Barrington deals Naperville Central
1st loss, reachs championship match
Brown's early goal holds up in 1-0 win
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE -- Kathleen Baker knows that running down a dream can take multiple avenues.
The Barrington senior has been chasing a state championship ever since her freshman year, first in track and now in soccer.
Baker came close on the track. She earned all-state honors and two medals at the 2019 state meet when she helped the Fillies’ 1,600- and 3,200-meter relays finish fourth.
After her sophomore season was cancelled due to the pandemic, Baker came back last year and advanced to state in four events, adding another medal to her collection when Barrington took seventh in the 1,600 relay. She also qualified individually in the 100 and 400 dashes.
Baker will continue running in college at Notre Dame, but this spring she returned from club soccer to help Ryan Stengren’s vaunted team. The results have been promising.
‘She’s been a great addition to our team,” Stengren said. “She’s been running track for three years, and now she’s back with us.
“She can play anywhere on the field. At the next level, as a right back, she gets up and down the field like not a lot of kids can. She can be that extra attacker for us, but she’s very cool and calm on the ball and makes a lot of good decisions for us.”
Baker was one of four players who missed Barrington’s season-opening 2-0 loss to Naperville North. But she and the Fillies (14-1-0), who are ranked sixth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, have a chance to avenge that loss Saturday when they take on the third-ranked Huskies (13-1-2) in the Naperville Invitational championship match, which is set for 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
Barrington advanced to the final by knocking off second-ranked and previously unbeaten Naperville Central 1-0 in Friday’s semifinals.
Baker played a huge role in the win, helping the midfield hold Naperville Central stars Megan Norkett and Molly O’Rear in check and ending the Redhawks’ 13-game unbeaten streak.
“I think we just worked really hard on just pressuring, working hard as a team and really focusing on shutting them down quick,” Baker said. “Our team is really excited to play (Saturday).
“That’s a great step for us. We’re on a roll, but I think we’re just excited to be here and excited to see how we can improve and keep going.”
The Fillies held the Redhawks (12-1-1) to just five shots, none of which were particularly dangerous. Goalkeeper Abby Raynor punched away Norkett’s free kick from the right corner midway through the first half and that turned out to be her only save of the game.
Barrington’s offense did just enough for the Fillies to win their third game in as many days. They controlled most of the action, especially in the second half, after striking for the only goal of the game in the sixth minute.
Junior Ella Burke, one of Naperville Central’s star center backs, was knocked out of the game briefly following a hard foul, and the Fillies quickly exploited her absence.
Freshman Piper Lucier spotted an opening in the defense and sent a lead pass onto the foot of junior forward Brooke Brown, who raced into space and scored on a wide-open 20-yard shot from just outside the middle of the box at the 34:07 mark of the first half.
“Piper saw that space, and she saw that I was running into it,” Brown said. “I called for the ball, and she played a perfect ball right to the space. I was able to see that there were no defenders there.
“So, I just pressed into the outside of the goal.”
Naperville Central goalkeeper Abby O’Connor had no chance at stopping Brown’s shot, which rolled into the lower right corner of the net.
Burke checked back in shortly after the goal, but the damage was done.
“I think that definitely set the tone,” Brown said of the early goal. “I was really happy about that. I think our team was able to relax a little bit more and play our game more after that.”
Part of that game was dominating the midfield, something no other team had been able to do against the Redhawks this season. Baker’s role cannot be underestimated.
“She did a very nice job,” Brown said. “She definitely held the middle, which is exactly what we wanted her to do.”
The Fillies had several chances to increase the lead in the second half, during which the ball left Naperville Central’s end only occasionally. They had two goals called back, one on an offsides call and another on a foul, and Lucier knocked a header off the crossbar.
“Our midfield play was good today,” Stengren said. “We need to finish them off when we have the opportunity, but we’re getting better each game.
“There’s still room for improvement, but this has been a good week for us, because we get an opportunity to play a lot of high-quality programs.”
Naperville Central, of course, is one of them. The Redhawks are enjoying their best season in a generation, but things did not go their way this time.
“We played a very strong Barrington team, and they were the better side (Friday),” Naperville Central coach Ed Watson said. “I give our girls a lot of credit, because they outplayed us but we fought.
“We didn’t have our best effort tonight, but that’s a credit to them as well. To the last second, our girls continued to battle. When Ella was on the field, they scored no goals.”
To Burke, who had the wind knocked out of her by the foul, being on the sidelines when Barrington scored was a gut punch.
“It was disappointing for the whole team,” Burke said. “There was a little bit of confusion, but that was shortly fixed right after.”
Brown’s goal was only the third conceded by the Redhawks this spring and the second in the run of play.
“We really used it as motivation to try and score,” Burke said. “Sadly, we weren’t able to put one in the back of the net, but I think the team worked really well together. It was just an unfortunate loss.”
How did the Fillies stop the Redhawks?
“I think they were winning a lot of first balls, which we’re going to work on in practice and try and get better at,” Burke said.
While Burke and the Redhawks would prefer to be playing in the championship game, the loss means they will get an extra day to rest some tired legs and heal nagging injuries. Missouri-bound center back Sophia Skoubis sat out her second-straight game with a leg injury.
“We have a lot of girls that aren’t physically feeling their best,” Burke said. “We have some injuries. This loss might have benefitted us in the end, because we can girls back on the field.”
The Fillies, meanwhile, were happy but not overly bubbly after the big win.
“I think that our entire team played great,” Brown said. “We utilized a lot of the goals that we wanted to come in here playing with. I think that we were able to put that on the field.
“Obviously, we have another game tomorrow, so we’re not going to celebrate this too much. We’re going to think about the next game and take each half at a time.”
Starting lineups
Barrington
GK Abby Raynor
D Meredith McGreevy
D Gracie Stagnito
D Ellie Sanchez
M Nicole Gwiasda
M Brooke Brown
M Kathleen Baker
M Kaitlin Taylor
F Piper Lucier
F Riley Rraynor
F Kate Lubinsky
Naperville Central
GK Abby O’Connor
D Chloe Mowry
D Sam Sharp
D Ella Burke
D Taylor Walk
D Sarah McCracken
M Grace Granato
M Megan Norkett
F Maddie Boogerd
F Molly O’Rear
F Lauren Thorne
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Brooke Brown, sr., MF, Barrington
Scoring summary
First half
Barrington – Brooke Brown (Piper Lucier) 34:07 remaining
Second half
No scoring
1st loss, reachs championship match
Brown's early goal holds up in 1-0 win
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE -- Kathleen Baker knows that running down a dream can take multiple avenues.
The Barrington senior has been chasing a state championship ever since her freshman year, first in track and now in soccer.
Baker came close on the track. She earned all-state honors and two medals at the 2019 state meet when she helped the Fillies’ 1,600- and 3,200-meter relays finish fourth.
After her sophomore season was cancelled due to the pandemic, Baker came back last year and advanced to state in four events, adding another medal to her collection when Barrington took seventh in the 1,600 relay. She also qualified individually in the 100 and 400 dashes.
Baker will continue running in college at Notre Dame, but this spring she returned from club soccer to help Ryan Stengren’s vaunted team. The results have been promising.
‘She’s been a great addition to our team,” Stengren said. “She’s been running track for three years, and now she’s back with us.
“She can play anywhere on the field. At the next level, as a right back, she gets up and down the field like not a lot of kids can. She can be that extra attacker for us, but she’s very cool and calm on the ball and makes a lot of good decisions for us.”
Baker was one of four players who missed Barrington’s season-opening 2-0 loss to Naperville North. But she and the Fillies (14-1-0), who are ranked sixth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, have a chance to avenge that loss Saturday when they take on the third-ranked Huskies (13-1-2) in the Naperville Invitational championship match, which is set for 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
Barrington advanced to the final by knocking off second-ranked and previously unbeaten Naperville Central 1-0 in Friday’s semifinals.
Baker played a huge role in the win, helping the midfield hold Naperville Central stars Megan Norkett and Molly O’Rear in check and ending the Redhawks’ 13-game unbeaten streak.
“I think we just worked really hard on just pressuring, working hard as a team and really focusing on shutting them down quick,” Baker said. “Our team is really excited to play (Saturday).
“That’s a great step for us. We’re on a roll, but I think we’re just excited to be here and excited to see how we can improve and keep going.”
The Fillies held the Redhawks (12-1-1) to just five shots, none of which were particularly dangerous. Goalkeeper Abby Raynor punched away Norkett’s free kick from the right corner midway through the first half and that turned out to be her only save of the game.
Barrington’s offense did just enough for the Fillies to win their third game in as many days. They controlled most of the action, especially in the second half, after striking for the only goal of the game in the sixth minute.
Junior Ella Burke, one of Naperville Central’s star center backs, was knocked out of the game briefly following a hard foul, and the Fillies quickly exploited her absence.
Freshman Piper Lucier spotted an opening in the defense and sent a lead pass onto the foot of junior forward Brooke Brown, who raced into space and scored on a wide-open 20-yard shot from just outside the middle of the box at the 34:07 mark of the first half.
“Piper saw that space, and she saw that I was running into it,” Brown said. “I called for the ball, and she played a perfect ball right to the space. I was able to see that there were no defenders there.
“So, I just pressed into the outside of the goal.”
Naperville Central goalkeeper Abby O’Connor had no chance at stopping Brown’s shot, which rolled into the lower right corner of the net.
Burke checked back in shortly after the goal, but the damage was done.
“I think that definitely set the tone,” Brown said of the early goal. “I was really happy about that. I think our team was able to relax a little bit more and play our game more after that.”
Part of that game was dominating the midfield, something no other team had been able to do against the Redhawks this season. Baker’s role cannot be underestimated.
“She did a very nice job,” Brown said. “She definitely held the middle, which is exactly what we wanted her to do.”
The Fillies had several chances to increase the lead in the second half, during which the ball left Naperville Central’s end only occasionally. They had two goals called back, one on an offsides call and another on a foul, and Lucier knocked a header off the crossbar.
“Our midfield play was good today,” Stengren said. “We need to finish them off when we have the opportunity, but we’re getting better each game.
“There’s still room for improvement, but this has been a good week for us, because we get an opportunity to play a lot of high-quality programs.”
Naperville Central, of course, is one of them. The Redhawks are enjoying their best season in a generation, but things did not go their way this time.
“We played a very strong Barrington team, and they were the better side (Friday),” Naperville Central coach Ed Watson said. “I give our girls a lot of credit, because they outplayed us but we fought.
“We didn’t have our best effort tonight, but that’s a credit to them as well. To the last second, our girls continued to battle. When Ella was on the field, they scored no goals.”
To Burke, who had the wind knocked out of her by the foul, being on the sidelines when Barrington scored was a gut punch.
“It was disappointing for the whole team,” Burke said. “There was a little bit of confusion, but that was shortly fixed right after.”
Brown’s goal was only the third conceded by the Redhawks this spring and the second in the run of play.
“We really used it as motivation to try and score,” Burke said. “Sadly, we weren’t able to put one in the back of the net, but I think the team worked really well together. It was just an unfortunate loss.”
How did the Fillies stop the Redhawks?
“I think they were winning a lot of first balls, which we’re going to work on in practice and try and get better at,” Burke said.
While Burke and the Redhawks would prefer to be playing in the championship game, the loss means they will get an extra day to rest some tired legs and heal nagging injuries. Missouri-bound center back Sophia Skoubis sat out her second-straight game with a leg injury.
“We have a lot of girls that aren’t physically feeling their best,” Burke said. “We have some injuries. This loss might have benefitted us in the end, because we can girls back on the field.”
The Fillies, meanwhile, were happy but not overly bubbly after the big win.
“I think that our entire team played great,” Brown said. “We utilized a lot of the goals that we wanted to come in here playing with. I think that we were able to put that on the field.
“Obviously, we have another game tomorrow, so we’re not going to celebrate this too much. We’re going to think about the next game and take each half at a time.”
Starting lineups
Barrington
GK Abby Raynor
D Meredith McGreevy
D Gracie Stagnito
D Ellie Sanchez
M Nicole Gwiasda
M Brooke Brown
M Kathleen Baker
M Kaitlin Taylor
F Piper Lucier
F Riley Rraynor
F Kate Lubinsky
Naperville Central
GK Abby O’Connor
D Chloe Mowry
D Sam Sharp
D Ella Burke
D Taylor Walk
D Sarah McCracken
M Grace Granato
M Megan Norkett
F Maddie Boogerd
F Molly O’Rear
F Lauren Thorne
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Brooke Brown, sr., MF, Barrington
Scoring summary
First half
Barrington – Brooke Brown (Piper Lucier) 34:07 remaining
Second half
No scoring