Gators reach sectional title game vs. Barrington

 

CLICK HERE FOR GATORS' TEAM PAGE

By Gary Larsen

Morgan Stachura was up to the challenge.

Sure, the Barrington senior defender gave up considerable size and strength to Huntley’s world-beating forward, Aimee Wronski, but smarts and feistiness can take you a long way on the back line.

On Tuesday, Stachura and fellow defenders Mia Calamari, Emmelie Hirdes, and Emily Morin used those qualities to stifle Wronski and the Red Raiders’ attack, in a 1-0 Fillies’ win that sent them to 3A sectional title game on Friday.

It was only the second time this season that Huntley was kept out of net.

“The key was our backline shutting them down. It’s only Morgan’s second or third game back after (injury) and she didn’t miss a step today. She’s probably the most aware, smart player we could have put on Wronski,” Barrington’s Molly Pfeiffer said.

Fillies coach Ryan Stengren assigned Stachura to slide with Wronski and wait for help against the Huntley senior, who recently passed the 100-goal mark for her career.

Stachura was happy to oblige, and she knew that approaching the Illinois State-bound Wronski would start with the right mental approach.

“The most important thing was for me to be patient and not let all the talk about her scare me, but at the same time warn me that I would have to be careful with her,” Stachura said. “Clearly she’s a lot bigger and stronger than me, I’ll be the first to admit it, but my speed matched up with her and that’s what I had to rely on.

“But we have a ton of good defenders on our team and I knew if I slowed her down, help would be on the way, for sure.”

The game’s lone goal came early in the second half when Barrington’s Aimee Pierce crossed a ball over to teammate Catie Curran, who teed off on it from 18 yards out.

“It’s an awesome feeling,” Curran said. “We’ve been practicing shooting a lot so I’ve been working on that a lot. It felt good. They’re a tough team with a lot of seniors and both teams came out really hard. We came out with a great mindset and we have a lot of seniors, too. We know how important this game was and coming out I thought we had good energy and came well-prepared. We’re ready for the next game.”

Beyond the value of her goal, Curran also earned one of the best comments a player can hear from her coach after a big game. “She was all over the place today,” Stengren said.

Barrington takes on Crystal Lake South (18-7-2) with a sectional title on the line, on Friday at 6 p.m. on Jacobs’ home field in Algonquin.

Barrington (16-6-1) has now denied Huntley (19-2-1) in the postseason for three consecutive years, and this year the Fillies did it against a Red Raiders team that has attracted high accolades all season.

ESPNRise has Huntley ranked No. 6 in the nation, while the Red Raiders enjoy a No. 3 ranking in Illinois by both Chicago newspapers.

“We’re a great team, too,” Stengren said. “We were confident coming into this game. We play a tough schedule. This was nothing new to us and we figured the longer the game stayed close, the more comfortable we’d be. We play a schedule that’s one of the toughest in the state and it prepares us for games like this one.

“We’ve had to grind out games in the Mid-Suburban League, we played Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley, Naperville North – we play a tough schedule on a regular basis. We were ready for this. And I feel bad for (Huntley) because their whole season was banked on going downstate and that’s a very tough thing to live up to.

“The whole team played hard today and when you play hard you’re going to give yourself a chance.”

In Crystal Lake South, Barrington will take on a team that can also defend like crazy. The Gators won 1-0 over a Rockton Hononegah team that possessed and attacked with cohesion in Game Two at Jacobs.

Kali Loescher’s goal less than three minutes into the first overtime period sent the Gators to the second sectional title game in program history.

“We were pumped, especially because everyone said we were supposed to get creamed by them,” Loescher said. “That just pumped us up more. But we had faith that we could do it and now it’s actually happening. It’s exciting.”

Early this season, Gators coach Brian Allen sent his relatively inexperienced team in against the likes of Conant, Schaumburg, and Bartlett, so the quality attack that Hononegah showed his girls was no surprise.

“We knew they’d knock the ball around and we had to be disciplined,” Allen said of Hononegah. “I knew once we got our defense sorted out, we’d be in the game and my gosh, (Elizabeth) Quinn came up with some big-time saves for us.”

Quinn was relentlessly fearless in racing out to cut off crosses, take shots off Hononegah’s feet, and alter every dangerous chance she faced.

“In our last game (a 3-2 shootout win over Prairie Ridge) I went out too worried about it and got into my own head,” Quinn said. “So in this game I just wanted to be calm, cool, and collected because I feel like I play my best when I’m playing like that.”

“I love my team and I couldn’t have any more confidence in my defense than I do right now. It’s amazing how much of a team we are. We started out as a new team and now we’ve meshed so well.”

The girls in back for South fought hard throughout Tuesday’s contest.

“(Emily) Hamrick shut (Brea) Edwards down up top and our defense bent but didn’t break,” Allen said. “Viv (Qian) was great in the back, (Ashley) Tyllia, and I thought (Audrey) Collard – before she went out with her injury – stepped up, big-time. And Lauren Perrine on the left side did a fantastic job playing two-way soccer.”

Allen saw a fire from his keeper that may have been stoked in the Gators’ shootout win for a regional title.

“She was the hero against Prairie Ridge but in regulation she made some mistakes, and I think she wanted to make amends for that today,” Allen said. “And did she ever. She was fierce off the line, no hesitation, and that’s what we needed.”

The IHSA requires that four, 10-minute overtimes be played before a shootout decides a winner, but the Gators weren’t having any of that.

“We know how to do overtimes. We’ve been in four of them this year so we were ready for this. We said to come out strong in the first five (minutes) and we’ve got it,” Loescher said.

“I told them to just keep plugging. We had some shots that weren’t on the frame and I just wanted us to test the keeper,” Allen said. “She didn’t see the ball the entire game and as a goalkeeper that can be tough when you’ve got to come up with that one save.”

Less than three minutes into the first overtime, Loescher took off with the ball, dribbled up, and fired a shot from 18 yards out that twisted and bent, and somehow found its way between the goalkeeper and the post.

“I thought she saved it and when it went in…I didn’t even know what to do, I was so excited. I’m shaking right now,” Loescher said. “Just a lucky shot, I guess.”

Her coach knows better.

“Give (Loescher) credit. There was some pace on that ball, it knuckled a little bit, and that was a tough save. She made something happen out of  nothing, and we’ll take it,” Allen said. “What can I say about Loescher? She was all over the field and I wouldn’t trade her for anybody in the area. She’s fantastic.”

The Gators face the challenge of a Barrington team that just knocked off a nationally-ranked squad in Huntley, but they’ll go into Friday’s game doing what has gotten them into a sectional final.

“We’ll keep the same approach. It’s all gravy here,” Allen said. “We’ll go out, play hard, and see what happens.”