Barrington strikes fast, downs Buffalo Grove
Spinell spurs Fillies' run of 3 goals in less than 3 minutes
By Dave Owen
BUFFALO GROVE -- Barrington unleashed a new offensive weapon Wednesday at Buffalo Grove.
Jenna Szczesny has earned the reputation as one of the best offensive players in the state. She added to that with two goals Wednesday. But it was sophomore Sophia Spinell’s first two goals of the season, both on well-placed distance shots, that were decisive strikes in the Fillies’ 4-2 win.
Spinell’s goals came during a span of 2:47 midway through the first half, when Barrington (6-0-2, 5-0 in the Mid-Suburban League) quickly turned a 1-1 tie into a 4-1 halftime lead.
“We had a good urgency, especially in the first half,” Spinell said. “We had moments of weakness and then strong points like when we got our first goal.”
Szczesny’s breakaway goal, off a Kelsey Muniz assist, put the Fillies up 1-0 with 32:58 left in the half.
With the score 1-1 after the first of two impressive goals on the night by Buffalo Grove’s Sarah O’Connor, Spinell’s hustle play helped Barrington take charge.
Stealing the ball left of the net, Spinell sent an 18-yard shot that deflected just inside the right post 17:40 before halftime for a 2-1 lead.
“The goalie played the ball to the outside back, and I stepped to pressure it,” Spinell said. “She took a bad touch, and I took advantage of it, stole it and had a quick shot.”
Quick was the word for the Fillies ability to build on the lead.
Just 1:12 later on a nice Szczesny cross to the far post, Bison goalkeeper Cassie Berman tripped Barrington’s Jackie Batliner from behind in a race for the ball. Szczesny’s ensuing penalty kick made it 3-1.
Then 14:53 before halftime (just 95 seconds later), Szczesny was fouled to set up a 37-yard Spinell free kick. The sophomore sent a perfect ball that scraped the bottom of the crossbar and went in for a 4-1 lead.
“We took advantage of the penalties we got, on the PK and the other one outside the box,” Spinell said. “We need to connect a little bit more, obviously, but overall the effort was there and we worked together.”
It was an offensive breakout night for Spinell, who didn’t enter the Barrington starting lineup until the third or fourth game of the season.
“It’s exciting,” she said. “I’ve been really trying hard to get some goals.”
Even before the two finishes Wednesday, Spinell’s potential was no surprise.
“She’s a fantastic player,” Szczesny said. “She brings a lot of crosses and really good balls in the air too. They’re easy to get on the end of.”
Barrington coach Ryan Stengren still sees plenty of imperfections in his team’s play despite an undefeated record. But Spinell’s offense was a bright spot.
“She’s got a good shot,” Stengren said. “She takes all of our corners for us and did well in that part of the game, and she was kind of like our team in other parts of the game. It was nice that we finished.
“We’re a long ways away. We need a lot of work right now. That did not look like what a defensive effort is about at all. But we got a ‘W.’ "
O’Connor’s pinpoint shots on restarts created rare frustration for a Barrington defense that had allowed just two goals all season coming in.
With the Fillies up 1-0, a foul on Georgette Topalis’ shot attempt set up a Bison free kick 23:02 before halftime. O’Connor perfectly tucked the 30-yard shot just under the crossbar in the upper corner to briefly tie the game 1-1.
The former starting goalkeeper for the Bison, O’Connor will play at Eastern Kentucky next year and showed college-level finishing skills Wednesday.
“After practice and before games, she’s been coming out here and working on her free kicks,” Buffalo Grove coach Pat Dudle said. “Her hard work has paid off. She’s a great player, but great players put their time in. She’s a great example for our program.”
O’Connor provided other examples of excellence, both with her play and her perseverance.
With 8:10 left in the half and Barrington up 4-1, O’Connor limped off with a foot injury. She returned four minutes later, just in time to get a ball to the face on a Barrington shot attempt.
O’Connor overcame those setbacks to provide the shot of the second half. After a foul with 19:49 left to play, she lined a 22-yard free kick into the upper right corner of the net to bring the Bison within 4-2.
That putaway was part of a solid effort in keeping Barrington’s explosive offense off the scoreboard for the last 55 minutes of play.
“Cassie Berman, our goalie, did really well,” Bison defender Maria Hamilton said. “Our defense has been working on communicating, staying a lot stronger as a unit and shifting. I thought we did a lot better with that, and then Sarah O’Connor’s shots ... no one could have saved those.”
Barrington answered O’Connor’s second goal with a series of near misses.
Batliner’s throw-in set up a 23-yard Anna Brodjian shot just wide of the post with 18:15 left. Forty seconds later, Szczesny lined a 25-yarder that clanged high off the left post.
Defensive highlights for the Fillies included a breakaway-preventing play by Haley Tausend on a nice upfield pass by Buffalo Grove’s Sara Busse with 20:10 left.
Barrington’s rapid-fire response to being tied 1-1 had a happy ending, but the scenario that led to the rally didn’t please its coach.
“That’s not a very good habit to get into,” Stengren said. “We’ve trained very poorly the last couple of days, and this was a reflection of the way we’ve been training. Hopefully they’re going to own this, we can move on and it’ll be better.
“As well as we were focused for that (Conant match), that wasn’t the mentality we had tonight. We’re happy we get a result in conference and we’re still in control of our own destiny with that, but this team has some maturing to do. We need to get a lot better right now.”
Szczesny shared that opinion.
“I don’t know if our effort was there tonight,” she said. “I think we were just a little off. We have a few players out sick and a few that have lingering injuries, so we just have to work on keeping ourselves healthy throughout the season.
“This team is pretty good, but I think we should have done a little better and so does our coach. I probably need to distribute the ball a little better, with my back to the goal especially.”
With Szczesny the focus of defenses (including tight marking and physical play Wednesday), Spinell and other players have emerged to create havoc.
“He (Stengren) really wants to get a lot of crosses out of me,” Spinell said, “and just impact overall because that’s really important at the position I play on the weak side. Get me to cross, find our targets like Jenna, take the end line and beat my 1 v. 1 player.”
Despite Wednesday’s loss, Buffalo Grove has made huge early season strides with a roster featuring 10 freshmen or sophomores.
“Going into this season, we were missing a core group of seniors because we had so many graduate,” Hamilton said. “But I think we’re all proud of how well we’re doing. We’re surprising ourselves each game. We’re playing super hard. And it can only get better.”
Dudle was impressed with the never-quit effort against the Fillies.
“I was proud of the girls’ work ethic throughout the evening,” Dudle said. “Even though we were down three goals, they never got disheartened and kept playing hard. I’m asking them to improve but they also have to bring the effort, and they did tonight.”
The versatile Hamilton’s successful shift to center back has been one of the keys to the Bison improvement.
“I play forward for club, and then I played outside back all last season,” Hamilton said. “This season he (Dudle) said, ‘You’re going to play center back.’ It was a lot easier than I expected.”
Her highlights Wednesday included a nice block at the net of a Kayla Schutter cross from right of the goal.
“She’s a team first player,” Dudle said of Hamilton. “We definitely need her back there. She solidifies the back, she’s really working on her communication and is just a great leader. I couldn’t ask anything more out of her. She’s a great kid.”
Dudle thinks greater days await the Bison before 2015 is over.
“Obviously we can’t give up that many goals and expect to win against a great team like Barrington,” he said. “But we’re looking to play our best soccer in May. We did some good things out here that we can build on.
“Every day we’re going to try to get better and hopefully compete with the Barringtons of the world at the end of the season.”
Starting lineups
Barrington
GK: Hannah Luedtke
D: Haley Tausend
D: Kayla Keck
D: Lauren Pircher
D: Megan Fox
M: Sophia Spinell
M: Kelsey Muniz
M: Anna Brodjian
M: Maesyn Poidomani
F: Jenna Szczesny
F: Kayla Schutter
Buffalo Grove
GK: Cassie Berman
D: Danielle Allaire
D: Maria Hamilton
D: Dani Bleichman
D: Alyssa Floro
M: Kaylee Gerhart
M: Georgette Topalis
M: Courtney Lee
M: Erin Kleczynski
F: Sara Busse
F: Sarah O’Connor
MVP of the Match: Sophia Spinell, MF, Barrington
Spinell spurs Fillies' run of 3 goals in less than 3 minutes
By Dave Owen
BUFFALO GROVE -- Barrington unleashed a new offensive weapon Wednesday at Buffalo Grove.
Jenna Szczesny has earned the reputation as one of the best offensive players in the state. She added to that with two goals Wednesday. But it was sophomore Sophia Spinell’s first two goals of the season, both on well-placed distance shots, that were decisive strikes in the Fillies’ 4-2 win.
Spinell’s goals came during a span of 2:47 midway through the first half, when Barrington (6-0-2, 5-0 in the Mid-Suburban League) quickly turned a 1-1 tie into a 4-1 halftime lead.
“We had a good urgency, especially in the first half,” Spinell said. “We had moments of weakness and then strong points like when we got our first goal.”
Szczesny’s breakaway goal, off a Kelsey Muniz assist, put the Fillies up 1-0 with 32:58 left in the half.
With the score 1-1 after the first of two impressive goals on the night by Buffalo Grove’s Sarah O’Connor, Spinell’s hustle play helped Barrington take charge.
Stealing the ball left of the net, Spinell sent an 18-yard shot that deflected just inside the right post 17:40 before halftime for a 2-1 lead.
“The goalie played the ball to the outside back, and I stepped to pressure it,” Spinell said. “She took a bad touch, and I took advantage of it, stole it and had a quick shot.”
Quick was the word for the Fillies ability to build on the lead.
Just 1:12 later on a nice Szczesny cross to the far post, Bison goalkeeper Cassie Berman tripped Barrington’s Jackie Batliner from behind in a race for the ball. Szczesny’s ensuing penalty kick made it 3-1.
Then 14:53 before halftime (just 95 seconds later), Szczesny was fouled to set up a 37-yard Spinell free kick. The sophomore sent a perfect ball that scraped the bottom of the crossbar and went in for a 4-1 lead.
“We took advantage of the penalties we got, on the PK and the other one outside the box,” Spinell said. “We need to connect a little bit more, obviously, but overall the effort was there and we worked together.”
It was an offensive breakout night for Spinell, who didn’t enter the Barrington starting lineup until the third or fourth game of the season.
“It’s exciting,” she said. “I’ve been really trying hard to get some goals.”
Even before the two finishes Wednesday, Spinell’s potential was no surprise.
“She’s a fantastic player,” Szczesny said. “She brings a lot of crosses and really good balls in the air too. They’re easy to get on the end of.”
Barrington coach Ryan Stengren still sees plenty of imperfections in his team’s play despite an undefeated record. But Spinell’s offense was a bright spot.
“She’s got a good shot,” Stengren said. “She takes all of our corners for us and did well in that part of the game, and she was kind of like our team in other parts of the game. It was nice that we finished.
“We’re a long ways away. We need a lot of work right now. That did not look like what a defensive effort is about at all. But we got a ‘W.’ "
O’Connor’s pinpoint shots on restarts created rare frustration for a Barrington defense that had allowed just two goals all season coming in.
With the Fillies up 1-0, a foul on Georgette Topalis’ shot attempt set up a Bison free kick 23:02 before halftime. O’Connor perfectly tucked the 30-yard shot just under the crossbar in the upper corner to briefly tie the game 1-1.
The former starting goalkeeper for the Bison, O’Connor will play at Eastern Kentucky next year and showed college-level finishing skills Wednesday.
“After practice and before games, she’s been coming out here and working on her free kicks,” Buffalo Grove coach Pat Dudle said. “Her hard work has paid off. She’s a great player, but great players put their time in. She’s a great example for our program.”
O’Connor provided other examples of excellence, both with her play and her perseverance.
With 8:10 left in the half and Barrington up 4-1, O’Connor limped off with a foot injury. She returned four minutes later, just in time to get a ball to the face on a Barrington shot attempt.
O’Connor overcame those setbacks to provide the shot of the second half. After a foul with 19:49 left to play, she lined a 22-yard free kick into the upper right corner of the net to bring the Bison within 4-2.
That putaway was part of a solid effort in keeping Barrington’s explosive offense off the scoreboard for the last 55 minutes of play.
“Cassie Berman, our goalie, did really well,” Bison defender Maria Hamilton said. “Our defense has been working on communicating, staying a lot stronger as a unit and shifting. I thought we did a lot better with that, and then Sarah O’Connor’s shots ... no one could have saved those.”
Barrington answered O’Connor’s second goal with a series of near misses.
Batliner’s throw-in set up a 23-yard Anna Brodjian shot just wide of the post with 18:15 left. Forty seconds later, Szczesny lined a 25-yarder that clanged high off the left post.
Defensive highlights for the Fillies included a breakaway-preventing play by Haley Tausend on a nice upfield pass by Buffalo Grove’s Sara Busse with 20:10 left.
Barrington’s rapid-fire response to being tied 1-1 had a happy ending, but the scenario that led to the rally didn’t please its coach.
“That’s not a very good habit to get into,” Stengren said. “We’ve trained very poorly the last couple of days, and this was a reflection of the way we’ve been training. Hopefully they’re going to own this, we can move on and it’ll be better.
“As well as we were focused for that (Conant match), that wasn’t the mentality we had tonight. We’re happy we get a result in conference and we’re still in control of our own destiny with that, but this team has some maturing to do. We need to get a lot better right now.”
Szczesny shared that opinion.
“I don’t know if our effort was there tonight,” she said. “I think we were just a little off. We have a few players out sick and a few that have lingering injuries, so we just have to work on keeping ourselves healthy throughout the season.
“This team is pretty good, but I think we should have done a little better and so does our coach. I probably need to distribute the ball a little better, with my back to the goal especially.”
With Szczesny the focus of defenses (including tight marking and physical play Wednesday), Spinell and other players have emerged to create havoc.
“He (Stengren) really wants to get a lot of crosses out of me,” Spinell said, “and just impact overall because that’s really important at the position I play on the weak side. Get me to cross, find our targets like Jenna, take the end line and beat my 1 v. 1 player.”
Despite Wednesday’s loss, Buffalo Grove has made huge early season strides with a roster featuring 10 freshmen or sophomores.
“Going into this season, we were missing a core group of seniors because we had so many graduate,” Hamilton said. “But I think we’re all proud of how well we’re doing. We’re surprising ourselves each game. We’re playing super hard. And it can only get better.”
Dudle was impressed with the never-quit effort against the Fillies.
“I was proud of the girls’ work ethic throughout the evening,” Dudle said. “Even though we were down three goals, they never got disheartened and kept playing hard. I’m asking them to improve but they also have to bring the effort, and they did tonight.”
The versatile Hamilton’s successful shift to center back has been one of the keys to the Bison improvement.
“I play forward for club, and then I played outside back all last season,” Hamilton said. “This season he (Dudle) said, ‘You’re going to play center back.’ It was a lot easier than I expected.”
Her highlights Wednesday included a nice block at the net of a Kayla Schutter cross from right of the goal.
“She’s a team first player,” Dudle said of Hamilton. “We definitely need her back there. She solidifies the back, she’s really working on her communication and is just a great leader. I couldn’t ask anything more out of her. She’s a great kid.”
Dudle thinks greater days await the Bison before 2015 is over.
“Obviously we can’t give up that many goals and expect to win against a great team like Barrington,” he said. “But we’re looking to play our best soccer in May. We did some good things out here that we can build on.
“Every day we’re going to try to get better and hopefully compete with the Barringtons of the world at the end of the season.”
Starting lineups
Barrington
GK: Hannah Luedtke
D: Haley Tausend
D: Kayla Keck
D: Lauren Pircher
D: Megan Fox
M: Sophia Spinell
M: Kelsey Muniz
M: Anna Brodjian
M: Maesyn Poidomani
F: Jenna Szczesny
F: Kayla Schutter
Buffalo Grove
GK: Cassie Berman
D: Danielle Allaire
D: Maria Hamilton
D: Dani Bleichman
D: Alyssa Floro
M: Kaylee Gerhart
M: Georgette Topalis
M: Courtney Lee
M: Erin Kleczynski
F: Sara Busse
F: Sarah O’Connor
MVP of the Match: Sophia Spinell, MF, Barrington