we've done really well in the playoffs and everyone has stepped up their games that much more. There's 110 percent effort on the field.

"I love this team since we all just play for each other. It's not for selfish reasons but because we want to work that much harder for our teammates. We're obviously happy about this win and we're excited to be moving forward. We're just going to try to keep playing our best."

Following Reed's early attempt, the Fillies went on the attack and had a series of oohs and aahs before finally connecting shortly before the break.

Not long before the opening half's midpoint, Jenna Szczesny got free and sent a pass through the box and later fired a shot over the top of the net.

A few minutes later, Calamari sent a corner kick in front and Molly Pfeiffer headed it wide before Alex Avers put subsequent attempt over the frame.

Frustration was starting to set in for the Fillies after Calamari was thwarted by the Titan keeper but their fortunes improved a short time later.

In the 33rd minute, Calamari placed a free kick into the box and in the ensuing chaos in front of the net, Annalise Avers knocked in the loose ball.

"We had a couple of great opportunities before that and you wonder if you're wasting your chances," Stengren said. "But it's always good in a game like this to score the first goal."

During the final minutes of the initial half, Calamari had an effort cleared by a defender and Szczesny was denied just before the whistle sounded.

Boylan (22-3) nearly tied things shortly after the break but Luedtke punched a liner by Emma Krahmer over her head and it bounced off the crossbar.

But the Fillies responded with several good opportunities, beginning with a Calamari free kick from just outside of the box that was punched away.

After Pfeiffer sent a liner over the net, she found Szczesny inside and the latter got off a pair of attempts but they were deflected by defenders.

Things finally clicked again for Barrington in the 59th minute when Calamari sent in an effort from about 30 yards out that went in for a 2-0 lead.

Then in the 61st minute, the Fillies closed out the scoring when Annalise Avers got free just beyond the top of the box and scored her second goal.

The only other team to score three times against the Titans was Waubonsie Valley, which handed them one of their two defeats by a 4-3 score on penalties.

Kelsey Muniz had a pair of good tries in the wake of the two goals but her efforts were stopped and Barrington focused on securing the clean sheet.

Boylan's other defeat in the regular season also was a shutout. That came in a 1-0 overtime loss to Loyola Academy in the Naperville Invite.

"I think something that has kept our defense strong has been our communication," Slott said. "Even when we have subs in and subs out, all four of us are staying connected, no matter who's in the back. We also have Gillian Hood, Emily DeCraene and Carrie Caplin helping us in the back.

"Another big part of our defense has been staying connected with the midfielders. We talked a lot about how to play against a talented player like her (Reed), but at the end of the day, we kept emphasizing that it was still our game to play, we can't always adjust to the other team.

"One of the things that we definitely talk about is wanting to peak and plateau at the right point of the season and I think that we're happy with our improvement and where we're at now. This is a special group of girls and each person has their own specific role. We're a family."