Chicagoland Soccer

Vikings drop 4th 1-0 loss to rival Barrington
By Bill Hupp

As the ball bounced out to Alex Avers at the top of the 18-yard box, she didn’t see or hear anything else; not her teammates screaming at her or the Fremd defenders in the box.

All she saw was the ball and the empty net in front of her, vacated after Fremd goalie Shannon Norris fell down trying to clear a corner kick.

Fortunately for Barrington, the sophomore midfielder kept her nerve, used good technique and made no mistake, coolly depositing a sharp shot into the middle of the goal with the side of her right foot.

Avers’ tally with 19:59 to play in the second half gave the Fillies a key 1-0 road win over Mid-Suburban West rival Fremd, their first victory over the Vikings in Palatine in five years.

“I thought it was a hard-working game,” Barrington Coach Ryan Stengren said. “We looked like we didn’t have our legs throughout, so it’s great that we got a result under those conditions. It was great that Avers was responsible enough to be in the right spot and to have the technique to finish that.”

Admittedly, it wasn’t the prettiest of wins for the Fillies, who battled some fatigue after playing their second game in three days. Each team took turns enjoying 10-15 minute spells where they controlled the midfield, possessed well and had the better of play.

Barrington (4-3) looked more dangerous in the final third of the field, however, and only a beautiful diving save by Norris – after a cross was flicked on by a Fillie and appeared bound for the right corner of the goal – kept the game scoreless.

Fillies’ junior defenders Emily Morin and Meredith Slott were solid in the back, teaming up to stifle Vikings forwards Caroline Wagner and Kira Heggeland. Fremd never really troubled Barrington freshman goalkeeper Hannah Luedtke.

In addition to Morin and Slott, Stengren pointed out senior Abby Taplett and sophomore Emily Decraene as two players who stepped up and helped out defensively.

“We needed to bounce back from [Thursday’s loss], so it was a big game for us,” Avers said. “Our goal is to get to the Mid-Suburban League Soccer Bowl, and this [win] will help us a lot.”

Meanwhile, it was the same old story for Fremd (2-4). All four losses this season have come by a 1-0 score line, games in which the Vikings were stout defensively, but struggled to score.

Against Barrington, the Vikings battled and played physically and solid defensively, but only earned one corner kick and attempted six shots, all of them from at least 20 yards away. They had spells of good possession in the midfield, but couldn’t string together enough passes in the final third of the field to create many quality-scoring chances.

“I felt we competed and this was the best game we played all year,” Fremd Coach Steve Keller said. “There weren’t that many opportunities for either team. They capitalized on theirs and we didn’t. We’ll be fine, we played well, we just have to create more and find the back of the net.”

Fremd competed well thanks in large part to the tenacity of senior midfielder Bekah Bostrom and junior midfielders Bri Frys and Jessa Rizzo. They won 50-50 balls and often outworked Barrington. But Keller thought his team was a little too careful and deliberate once they approached the Fillies’ goal.

The Vikings ran a tight ship at the back against Barrington. Senior captain Emily Basten proved to be vocal leader and kept fellow defenders Courtney Norenberg, Catherine Ernst and Rebecca Freeman in good position and able to thwart most Bronco attacks.

“Our [defensive back line] played a nice game,” Keller said. “They were tough, played hard, very physical, won 50-50 balls. I can’t complain defensively. We’ve given up four goals in six games. “

Despite the win for his side, Stengren knows there is still plenty of room for improvement.

“The quality was good at times, but we need to be more consistent for longer stretches,” he said. “We need to challenge goalies more and hit the net. We only had about four shots on goal today, so we need to do better.”

After a difficult stretch of non-conference games against three Naperville power schools (Naperville North, Neuqua and Waubonsie) a busy stretch of the season begins when the Broncos dive into conference play this week with games against Hoffman Estates and Buffalo Grove before a clash with Conant.

“You can’t take anyone lightly in conference,” Stengren said. “We can’t overlook Hoffman or Buffalo Grove because we want to set ourselves up to possibly be undefeated in conference play heading into Friday’s game against Conant.”