Knights' exceptional performance ends without a goal
By Gary Larsen

 

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Against a Prospect team with a fire in its belly, Barrington got it done on Friday night.

With a trip to this year’s MSL Cup on the line, a 1-0 Barrington win in the face of an impressive effort by the Knights showed just what the Fillies are made of.

“Every game we’ve gotten better and we’re working better together,” Barrington senior Sara Condon said. “We’re fighting for it and now we’re in the championship.”

The Fillies (14-5, 10-1) got a goal from Ally Peterson on a great feed from Megan Fox in the first half, after Prospect (10-6-3, 4-4-2) had attacked them hard through the game’s first 30 minutes.

“Megan just kind of overlapped around the outside, got the ball, and played a great ball in,” Barrington coach Ryan Stengren said.  “And to get a win with these girls, the injuries they’ve had – they just persist, and that’s what I’ll take away.  

“I’m just proud of what we’ve accomplished. There aren’t a lot of people, I don’t think, that thought we’d be in this position. But they earned it. I told them at halftime they were going to have to earn it and it was just a gritty, hard-working performance.”

Prospect’s Senior Night brought out the best in the Knights from the outset, giving them plenty to be pleased and encouraged with, despite the loss.

“This was probably our best game of the season. We controlled most of it,” Prospect keeper Megan McCabe said. “It’s frustrating that we couldn’t get one in the net. But we’re getting there.

“On the goal, it slipped through me and it was out of reach, there was a tussle in front of the goal, and I didn’t even see the ball until it rolled into the net. But we’re playing well. We’re making those chances and all we need are those last touches at the goal.”

Taylor Smith, Jesse Petrovski and the Knights’ attack established a presence on Barrington’s half of the field throughout the first half, though finding a dangerous shot was another matter.

Still, the Knights did their coach proud.

“I’m just pleased,” Prospect coach Tom Froats said. “We talked about playing meaningful games at the end of the season, and knowing it was our Senior Night and they needed to win to get into the (MSL Cup), there were lots of reasons to play hard and I thought our effort tonight was outstanding.

“This is a great team and I’m so proud of them. We’ve been getting better and better the last couple of years and I think this is a team that can do great things in the postseason, if we continue and carry forth.”

Playing without starting forward Molly Pfeiffer and with forward Jenna Szczesny slowed by injury, Barrington tapped into its depth on Friday. The Fillies spent more time on Prospect’s end in the in the second half of play, while keeper Hannah Luedtke and her back line handled everything the Knights threw at them en route to their 13th shutout of the season.

Defender Abby Taplett helped punctuate the performance, by a team that has only given up 10 goals in 19 games this season.

“Abby played very well today and honestly, Sara (Condon) and Megan Fox in the midfield were just hard-working kids for us today,” Stengren said. “Really, our whole team worked hard and our back line played solid.

“There wasn’t a kid that didn’t play today and it was the same against Palatine (a 1-0 Barrington win). Every kid played and every single person contributed today.”

West champions Barrington moves on to Wednesday’s Mid-Suburban League Cup game against East champion Hersey, which won the Cup last season. The teams met on April 25 with Hersey winning 1-0 at Barrington.

“We sat back and played (Hersey’s) game a little bit,” Condon said. “If we play hard from the start I think we’ll be fine. Our energy needs to be up and we need to go hard up and down the field.”

A Barrington loss to Prospect would have sent Conant to the MSL Cup this year, so Froats knew his Knights would be facing a determined side.

“They were going to play as hard as they can because it’s such an important game for them,” Froats said. “I thought we matched them. We were clearly all over them for the first 15 or 20 minutes.”

Prospect’s Kelli Iovino went wide at the post in the first half, and the Knights nearly tied the game in the final minute of play when Petrovski ripped a shot off the crossbar from 20 yards out

“We just need to get more efficient with those finishing opportunities,” Froats said. “As the level of competition increases, the number of chance go down so when you create them, you’ve got to finish them.

“But it was a great game and I tip my hat to (Barrington). I know they were without their player up top but I really thought we matched them in every phase of the game.”