Cougars in the hunt for MSL West lead
By Gary Larsen

Barrington did everything well except finish, and Conant did everything well to keep the Fillies from scoring for 100 minutes of soccer on Saturday.

The two played to a double-overtime, 0-0 draw in a game that pitted the Fillies’ pressure and numerous restarts against a Cougars team that is doing well to keep opponents out of the net.

Barrington (4-2-1, 3-1-1 in MSL play) and Conant (3-2-2, 2-1-1) now sit first and second, respectively, atop the MSL West.

“I don’t have a lot of complaints instead of being more composed in front of the goal,” Barrington coach Ryan Stengren said. “I’m happy with the way we possessed and we did a lot of good things. We’re just struggling to finish right now. We’re just a little bit out of synch.”

Conant coach Jason Franco went into the contest unsure how his side would handle Barrington’s mix of size and athleticism, but the Cougars passed the test.

“I guess I don’t give us enough credit because I thought we handled that okay,” Franco said. “I’ve got to be proud of the effort. It wasn’t pretty and at times we were hanging on, but it wasn’t like (Barrington) was peppering the goal. We were giving up freekicks and corners but we defended those well and (keeper Haley Anderson) played very well.”

The Cougars have now only given up three goals in seven games, thanks to Anderson and the work put in by the back four of Kayla Severinsen, Drew Wentzel, Katie Lomas, and Stephanie Bugas.

“We basically wanted to stand our ground today,” Severinsen said. “We’re focusing on defense first right now. We try to wait until everyone’s back before we send it over, and hopefully get on a breakaway that will catch them off-guard.

“This game will give us confidence. It feels really good to tie a team like this.”

Barrington flirted with a goal at 12 minutes when Jenna Szczesny chipped a ball into the box where teammate Molly Pfeiffer headed it up, off the crossbar, and over past the outstretched hand of Conant keeper Haley Anderson. Pfeiffer broke into the box a minute later but Severinsen destroyed the play.

Through 20 minutes, Conant’s Sidney O’Keefe, Leah Celarek, and Bianca Madonia took turns pressing into the final third but Barrington allowed nothing dangerous to transpire.

Barrington’s Mia Calamari sent in a corner kick that led to Anderson handling a hard shot from distance at 18 minutes, and Fillies keeper Hannah Luedtke handled a one-hopper sent in by Conant’s Zoe Shoro at 25 minutes.

The second half largely settled into a pattern of freekicks and corner kicks sent in by Barrington’s Mia Calamari. Szczesny ran onto a Pfeiffer feed to the left side in the run of play at 53 minutes, but Anderson saved her shot at the near post, slapping it over the endline. Pfeiffer headed the ensuing Calamari corner kick wide.

Anderson made a diving stop at 69 minutes, and Pfeiffer headed another Calamari corner wide of the far post at 76 minutes.

Lomas raced back to thwart Szczesny at 79 minutes on Barrington’s final dangerous flirtation with a goal. The Fillies’ backline of Emily Morin, Emily Decraene, and Gillian Hood didn’t allow Conant to locate a quality shot to the end of regulation, but nobody’s comfortable in a tied game.

“I like it when (Luedtke) doesn’t have to work,” Morin said. “But it’s hard when it’s zero-zero. There’s a lot of stress because the other team is one counter away from taking a lead, but I thought we did well against (Conant’s) counters. Once we start to finish, we’ll be fine.

“We battled so hard and I’m proud of the way everyone went hard the whole time. Scoring isn’t easy and it’s something we’ll keep working on.”

Pfeiffer and Anderson converged on a ball near the post in the first overtime, but Pfeiffer’s wide head shot stood as the lone dangerous chance during the extra periods.

“Our backline played well,” Franco said. “Even (Stephanie) Buga, who is kind of new to it, came in and played well. She played big for us and I thought Alyssa (Altosino) played well for us in the middle. Her biggest contribution was that, on every set piece, she had to mark (Pfeiffer).”

Midfielder Altosino was happy with her side’s play.

“We knew we were the underdogs coming into the game and we just had to step up,” Altosino said. “We respected their play and we just tried to counterattack when we won it on defense.
We’re looking to counter but we’re also getting more familiar with each other, trying to find each other’s feet.”

Barrington’s week ahead features a showdown at MSL East leader Buffalo Grove on Monday and then games on Thursday and Friday against St. Charles East and Evanston.

Conant plays MSL games Monday and Wednesday against Schaumburg and Wheeling before traveling to Wheaton North for games against the host Falcons and then Geneva on Thursday and Saturday.