Fillies Soccer Finding Fill-ins

Barrington’s senior midfielder Sara Condon said there may have been some initial uneasiness about being without some key players in their final match to decide pool F’s winner in the Naperville Invitational but knew the team had plenty of motivation.

“It kind of took a toll on us in the beginning knowing that we were going to be without three of our key players,” she said following Barrington’s 5-0 victory over Evanston.  “But we knew we had to play well for them, and for Mairin Wallner.”

“And that (motivation) helped unite us as a team and worked together
to win it for them,” she went on to say.  “With people missing we knew we had to have people step up and take bigger roles on the field and that was something we did.”

The Fillies, who help host pool divisional play for the Naperville Invitational and has this leg of the tournament named in honor of former Barrington
soccer player Mairin Wallner, won the pool with their 5 goal outburst despite being without three starters: sophomore midfielder Mia Calamari, junior forward Molly Pfeiffer and freshman goalie Hannah Luedtke.

“Playing in this tournament means something for all of us and makes us want to win more, this isn’t just some game,” Condon said.  “Mairian Wallner was a former soccer player and member of our community, so we had this drive to win for her too.”

With a 2-0 victory over St. Viator to begin pool play, Barrington (11-3) secured their advancement to the quarterfinal match with the 5-0 win
against the Wildkits and will face Rockford Boylan, the winner of Group E, on Thursday, April 26^th.

“This was a great result for the fact that Molly (Pfeiffer) didn’t play at all and Mia (Calamari) is out,” Barrington’s coach Ryan Stengren said of the win.  “We were able to get a lot of kids playing time.”

Barrington jumped on the scoreboard by scoring quickly and kept
their foot on the gas when they scored two goals during the last fifteen
minutes of the first half.  Freshman forward Jenna Szczesny’s goal gave the Fillies a 2-0 lead and was followed up moments later when Aimee Pierce tipped a free kick past Evanston goalie Tess Proctor giving Barrington a 3-0 lead heading into halftime.

“We were really working well together and everyone contributed,”
said Condon.  “We don’t have just one person who does everything and no one on our team is selfish, and that’s really important.”

The second half started very similar to how the first finished with Barrington continuing to apply offensive pressure spurred on by defensive
control, and scored two quick goals within the first seven minutes.  Sophomore midfielder Alex Avers scored the first goal and just over two minutes later the Fillies scored their fifth goal on the day.

“We had something that we specifically worked on coming out of halftime and within the first fifteen minutes of the half we did it,” said Stengren.

Even with the five goal advantage Barrington’s defense continued
to play with pressure securing many of the fifty-fifty balls and preventing the Wildkits from garnering momentum while preventing any real shot attempts against senior goalie Nicole Collins all afternoon in the shutout.      

“This was a good game to help keep her sharp in case something
happens to Hannah.”  Stengren said of senior goal keeper Nicole Collins.  “She’s got a great attitude and she a good teammate to have around.”

Barrington played in the quarterfinals of the Naperville Invitational last year but lost to Geneva 1-0 and is hoping to advance past the quarterfinals this year.

“Losing last year was really a big deal and we learned something,” Condon said.  “So we knew we had to come out stronger this year and so far we have done that.”