Barrington edges New Trier in epic rematch
Fillies sudden death win in PKs delivers repeat Class 3A title
By Dave Owen
NAPERVILLE -- Same time. Same place. And incredibly, same result.
In a rematch of the 2017 Class 3A championship game against Barrington, New Trier entered Saturday’s 2018 title tilt with a 24-0-2 record and a 19-game winning streak after one-sided victories over Carmel and Andrew in its last two games.
But with an underclassmen-dominated roster expected to reach its peak in future years, the Fillies (20-3-2) found themselves again on top of the IHSA girls soccer mountain.
Trailing New Trier 1-0 at halftime, Barrington tied the score four minutes into the second half.
Then when the score remained 1-1 after 56 more minutes of top-caliber play by both sides, the state crown was decided by penalty kicks.
Again, Barrington turned early adversity into a clutch response.
After New Trier goalkeeper Meghan Dwyer incredibly made saves on the first three PK attempts in the session, Barrington answered with conversions by its next two shooters (Christine Batliner and Juliana Moreno), and goalkeeper Sam Schmitz made a crucial save on the fifth New Trier shooter to push the session to sudden death.
After a New Trier shot off the crossbar, the Fillies’ Ashley Prell drove her PK just inside the left post to earn Barrington a 3-2 win in the penalties session and a second-straight Class 3A title in the ultimate dramatic fashion.
Prell scored Barrington’s regulation goal but had been battling through a late-season ankle injury that seemingly hindered her PK prowess.
“With my ankle I’ve been sitting out in practice (on PKs) and resting,” Prell said. “We’ve been practicing them, and I wasn’t in doing them.
“So I was a little nervous (Saturday) - coming in and taking it. I was like ‘It’s been a couple weeks.’ Luckily Juliana stepped up in the first five (shooters), but I knew that it was my time to put it in (on the sixth PK shot).”
But the title-clinching shot wasn’t that easy. Caroming off a support metal piece inside the net, the ball appeared from a distance to hit the post. But officials ruled the shot good, and the momentary pause turned to bedlam.
“I did (know it went in),” Prell said, “but then I was like, ‘Nobody’s cheering.’ So I was like, ‘Guys, please!’ Then I was like, ‘No, wait, maybe not.’ But I knew that I got it.”
As important in the extended PK session was the play of Barrington's senior goalkeeper Schmitz.
While New Trier converted on its second and fourth PK trys (by Nicole Kaspi and Emma Weaver), the sixth shot off metal was preceded by Schmitz’s saves on the first, third and fifth tries – the fifth a do-or-die moment for Barrington’s title hopes.
“I don’t really feel the pressure,” said Schmitz, who with Prell earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors.
“I feel like the pressure is more on the field player (shooters), so I didn’t think about it that way. It’s not really on me at that point. I kind of took the pressure off myself.”
Pressure or not, the wild PK session was just the capper to a full night of maximum-intensity soccer.
Schmitz's punch away of a Weaver corner kick in the seventh minute was followed with a save on Weaver’s 20-yard shot one minute later.
Barrington answered with its own quality chance in the 21st minute – off a clear attempt on a Madi Rosen corner kick, Batliner drove a 25-yard shot just over the net and off the football crossbar.
Then in the 27th minute, the back-and-forth physical play between the two titans literally produced a breakthrough for New Trier.
Bursting in on net from the left side, Trevians top scorer Nicole Kaspi drew Schmitz off her line, barreled through a would-be defender and chipped an eight-yard shot into the net for a 1-0 New Trier lead.
“I think Lily (Conley) won the header off of a goal kick,” Kaspi said, “and when it came to me the defender kind of just fell. And I was able to spin around her and head into goal.
“I give credit to Lily – winning that second ball was so important for us every single game.”
The impact of that play was felt on the scoreboard, but not in Barrington’s psyche.
The Fillies answered the 1-0 deficit with great offensive chances in the final six minutes of the half. Among them – Dwyer’s leaping deflection over the crossbar of a Batliner corner kick with 5:20 left, a Batliner rocket just wide of the left post in the 38th minute, then a Rebecca Shoemaker shot just wide left 1:05 before the break.
Then at the half, the keep-up-the-heat message was further driven home.
“I told them at halftime, ‘We’re not losing a state championship on that (New Trier) goal,’” Barrington coach Ryan Stengren said.
Just 3:39 into the second half, the Fillies had their payoff – and a 1-1 tie.
Prell won a ball left of the net, dribbled down about 20 yards and drove a low 15-yard blast inside the right post.
“We were down early, but this team never quits,” Prell said. “I knew the chances I had were going to be minimal, and I had to capitalize.
“With the team working so hard, I knew I had to finish it. That was one of those shots that luckily I put in right in the corner (of the net).”
Even ankle pain that might have sidelined her in a less-important game wasn’t going to deny Prell.
“I was like ‘OK, adrenalin kick in now, I’m just going to go for it,’” she said. “And obviously this game – this is it, my last game (of the season). I was like 'If it (the foot) falls off, it falls off. I was so focused on giving 100 percent for the team.”
Now tied 1-1, Barrington continued to push, generating corner kicks with 30:30, 28:50 and 26:40 left in regulation.
Then in the last 20 minutes, New Trier’s powerful offense was back on track in a punch-counterpunch battle through the rest of the match.
With 18:10 left, a Sydney Parker throw-in led to a Whitney Hoban high header in a crowd near the post and a reaching grab by Schmitz.
Then it was Barrington’s turn. On a nice Tina Teik send to Prell with 10:45 to play, Dwyer came off her line to deflect Prell’s left-side drive wide of the net and maintain the 1-1 tie.
In the 74th minute of the match, Dwyer nicely deflected a well-struck Teik 33-yard direct kick just wide of the left post.
New Trier then closed regulation with a flurry – first, a Weaver corner kick that Schmitz swatted away. Then with just 15 seconds left in regulation, a foul set up a Kaspi free kick 12 yards out at the left sideline – which was repelled by a Michayla Herr header and subsequent clear.
Those denials of threats by New Trier’s potent offense continued a solid trend for Barrington.
“In our pregame today we walked through all their set pieces,” Stengren said, “and our kids were so laser focused. To stop them (the Trevians) on set pieces, you’ve accomplished something. They’re really, really good on set pieces.”
Stengren had similar praise for the New Trier defense’s stellar effort.
“I really thought we were faster than them up-top, to be honest with you, compared to their backs,” he said. “I thought they did a good job of defending. I thought we could expose them a little bit more, and we didn’t.
“It was a hard-fought game. You had two teams that were playing their hearts out and putting everything on the field.”
The fight continued into a relatively quiet first overtime.
Schmitz narrowly won a race for a Hoban through-ball to the box with 50 seconds left in the first OT, followed by a last-second 30-yard free kick by Barrington’s Teik after Prell was fouled (saved on one hop by Dwyer as the first OT expired).
New Trier had the best of the second OT – a Weaver low shot just wide with 2:55 left, then a Conley 10-yarder just over the net off a Josie Crumley pass with 1:50 to go.
“It was a good game,” New Trier coach Jim Burnside said. “We can analyze it – they had chances, we had chances. It was just two good teams battling.”
Then for the second-straight year, PKs would decide the Barrington-New Trier state final.
And with goalkeepers making saves on five of the first six tries (including all three by New Trier’s Dwyer), it was a PK session for the ages.
“She was all over it, and that’s what Meghan does,” Burnside said of her PK saves. “She’s a great athlete, she reads the game well.
“I thought she played great the entire game. And she played great her entire first varsity season.”
Stengren tipped his proverbial hat to Dwyer, and the Trevians’ preparation.
“They obviously had film on us on the PKs,” he said. “Their girl was totally cheating (to the left post).
“You’re in that situation where, do you tell your kids to change? Because I tell them to change because she knew (where they were shooting), and then that screws them up and you’re getting in their heads. I kind of just let them be after that.”
When Prell’s shot rolled in, Barrington had turned a season that began with a largely new starting lineup into a state title repeat.
“A lot of people doubted us from the beginning, so it’s super exciting to show what we’re really made out of,” senior Schmitz said of her unforgettable last match as a Filly. “And show that these girls are going to be back next year, and they’re going to do great things next year too.”
The final climb to a 2018 title was incredible – a 2-0 supersectional upset of St. Charles North; edging Naperville North 1-0 in the semifinals on a goal in the 75th minute; then Saturday’s epic battle.
“Honestly I think it really prepared us, being able to play those teams (St. Charles North and Naperville North) and know that we were capable of it,” Schmitz said.
“Every game we gave a little bit more and put more effort in. Every game I was like, ‘There’s no way we can play like that again, that’s the best we’ve ever played.’ And then every game we just stepped up. It really shows what our team is made of and how much we’ve improved over the course of the season.”
The razor thin loss in the state finals did nothing to diminish New Trier’s dominant run this decade – two-straight second place finishes at state, following three-straight titles from 2014 to 2016.
“It was a wonderful season,” Burnside said. “This is one of the greatest groups of kids that will ever go through New Trier. They match so many other of the great teams.
“It’s effort; it’s heart. That is what this is all about. They’re a superb, high-class group of kids.”
On a night that came down to one Trevians shot off the crossbar and a Barrington shot inches inside the left post, there were no losers.
“You go out and do what you have to do, and our girls did everything they could do tonight,” Burnside said. “I would say they did everything possible to win this game.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” Burnside added of his team’s five-straight state finals trips. “Everybody thinks it’s normal. It’s not normal what these kids have done.”
Kaspi and Caroline Iserloth joined the New Trier varsity as freshmen and were part of an incredible run of 101 wins in four years.
“It’s super special,” Kaspi said. “The fact that me and Caroline have come to state all four years is a feat by itself. Win, lose, whatever – I don’t know of many girls who have ever done that before. So I’m proud.
“They (Barrington) are an amazing team, but we played well,” Kaspi added. “I wouldn’t have changed anything about our year.”
For Prell and the Fillies, beating the odds and the mighty Trevians produced the ultimate title repeat.
“It was a growth season,” Prell said. “We just kept growing and growing throughout the season.
“We knew right from the beginning (of the season) what we had to do,” Prell added, “and every game we got better. We kept giving 100 percent, so we finally got down to it (the state final).”
In her last game at Barrington, Schmitz and her teammates left a lasting impression.
“Everyone worked super hard tonight, which was the best part of it,” she said. “Everyone really left everything on the field, which makes it so much better just knowing that everyone cares so much and everyone was willing to do so much.”
Before embarking on a very happy ride north to Barrington, Prell offered a final take on an incredible championship night.
“You really can’t describe that moment,” Prell said. “And to do it with these girls -- it’s a fun group.
“It’s unreal,” she added, “and it’s definitely history that will be forever remembered.”
Starting lineups
New Trier
GK Meghan Dwyer
D Caroline Iserloth
D Meredith Nassar
D Josie Crumley
D Sydney Parker
M Victoria Flannagan
M Lily Conley
M Nicole Basil
M Whitney Hoban
F Emma Weaver
F Nicole Kaspi
Barrington
GK Samantha Schmitz
D Madi Rosen
D Juliana Moreno
D Kate McGreevy
D Christine Batliner
M Ashley Rocco
M Michayla Huff
M Ellie Mcauley
F Jen Davona
F Tina Teik
F Ashley Prell
Chicagoland Soccer MVPs of the Match: Ashley Prell, jr. F. Barrington
Samantha Schmitz, sr. GK, Barrington
Scoring summary
First half
New Trier – Nicole Kaspi, 27th minute
Second half
Barrington – Ashley Prell, 44th minute
PKs
Barrington 3, New Trier 2 (six rounds)
New Trier conversions – Kaspi, Emma Weaver
Barrington conversions – Christine Batliner, Juliana Moreno, Prell
Fillies sudden death win in PKs delivers repeat Class 3A title
By Dave Owen
NAPERVILLE -- Same time. Same place. And incredibly, same result.
In a rematch of the 2017 Class 3A championship game against Barrington, New Trier entered Saturday’s 2018 title tilt with a 24-0-2 record and a 19-game winning streak after one-sided victories over Carmel and Andrew in its last two games.
But with an underclassmen-dominated roster expected to reach its peak in future years, the Fillies (20-3-2) found themselves again on top of the IHSA girls soccer mountain.
Trailing New Trier 1-0 at halftime, Barrington tied the score four minutes into the second half.
Then when the score remained 1-1 after 56 more minutes of top-caliber play by both sides, the state crown was decided by penalty kicks.
Again, Barrington turned early adversity into a clutch response.
After New Trier goalkeeper Meghan Dwyer incredibly made saves on the first three PK attempts in the session, Barrington answered with conversions by its next two shooters (Christine Batliner and Juliana Moreno), and goalkeeper Sam Schmitz made a crucial save on the fifth New Trier shooter to push the session to sudden death.
After a New Trier shot off the crossbar, the Fillies’ Ashley Prell drove her PK just inside the left post to earn Barrington a 3-2 win in the penalties session and a second-straight Class 3A title in the ultimate dramatic fashion.
Prell scored Barrington’s regulation goal but had been battling through a late-season ankle injury that seemingly hindered her PK prowess.
“With my ankle I’ve been sitting out in practice (on PKs) and resting,” Prell said. “We’ve been practicing them, and I wasn’t in doing them.
“So I was a little nervous (Saturday) - coming in and taking it. I was like ‘It’s been a couple weeks.’ Luckily Juliana stepped up in the first five (shooters), but I knew that it was my time to put it in (on the sixth PK shot).”
But the title-clinching shot wasn’t that easy. Caroming off a support metal piece inside the net, the ball appeared from a distance to hit the post. But officials ruled the shot good, and the momentary pause turned to bedlam.
“I did (know it went in),” Prell said, “but then I was like, ‘Nobody’s cheering.’ So I was like, ‘Guys, please!’ Then I was like, ‘No, wait, maybe not.’ But I knew that I got it.”
As important in the extended PK session was the play of Barrington's senior goalkeeper Schmitz.
While New Trier converted on its second and fourth PK trys (by Nicole Kaspi and Emma Weaver), the sixth shot off metal was preceded by Schmitz’s saves on the first, third and fifth tries – the fifth a do-or-die moment for Barrington’s title hopes.
“I don’t really feel the pressure,” said Schmitz, who with Prell earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors.
“I feel like the pressure is more on the field player (shooters), so I didn’t think about it that way. It’s not really on me at that point. I kind of took the pressure off myself.”
Pressure or not, the wild PK session was just the capper to a full night of maximum-intensity soccer.
Schmitz's punch away of a Weaver corner kick in the seventh minute was followed with a save on Weaver’s 20-yard shot one minute later.
Barrington answered with its own quality chance in the 21st minute – off a clear attempt on a Madi Rosen corner kick, Batliner drove a 25-yard shot just over the net and off the football crossbar.
Then in the 27th minute, the back-and-forth physical play between the two titans literally produced a breakthrough for New Trier.
Bursting in on net from the left side, Trevians top scorer Nicole Kaspi drew Schmitz off her line, barreled through a would-be defender and chipped an eight-yard shot into the net for a 1-0 New Trier lead.
“I think Lily (Conley) won the header off of a goal kick,” Kaspi said, “and when it came to me the defender kind of just fell. And I was able to spin around her and head into goal.
“I give credit to Lily – winning that second ball was so important for us every single game.”
The impact of that play was felt on the scoreboard, but not in Barrington’s psyche.
The Fillies answered the 1-0 deficit with great offensive chances in the final six minutes of the half. Among them – Dwyer’s leaping deflection over the crossbar of a Batliner corner kick with 5:20 left, a Batliner rocket just wide of the left post in the 38th minute, then a Rebecca Shoemaker shot just wide left 1:05 before the break.
Then at the half, the keep-up-the-heat message was further driven home.
“I told them at halftime, ‘We’re not losing a state championship on that (New Trier) goal,’” Barrington coach Ryan Stengren said.
Just 3:39 into the second half, the Fillies had their payoff – and a 1-1 tie.
Prell won a ball left of the net, dribbled down about 20 yards and drove a low 15-yard blast inside the right post.
“We were down early, but this team never quits,” Prell said. “I knew the chances I had were going to be minimal, and I had to capitalize.
“With the team working so hard, I knew I had to finish it. That was one of those shots that luckily I put in right in the corner (of the net).”
Even ankle pain that might have sidelined her in a less-important game wasn’t going to deny Prell.
“I was like ‘OK, adrenalin kick in now, I’m just going to go for it,’” she said. “And obviously this game – this is it, my last game (of the season). I was like 'If it (the foot) falls off, it falls off. I was so focused on giving 100 percent for the team.”
Now tied 1-1, Barrington continued to push, generating corner kicks with 30:30, 28:50 and 26:40 left in regulation.
Then in the last 20 minutes, New Trier’s powerful offense was back on track in a punch-counterpunch battle through the rest of the match.
With 18:10 left, a Sydney Parker throw-in led to a Whitney Hoban high header in a crowd near the post and a reaching grab by Schmitz.
Then it was Barrington’s turn. On a nice Tina Teik send to Prell with 10:45 to play, Dwyer came off her line to deflect Prell’s left-side drive wide of the net and maintain the 1-1 tie.
In the 74th minute of the match, Dwyer nicely deflected a well-struck Teik 33-yard direct kick just wide of the left post.
New Trier then closed regulation with a flurry – first, a Weaver corner kick that Schmitz swatted away. Then with just 15 seconds left in regulation, a foul set up a Kaspi free kick 12 yards out at the left sideline – which was repelled by a Michayla Herr header and subsequent clear.
Those denials of threats by New Trier’s potent offense continued a solid trend for Barrington.
“In our pregame today we walked through all their set pieces,” Stengren said, “and our kids were so laser focused. To stop them (the Trevians) on set pieces, you’ve accomplished something. They’re really, really good on set pieces.”
Stengren had similar praise for the New Trier defense’s stellar effort.
“I really thought we were faster than them up-top, to be honest with you, compared to their backs,” he said. “I thought they did a good job of defending. I thought we could expose them a little bit more, and we didn’t.
“It was a hard-fought game. You had two teams that were playing their hearts out and putting everything on the field.”
The fight continued into a relatively quiet first overtime.
Schmitz narrowly won a race for a Hoban through-ball to the box with 50 seconds left in the first OT, followed by a last-second 30-yard free kick by Barrington’s Teik after Prell was fouled (saved on one hop by Dwyer as the first OT expired).
New Trier had the best of the second OT – a Weaver low shot just wide with 2:55 left, then a Conley 10-yarder just over the net off a Josie Crumley pass with 1:50 to go.
“It was a good game,” New Trier coach Jim Burnside said. “We can analyze it – they had chances, we had chances. It was just two good teams battling.”
Then for the second-straight year, PKs would decide the Barrington-New Trier state final.
And with goalkeepers making saves on five of the first six tries (including all three by New Trier’s Dwyer), it was a PK session for the ages.
“She was all over it, and that’s what Meghan does,” Burnside said of her PK saves. “She’s a great athlete, she reads the game well.
“I thought she played great the entire game. And she played great her entire first varsity season.”
Stengren tipped his proverbial hat to Dwyer, and the Trevians’ preparation.
“They obviously had film on us on the PKs,” he said. “Their girl was totally cheating (to the left post).
“You’re in that situation where, do you tell your kids to change? Because I tell them to change because she knew (where they were shooting), and then that screws them up and you’re getting in their heads. I kind of just let them be after that.”
When Prell’s shot rolled in, Barrington had turned a season that began with a largely new starting lineup into a state title repeat.
“A lot of people doubted us from the beginning, so it’s super exciting to show what we’re really made out of,” senior Schmitz said of her unforgettable last match as a Filly. “And show that these girls are going to be back next year, and they’re going to do great things next year too.”
The final climb to a 2018 title was incredible – a 2-0 supersectional upset of St. Charles North; edging Naperville North 1-0 in the semifinals on a goal in the 75th minute; then Saturday’s epic battle.
“Honestly I think it really prepared us, being able to play those teams (St. Charles North and Naperville North) and know that we were capable of it,” Schmitz said.
“Every game we gave a little bit more and put more effort in. Every game I was like, ‘There’s no way we can play like that again, that’s the best we’ve ever played.’ And then every game we just stepped up. It really shows what our team is made of and how much we’ve improved over the course of the season.”
The razor thin loss in the state finals did nothing to diminish New Trier’s dominant run this decade – two-straight second place finishes at state, following three-straight titles from 2014 to 2016.
“It was a wonderful season,” Burnside said. “This is one of the greatest groups of kids that will ever go through New Trier. They match so many other of the great teams.
“It’s effort; it’s heart. That is what this is all about. They’re a superb, high-class group of kids.”
On a night that came down to one Trevians shot off the crossbar and a Barrington shot inches inside the left post, there were no losers.
“You go out and do what you have to do, and our girls did everything they could do tonight,” Burnside said. “I would say they did everything possible to win this game.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” Burnside added of his team’s five-straight state finals trips. “Everybody thinks it’s normal. It’s not normal what these kids have done.”
Kaspi and Caroline Iserloth joined the New Trier varsity as freshmen and were part of an incredible run of 101 wins in four years.
“It’s super special,” Kaspi said. “The fact that me and Caroline have come to state all four years is a feat by itself. Win, lose, whatever – I don’t know of many girls who have ever done that before. So I’m proud.
“They (Barrington) are an amazing team, but we played well,” Kaspi added. “I wouldn’t have changed anything about our year.”
For Prell and the Fillies, beating the odds and the mighty Trevians produced the ultimate title repeat.
“It was a growth season,” Prell said. “We just kept growing and growing throughout the season.
“We knew right from the beginning (of the season) what we had to do,” Prell added, “and every game we got better. We kept giving 100 percent, so we finally got down to it (the state final).”
In her last game at Barrington, Schmitz and her teammates left a lasting impression.
“Everyone worked super hard tonight, which was the best part of it,” she said. “Everyone really left everything on the field, which makes it so much better just knowing that everyone cares so much and everyone was willing to do so much.”
Before embarking on a very happy ride north to Barrington, Prell offered a final take on an incredible championship night.
“You really can’t describe that moment,” Prell said. “And to do it with these girls -- it’s a fun group.
“It’s unreal,” she added, “and it’s definitely history that will be forever remembered.”
Starting lineups
New Trier
GK Meghan Dwyer
D Caroline Iserloth
D Meredith Nassar
D Josie Crumley
D Sydney Parker
M Victoria Flannagan
M Lily Conley
M Nicole Basil
M Whitney Hoban
F Emma Weaver
F Nicole Kaspi
Barrington
GK Samantha Schmitz
D Madi Rosen
D Juliana Moreno
D Kate McGreevy
D Christine Batliner
M Ashley Rocco
M Michayla Huff
M Ellie Mcauley
F Jen Davona
F Tina Teik
F Ashley Prell
Chicagoland Soccer MVPs of the Match: Ashley Prell, jr. F. Barrington
Samantha Schmitz, sr. GK, Barrington
Scoring summary
First half
New Trier – Nicole Kaspi, 27th minute
Second half
Barrington – Ashley Prell, 44th minute
PKs
Barrington 3, New Trier 2 (six rounds)
New Trier conversions – Kaspi, Emma Weaver
Barrington conversions – Christine Batliner, Juliana Moreno, Prell