Barrington keeps edge in New Trier rivalry
Alexis Armando's goal with 4:16 left decides 2-1 3A semifinal win
By Dave Owen
NAPERVILLE – Trevians-Fillies Chapter 3 came a day earlier than usual but more than lived up to the typical big-time billing.
After meeting in the Class 3A state championship match the past two years, Barrington and New Trier faced off in a state semifinal showdown Friday that produced huge emotional swings from beginning to end.
Just ask Barrington junior Alexis Armando.
The junior’s counterattack goal with 4:16 left to play broke a 1-1 tie and gave the two-time defending state champion Fillies (22-1-1) a 2-1 win over New Trier (21-3-5).
Just 85 seconds later, Armando had to be carried off the field after injuring her knee in the Fillies’ defensive end.
But fighting off that pain while on crutches after the game, Armando summed up the emotions of the most dramatic goal of Barrington’s latest magical season.
“I knew I had to make a back-post run, and I did it,” Armando said of her fourth goal of 2019. “It was a great team effort, and I was at the end and finished it.”
Madi Rosen’s defensive-end steal on a New Trier throw-in was the unexpected initiation of the play. Within seconds of a pass upfield to Tina Teik, Ellie McAuley broke in on a left side run and sent a strong cross on the ground to Armando, who raced to the right post for the deciding putaway.
“I was just trying to do my part,” Rosen said of her steal. “I saw my mark get the ball, and I didn’t want to give her any room and give her a chance.
“Tina did a great job of getting open and calling for the ball. I saw her, I played her a simple ball, and it went from there.”
In Illinois girls soccer’s version of the Yankees vs. the Red Sox, very little was simple Friday.
Three-time state champions from 2014 to 2016 before their consecutive runner-up finishes, the Trevians battled to the wire.
With 2:30 left, a block in the box by Barrington’s Kate McGreevy was answered by the Trevians Mia Sedgwick, whose send to the crease barely missed connection with Kate Sawdey at the right post.
Then with one minute to go, New Trier’s Emma Weaver (whose offensive zone interception and goal with 26:35 left tied the game 1-1) capped her huge night with one last threat.
Attacking right side, Weaver lined a low shot that Barrington goalkeeper Leah Eisenbarth denied with a diving save towards the left post.
After defeating New Trier on penalty kicks for the both their titles, the Fillies had a semifinal win that was every bit as grueling.
“They’re battles every time,” Barrington coach Ryan Stengren said of the rivalry with New Trier. “They’re so well-coached, He (Trevians coach Jim Burnside) runs such a great program. You can never count them out. And Emma Weaver’s the best player in the state hands down.”
Barrington came out attacking in the first half, but early plays by New Trier defender Heidi Bianucci (block in the box of a Christine Batliner cross in the eighth minute) and goalkeeper Dwyer (nice short hop save at the right post of a Juliana Moreno 30-yard shot in the 14th minute) kept the score 0-0.
After the Fillies' Eisenbarth’s save on a Sedgwick 15-yard right side shot in the 21st minute, New Trier's Bianucci was again on the spot with a block and clear of a Teik chance in the box 25 minutes in.
“I thought she (Bianucci) was really mopping things up and reading the game really well,” Burnside said. “That was a key for us. She was seeing where they were trying to bang the ball in and run onto it, and she closed down a lot of little gaps. That was big for us the whole game.”
In the 32nd minute, a swarming of the box by Barrington’s Caroline Kilayko, Armando and Teik resulted in a Dwyer save, a block near the line by a New Trier defender, then a Rosen long rebound try wide right.
“I was really happy with myself and how our defense played,” Dwyer said. “Obviously it was really frustrating that it didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to.”
But it took a wild back-and-forth second half to reach that dramatic point.
Barrington had the first salvo, set up by a Jen Devona and Armando attack that produced a 37th-minute corner kick.
Rosen’s ensuing corner send produced a scramble in front that began with New Trier goalkeeper Meghan Dwyer’s diving save on a McGreevy shot – but ended with Ashley Rocco’s rebound putaway for a 1-0 Fillies lead.
Another Barrington threat with 31:15 left met familiar obstacles. Rosen’s cross from the left end line was first deflected away by New Trier goalkeeper Dwyer, then cleared by omnipresent Trevians defender Heidi Bianucci.
Then New Trier’s biggest offensive threat made a major impact with 26:35 to play.
After Barrington’s defense seemingly repelled Lily Conley’s initial attack left of the box, Weaver (31 goals, 13 assists this season) took charge.
Intercepting an ill-conceived Fillies clearing attempt, Weaver lined an 18-yard, left-footed drive into the upper corner of the net to tie the game 1-1.
“She (Weaver) is one of the most dominant and impactful players I’ve ever coached,” 23rd year Trevians mentor Burnside said. “She just is always dangerous, always working.
“It makes you proud as a coach to see somebody who does everything they can for their team. She doesn’t do any of that for herself. She does it for her team.”
Weaver’s individual effort was no shock to Dwyer.
“With Emma Weaver playing as our forward, she’s always determined and always wants to get down to business,” Dwyer said. “Even if we’re winning by three or four she’ll keep going at it and never give up. It’s great of her and the rest of our team also. Everyone helped each other out.”
New Trier continued to push, producing three more corner kicks in the next five minutes. But a clear by Barrington’s Rebecca Shomaker and Eisenbarth’s save of a 28-yard Naya Rhee shot denied the best two of those set piece threats.
Then with under 13 minutes left, another Trevians chance came inches from success. Off Bianucci’s powerful 40-yard free kick, Sawdey’s right side try deflected off the crossbar.
The ensuing corner kick ended with a Fallon Warshauer 22-yard shot wide right.
Dueling set piece chances followed. Rosen’s rising 35-yard free kick was grabbed by Dwyer with 9:45 to go, then a Weaver 38-yard indirect free kick was headed off the side of the net by Sawdey at 5:45.
Less than two minutes later, Barrington turned a counterattack into the eventual decisive strike.
“They were great in the back,” Rosen said, “and we knew we’d only have a few chances. So we had to capitalize on those chances.
“We have so much respect for New Trier,” Rosen added. “We knew it was going to be a stressful game, so we just had to dig deep, make all those runs and trust in each other. We had to match their intensity and even go above and beyond. That’s what we did.”
Coming off five shutout wins in a row this postseason, Barrington knew from experience that Friday would bring a new level of challenge.
“It’s always good playing them (New Trier) because they’re a great opponent,” Armando said. “We had a good mentality, and I thought it was a great overall effort from the team. Everyone worked their best. It was a great game.”
In a game of elite teams and dueling chances, New Trier was narrowly denied a state finals spot they had earned every year since 2014.
“I thought our kids really worked hard,” Burnside said. “They (Barrington) are a great athletic team, and it’s always a great battle.
“It’s about moments. And they had a couple, and we didn’t take advantage where we needed to. But that’s because they defended well. I thought they did a great job of shutting us down a little bit, but I’m proud of our kids. It was a great soccer game.”
Surviving the latest nail-biter with New Trier, Barrington now faces Naperville North (14-5-4) in Saturday’s Class 3A title match.
“Again, a very very good program,” Stengren said. “Well-coached, very stingy defensively. It’ll be another battle. So we look forward to it.”
With a win, Barrington would join New Trier (2014-16) and St. Charles (1996-2000) as the only Illinois girls soccer teams to ever win three-or-more-straight titles.
“It’s great, but we don’t compare years,” Stengren said. “This is a brand new year, new team, and we’re just trying to maximize what we have with the talent we have here. We don’t look at it as one, two or three (consecutive state finals).”
That said, the Barrington players recognize their shot to end another season in style.
“It’s surreal,” Rosen said. “Every senior in the state wants to end their career at state. And to be able to do this (reach the state finals three-straight years) is unbelievable.
“All these girls on our team keep saying that they want to do it for us seniors. It just means so much. And now I get to do it – these four seniors, we’ve been playing together since we were eight years old. It’s been awesome to do this with them and finish the season this way.”
Starting lineups
Barrington
GK: Leah Eisenbarth
D: Christine Batliner
D: Juliana Moreno
D: Kate McGreevy
D: Madi Rosen
M: Ashley Rocco
M: Rebecca Shomaker
M: Tina Teik
M: Ellie McAuley
F: Jen Devona
F: Ashley Armando
New Trier
GK: Meghan Dwyer
D: Jenna Birdsell
D: Heidi Bianucci
D: Josie Crumley
D: Ava Shah
M: Mia Sedgwick
M: Lily Conley
M: Kate Sawdey
F: Fallon Warshauer
F: Emma Weaver
F: Alex Wirth
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Madi Rosen, sr. D, Barrington
Scoring summary
First half
None
Second half
Barr- Ashley Rocco, 43rd minute
NT- Emma Weaver, 54th minute
Barr- Alexis Armando (Ellie McAuley), 76th minute
Alexis Armando's goal with 4:16 left decides 2-1 3A semifinal win
By Dave Owen
NAPERVILLE – Trevians-Fillies Chapter 3 came a day earlier than usual but more than lived up to the typical big-time billing.
After meeting in the Class 3A state championship match the past two years, Barrington and New Trier faced off in a state semifinal showdown Friday that produced huge emotional swings from beginning to end.
Just ask Barrington junior Alexis Armando.
The junior’s counterattack goal with 4:16 left to play broke a 1-1 tie and gave the two-time defending state champion Fillies (22-1-1) a 2-1 win over New Trier (21-3-5).
Just 85 seconds later, Armando had to be carried off the field after injuring her knee in the Fillies’ defensive end.
But fighting off that pain while on crutches after the game, Armando summed up the emotions of the most dramatic goal of Barrington’s latest magical season.
“I knew I had to make a back-post run, and I did it,” Armando said of her fourth goal of 2019. “It was a great team effort, and I was at the end and finished it.”
Madi Rosen’s defensive-end steal on a New Trier throw-in was the unexpected initiation of the play. Within seconds of a pass upfield to Tina Teik, Ellie McAuley broke in on a left side run and sent a strong cross on the ground to Armando, who raced to the right post for the deciding putaway.
“I was just trying to do my part,” Rosen said of her steal. “I saw my mark get the ball, and I didn’t want to give her any room and give her a chance.
“Tina did a great job of getting open and calling for the ball. I saw her, I played her a simple ball, and it went from there.”
In Illinois girls soccer’s version of the Yankees vs. the Red Sox, very little was simple Friday.
Three-time state champions from 2014 to 2016 before their consecutive runner-up finishes, the Trevians battled to the wire.
With 2:30 left, a block in the box by Barrington’s Kate McGreevy was answered by the Trevians Mia Sedgwick, whose send to the crease barely missed connection with Kate Sawdey at the right post.
Then with one minute to go, New Trier’s Emma Weaver (whose offensive zone interception and goal with 26:35 left tied the game 1-1) capped her huge night with one last threat.
Attacking right side, Weaver lined a low shot that Barrington goalkeeper Leah Eisenbarth denied with a diving save towards the left post.
After defeating New Trier on penalty kicks for the both their titles, the Fillies had a semifinal win that was every bit as grueling.
“They’re battles every time,” Barrington coach Ryan Stengren said of the rivalry with New Trier. “They’re so well-coached, He (Trevians coach Jim Burnside) runs such a great program. You can never count them out. And Emma Weaver’s the best player in the state hands down.”
Barrington came out attacking in the first half, but early plays by New Trier defender Heidi Bianucci (block in the box of a Christine Batliner cross in the eighth minute) and goalkeeper Dwyer (nice short hop save at the right post of a Juliana Moreno 30-yard shot in the 14th minute) kept the score 0-0.
After the Fillies' Eisenbarth’s save on a Sedgwick 15-yard right side shot in the 21st minute, New Trier's Bianucci was again on the spot with a block and clear of a Teik chance in the box 25 minutes in.
“I thought she (Bianucci) was really mopping things up and reading the game really well,” Burnside said. “That was a key for us. She was seeing where they were trying to bang the ball in and run onto it, and she closed down a lot of little gaps. That was big for us the whole game.”
In the 32nd minute, a swarming of the box by Barrington’s Caroline Kilayko, Armando and Teik resulted in a Dwyer save, a block near the line by a New Trier defender, then a Rosen long rebound try wide right.
“I was really happy with myself and how our defense played,” Dwyer said. “Obviously it was really frustrating that it didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to.”
But it took a wild back-and-forth second half to reach that dramatic point.
Barrington had the first salvo, set up by a Jen Devona and Armando attack that produced a 37th-minute corner kick.
Rosen’s ensuing corner send produced a scramble in front that began with New Trier goalkeeper Meghan Dwyer’s diving save on a McGreevy shot – but ended with Ashley Rocco’s rebound putaway for a 1-0 Fillies lead.
Another Barrington threat with 31:15 left met familiar obstacles. Rosen’s cross from the left end line was first deflected away by New Trier goalkeeper Dwyer, then cleared by omnipresent Trevians defender Heidi Bianucci.
Then New Trier’s biggest offensive threat made a major impact with 26:35 to play.
After Barrington’s defense seemingly repelled Lily Conley’s initial attack left of the box, Weaver (31 goals, 13 assists this season) took charge.
Intercepting an ill-conceived Fillies clearing attempt, Weaver lined an 18-yard, left-footed drive into the upper corner of the net to tie the game 1-1.
“She (Weaver) is one of the most dominant and impactful players I’ve ever coached,” 23rd year Trevians mentor Burnside said. “She just is always dangerous, always working.
“It makes you proud as a coach to see somebody who does everything they can for their team. She doesn’t do any of that for herself. She does it for her team.”
Weaver’s individual effort was no shock to Dwyer.
“With Emma Weaver playing as our forward, she’s always determined and always wants to get down to business,” Dwyer said. “Even if we’re winning by three or four she’ll keep going at it and never give up. It’s great of her and the rest of our team also. Everyone helped each other out.”
New Trier continued to push, producing three more corner kicks in the next five minutes. But a clear by Barrington’s Rebecca Shomaker and Eisenbarth’s save of a 28-yard Naya Rhee shot denied the best two of those set piece threats.
Then with under 13 minutes left, another Trevians chance came inches from success. Off Bianucci’s powerful 40-yard free kick, Sawdey’s right side try deflected off the crossbar.
The ensuing corner kick ended with a Fallon Warshauer 22-yard shot wide right.
Dueling set piece chances followed. Rosen’s rising 35-yard free kick was grabbed by Dwyer with 9:45 to go, then a Weaver 38-yard indirect free kick was headed off the side of the net by Sawdey at 5:45.
Less than two minutes later, Barrington turned a counterattack into the eventual decisive strike.
“They were great in the back,” Rosen said, “and we knew we’d only have a few chances. So we had to capitalize on those chances.
“We have so much respect for New Trier,” Rosen added. “We knew it was going to be a stressful game, so we just had to dig deep, make all those runs and trust in each other. We had to match their intensity and even go above and beyond. That’s what we did.”
Coming off five shutout wins in a row this postseason, Barrington knew from experience that Friday would bring a new level of challenge.
“It’s always good playing them (New Trier) because they’re a great opponent,” Armando said. “We had a good mentality, and I thought it was a great overall effort from the team. Everyone worked their best. It was a great game.”
In a game of elite teams and dueling chances, New Trier was narrowly denied a state finals spot they had earned every year since 2014.
“I thought our kids really worked hard,” Burnside said. “They (Barrington) are a great athletic team, and it’s always a great battle.
“It’s about moments. And they had a couple, and we didn’t take advantage where we needed to. But that’s because they defended well. I thought they did a great job of shutting us down a little bit, but I’m proud of our kids. It was a great soccer game.”
Surviving the latest nail-biter with New Trier, Barrington now faces Naperville North (14-5-4) in Saturday’s Class 3A title match.
“Again, a very very good program,” Stengren said. “Well-coached, very stingy defensively. It’ll be another battle. So we look forward to it.”
With a win, Barrington would join New Trier (2014-16) and St. Charles (1996-2000) as the only Illinois girls soccer teams to ever win three-or-more-straight titles.
“It’s great, but we don’t compare years,” Stengren said. “This is a brand new year, new team, and we’re just trying to maximize what we have with the talent we have here. We don’t look at it as one, two or three (consecutive state finals).”
That said, the Barrington players recognize their shot to end another season in style.
“It’s surreal,” Rosen said. “Every senior in the state wants to end their career at state. And to be able to do this (reach the state finals three-straight years) is unbelievable.
“All these girls on our team keep saying that they want to do it for us seniors. It just means so much. And now I get to do it – these four seniors, we’ve been playing together since we were eight years old. It’s been awesome to do this with them and finish the season this way.”
Starting lineups
Barrington
GK: Leah Eisenbarth
D: Christine Batliner
D: Juliana Moreno
D: Kate McGreevy
D: Madi Rosen
M: Ashley Rocco
M: Rebecca Shomaker
M: Tina Teik
M: Ellie McAuley
F: Jen Devona
F: Ashley Armando
New Trier
GK: Meghan Dwyer
D: Jenna Birdsell
D: Heidi Bianucci
D: Josie Crumley
D: Ava Shah
M: Mia Sedgwick
M: Lily Conley
M: Kate Sawdey
F: Fallon Warshauer
F: Emma Weaver
F: Alex Wirth
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Madi Rosen, sr. D, Barrington
Scoring summary
First half
None
Second half
Barr- Ashley Rocco, 43rd minute
NT- Emma Weaver, 54th minute
Barr- Alexis Armando (Ellie McAuley), 76th minute