Barrington thwarted by Libertyville rally
'17, '18 titleists end season with 4th trophy in row, high morale
By A.J. Schmitz
PALATINE -- Though Libertyville came from behind to defeat Barrington 2-1 in the Class 3A third place game at Fremd, Barrington’s spirits remain high after an impressive season.
“We had a team that was really inexperienced, and it was probably one of the hardest times I ever pushed a team,” said head coach Ryan Stengren. “This wasn’t the most talented team -- and no disrespect to them! We pushed really hard, and it just shows when you play as a team and follow the process, it doesn’t matter how talented you are, you can still achieve success.”
“Hopefully this gets them hungrier for next year.”
Barrington (17-3-2) was forced to subdue an energetic Libertyville (18-2-0) side right from the get-go.
Goalkeeper Coast Liapis had an early scare in the second minute when a cross played by Libertyville defender Riley Brennan came dangerously close to net. Fortunately for Barrington, the ball hit the crossbar and went out for a goal kick.
Liapis remained active, playing a high line in order to scoop up Libertyville’s through-balls on the odd occasion when they -that is, when the ball made it past center back Kate McGreevy.
McGreevy’s physical play made life difficult for Libertyville’s forwards, especially in the scoreless first half. Twice in the seventh minute, McGreevy broke up through-balls that would have otherwise allowed Libertyville breakaways. The energy that the Wildcats entered the game with seemed to quickly fizzle as they found difficulty figuring a way around the stalwart defender. Scoring opportunities and threatening runs began to dwindle.
“[Libertyville] is a very hard team to defend against. They play really well together, and they do a good job passing the ball and making runs off the ball,” said McGreevy. “I feel like sometimes it’s hard to stick with them, but overall I thought we did a good job handling them for the most part. They’re a really good team.
“They have a lot of really athletic girls. You have to be on your best game to defend against them effectively,” added midfielder Jen Devona.
As if on cue, Barrington elevated its play to that level.
In the 15th minute, Liapis stepped all the way up to midfield to take a free kick. With her entire team in the box, Liapis’ promising long-ball was met by a head amidst the chaos. The close chance almost scraped the post as it went wide.
Another close opportunity came in the 18th minute when midfielder Ally Koshabe beat two defenders and started in on net, only to be foiled by Libertyville defender Lauren Milz who poked the ball out of play.
Libertyville proved its own defensive competence as both teams went into halftime facing a scoreless stalemate despite a handful of early opportunities.
Barrington came back after the break to mimic Libertyville’s early first half energy.
In the 42nd minute, Devona found herself open at the top of the box and launched a shot on net, but Libertyville goalkeeper Hannah Vieth got to it.
Two minutes later, McGreevy launched a ball from way out as if to keep Vieth her nervous and on her toes.
Barrington was awarded a corner in the 52nd minute, which ultimately led to the icebreaker. Midfielder Brooke Brown stepped up to take the kick and sent it perfectly to McGreevy’s head. The ball found its way past Vieth, who had no reasonable chance at saving the point-blank shot.
“Usually if she [McGreevy] has to go forward in the run of play, that’s not a good thing for us. It usually means we’re trailing in the game,” Stengren said, laughing that it was his team’s center back who got the opening goal.
“We just did a good job executing that play,” McGreevy said.
Unfortunately for the Fillies, their edge didn’t last long.
In the 56th minute, Brennan stepped up to take a set piece. Her send into the box found midfielder Sally Grace Rogers who slammed the ball into the bottom corner.
“We’ve been so good on set-pieces. That might have been the first set-piece we’ve given up all year,” Stengren said.
In the 62nd minute, Libertyville scored the game-winning goal. On the counterattack, midfielder Jenna Krakowski carried the ball in toward the near post. Looking to the far post, Krakowski stretched Liapis as she connected with forward Avery Gleason, who slotted the pass into the net.
“I’m just so proud of this team,” said Libertyville head coach Daniel De Paz. “I was telling these girls yesterday I wish there was a bigger word I could use.
“We’ve been down in other games, and we come back and win. One of the toughest games has to be third place games. Your hopes are going to be in the state championship game. You lose that and you have to come back in less than 24 hours, still play and play hard? I think that shows you the girls that we have and the grit and resilience. They went down 1-0 and to come back with two goals? That speaks volumes of the kids we have on this team.”
Barrington’s focus was not in the loss, but in the accomplishments that led them to the state tournament.
“We don’t talk about wins and losses that much, we talk about reaching our potential,” said Stengren. “I think we reached our potential this year. We overachieved this year in a lot of aspects. I know it didn’t show this weekend, but I think we did ‘team’ better than anyone else in the state, and my girls know what that means. It doesn’t mean we have the most dynamic player on the field, we just played as a team and as a family this whole year.”
“I think everyone sacrificed a lot, especially with COVID,” said Devona. “That honestly brought us closer together as a team since we were all going through the same things. It made us want to get the most out of our season.”
Starting lineups
Barrington
GK: Coast Liapis
D: Ella VanNess
D: Gracie Stagnito
D: Kate McGreevy
D: Ellie Sanchez
M: Brooke Brown
M: Jen Devona
M: Nicole Gwiasda
F: Kate Lubinsky
F: Lara Lubinsky
F: Riley Raynor
Libertyville
GK: Hannah Vieth
D: Addie Whisenand
D: Riley Brennan
D: Lauren Milz
D: Sally Grace Rogers
M: Lanie Szatmary
M: Abby Gordon
M: Payton Nolan
M: Mia Zaccaro
F: Lauren Rocco
F: Avery Gleason
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the match: Avery Gleason, jr., F, Libertyville
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Barrington: McGreevy (Brown) 52nd minute
Libertyville: Rogers (Brennan) 56th minute
Libertyville: Gleason (Krakowski) 62nd minute
'17, '18 titleists end season with 4th trophy in row, high morale
By A.J. Schmitz
PALATINE -- Though Libertyville came from behind to defeat Barrington 2-1 in the Class 3A third place game at Fremd, Barrington’s spirits remain high after an impressive season.
“We had a team that was really inexperienced, and it was probably one of the hardest times I ever pushed a team,” said head coach Ryan Stengren. “This wasn’t the most talented team -- and no disrespect to them! We pushed really hard, and it just shows when you play as a team and follow the process, it doesn’t matter how talented you are, you can still achieve success.”
“Hopefully this gets them hungrier for next year.”
Barrington (17-3-2) was forced to subdue an energetic Libertyville (18-2-0) side right from the get-go.
Goalkeeper Coast Liapis had an early scare in the second minute when a cross played by Libertyville defender Riley Brennan came dangerously close to net. Fortunately for Barrington, the ball hit the crossbar and went out for a goal kick.
Liapis remained active, playing a high line in order to scoop up Libertyville’s through-balls on the odd occasion when they -that is, when the ball made it past center back Kate McGreevy.
McGreevy’s physical play made life difficult for Libertyville’s forwards, especially in the scoreless first half. Twice in the seventh minute, McGreevy broke up through-balls that would have otherwise allowed Libertyville breakaways. The energy that the Wildcats entered the game with seemed to quickly fizzle as they found difficulty figuring a way around the stalwart defender. Scoring opportunities and threatening runs began to dwindle.
“[Libertyville] is a very hard team to defend against. They play really well together, and they do a good job passing the ball and making runs off the ball,” said McGreevy. “I feel like sometimes it’s hard to stick with them, but overall I thought we did a good job handling them for the most part. They’re a really good team.
“They have a lot of really athletic girls. You have to be on your best game to defend against them effectively,” added midfielder Jen Devona.
As if on cue, Barrington elevated its play to that level.
In the 15th minute, Liapis stepped all the way up to midfield to take a free kick. With her entire team in the box, Liapis’ promising long-ball was met by a head amidst the chaos. The close chance almost scraped the post as it went wide.
Another close opportunity came in the 18th minute when midfielder Ally Koshabe beat two defenders and started in on net, only to be foiled by Libertyville defender Lauren Milz who poked the ball out of play.
Libertyville proved its own defensive competence as both teams went into halftime facing a scoreless stalemate despite a handful of early opportunities.
Barrington came back after the break to mimic Libertyville’s early first half energy.
In the 42nd minute, Devona found herself open at the top of the box and launched a shot on net, but Libertyville goalkeeper Hannah Vieth got to it.
Two minutes later, McGreevy launched a ball from way out as if to keep Vieth her nervous and on her toes.
Barrington was awarded a corner in the 52nd minute, which ultimately led to the icebreaker. Midfielder Brooke Brown stepped up to take the kick and sent it perfectly to McGreevy’s head. The ball found its way past Vieth, who had no reasonable chance at saving the point-blank shot.
“Usually if she [McGreevy] has to go forward in the run of play, that’s not a good thing for us. It usually means we’re trailing in the game,” Stengren said, laughing that it was his team’s center back who got the opening goal.
“We just did a good job executing that play,” McGreevy said.
Unfortunately for the Fillies, their edge didn’t last long.
In the 56th minute, Brennan stepped up to take a set piece. Her send into the box found midfielder Sally Grace Rogers who slammed the ball into the bottom corner.
“We’ve been so good on set-pieces. That might have been the first set-piece we’ve given up all year,” Stengren said.
In the 62nd minute, Libertyville scored the game-winning goal. On the counterattack, midfielder Jenna Krakowski carried the ball in toward the near post. Looking to the far post, Krakowski stretched Liapis as she connected with forward Avery Gleason, who slotted the pass into the net.
“I’m just so proud of this team,” said Libertyville head coach Daniel De Paz. “I was telling these girls yesterday I wish there was a bigger word I could use.
“We’ve been down in other games, and we come back and win. One of the toughest games has to be third place games. Your hopes are going to be in the state championship game. You lose that and you have to come back in less than 24 hours, still play and play hard? I think that shows you the girls that we have and the grit and resilience. They went down 1-0 and to come back with two goals? That speaks volumes of the kids we have on this team.”
Barrington’s focus was not in the loss, but in the accomplishments that led them to the state tournament.
“We don’t talk about wins and losses that much, we talk about reaching our potential,” said Stengren. “I think we reached our potential this year. We overachieved this year in a lot of aspects. I know it didn’t show this weekend, but I think we did ‘team’ better than anyone else in the state, and my girls know what that means. It doesn’t mean we have the most dynamic player on the field, we just played as a team and as a family this whole year.”
“I think everyone sacrificed a lot, especially with COVID,” said Devona. “That honestly brought us closer together as a team since we were all going through the same things. It made us want to get the most out of our season.”
Starting lineups
Barrington
GK: Coast Liapis
D: Ella VanNess
D: Gracie Stagnito
D: Kate McGreevy
D: Ellie Sanchez
M: Brooke Brown
M: Jen Devona
M: Nicole Gwiasda
F: Kate Lubinsky
F: Lara Lubinsky
F: Riley Raynor
Libertyville
GK: Hannah Vieth
D: Addie Whisenand
D: Riley Brennan
D: Lauren Milz
D: Sally Grace Rogers
M: Lanie Szatmary
M: Abby Gordon
M: Payton Nolan
M: Mia Zaccaro
F: Lauren Rocco
F: Avery Gleason
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the match: Avery Gleason, jr., F, Libertyville
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Barrington: McGreevy (Brown) 52nd minute
Libertyville: Rogers (Brennan) 56th minute
Libertyville: Gleason (Krakowski) 62nd minute