Barrington stuns no. 1 St. Charles North
Fillies stay alive in bid for repeat 3A title, topple North Stars 2-0
By Mike Garofola
BARRINGTON -- The road to the Class 3A state finals looked like it was paved in royal blue and black, the school colors of St. Charles North.
The North Stars enjoyed a fabulous collection of wonderfully gifted attacking players this season. The exquisite bunch entered the Barrington Supersectional on Tuesday with 95 goals on the season. They walked into Barrington Community Stadium as the team to beat.
St. Charles North (21-1-1), ranked no. 1 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, coasted to wins in most of its 21 victories. In the North Stars four postseason games they outscored their opponents 17-1. Now only Barrington stood between them and a Final Four berth.
The contest was certainly not a David vs. Goliath matchup. Despite its youth and inexperience, fourth-ranked Barrington had fashioned an impressive season of its own with a seventh-straight league title and a 10th-consecutive supersectional appearance among the highlights.
Still, when a national media outlet ranks a team as the best in the country, as Top Drawer Soccer did with St. Charles North, the chances of defeat for its opponent dramatically increase.
The first quarter hour justified the ranking. The high-powered North Stars attack ran on high octane fuel.
But after Barrington settled in and began to get back into the game, its ultra-aggressive pressing/counter pressure approach prevented the visitors from generating opportunities.
At the same time the Barrington midfield, led by Michayla Herr and Ashley Rocco and bolstered by the play of sophomore Ellie McAuley, took over control of the middle of the park and began on the path that would create a first half, one-goal advantage.
Jen Devona struck six minutes before the intermission, and Rocco added another with a remarkable effort just after the hour and Barrington shocked St. Charles North 2-0 to knock the North Stars out of the tournament.
Barrington (19-3-2) advances to meet Naperville North (20-3-4) in the 5 p.m. semifinal Friday at North Central College in Naperville.
"I don't think there were too many people who gave us a chance to get back to the state tournament after losing most of our starting lineup from our state championship team from a year ago," began Fillies manager Ryan Stengren.
"But our two seniors (Samantha Schmitz and Michayla Herr) led like the two great captains that they are and our young players grew up as the year went on, and we're back once again."
For the record, Barrington is in the tournament for the eighth time in program history. The Fillies have collected five state trophies, including one for its first state title in 2017.
"I don't think either Sam or myself felt heading into the season that we could make it back to state," said Herr, who will play at Wisconsin next fall. “We just lost too many great players, almost all of them either three- or four-year starters.
"But a funny thing, just five days into our training session, I was excited about the young players we had, and how much they wanted to work to improve. And right then, I knew we really did have a chance to make it back."
Both Schmitz and Herr named nearly every player on their roster as difference-makers in Tuesday’s memorable victory, but the pair made sure that sophomore Ellie McAuley was the one player who got the bulk of the praise.
"Ellie had the most responsibility of any of us," added Schmitz, who along with her young teammate shared Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors. “(She) was asked to man-mark their all-state forward (Hailey Rydberg), and she was just amazing at how she kept her from getting good looks and into any kind of rhythm or comfort zone.”
Barrington played St. Charles North to a 2-2 draw March 22. More recently, Stengren scouted his opponent another time or two. After watching the North Stars, he knew he would have to deploy one of his players to shadow the North Stars extraordinary senior Rydberg, who bagged 22 goals on the season, along with Gia Wahlberg.
"We knew that Gia wasn't 100 percent because of an injury, so the hope was to make Hailey work for everything and not combine with Wahlberg. Together (they) would provide a lot of trouble for us," said Stengren.
During the opening quarter hour, there was no stopping the North Stars who poured forward with confidence and pace, and forced the Fillies to defend with all their might. Barrington kept their fingers crossed that the visitors would not score early and force them to chase the game.
The Fillies had little answer during this early sequence to the creativity, purpose and industry in which Sami Rydberg, Chloe Netzel, Sarah Andrey and Hailey Rydberg produced. But except for a couple of half chances, the St, Charles North was unable to put anything of pure quality on frame. That changed when Wahlberg let fly a snap-shot off a deep throw that required action from Schmitz.
This 31st-minute attempt came after Fillies attack came to life with freshman Jen Devona constantly around the ball and sophomore Tina Teik holding the ball and turning toward goal, while outside backs Madi Rosen and Christine Batliner got forward or supplied lovely service over the top.
Devona found a way to poke her close range shot at, then off of North Stars keeper Sara Maleski, and over the goal line for the lone score of the first half at 34 minutes.
"This team showed so much this season always playing with a lot of heart, desire and grit, so we knew if we could pull their goal back, we could then use that momentum to get one or two more tonight," said St. Charles North manager Brian Harks, who was looking to guide the North Stars to their first state appearance since 2012 when they finished second.
St. Charles North didn’t show any fear or nerves after the second half restart. They gathered themselves up to go right at the Fillies.
Hailey Rydberg put Gia Wahlberg through on the right side, but her attempt went into the outside side netting moments into the second period.
Barrington came back down and created a corner for Rosen, whose curling attempt was headed wide by Herr. Then came Rosen's 35-yard free kick missile that dipped and dived before reaching Maleski, who did well with the difficult strike.
Schmitz saved the day for Barrington with an incredible point-blank stop on what looked like an unstoppable blast from Andrey. When the ball, on its way out of the area was thought to have been handled by a Fillies player in the box, the North Stars bench and its fans howled in disbelief of the non-call.
This 56th-minute sequence highlighted a five-minute surge from Hailey Rydberg, Najera, Sami Rydberg and CeCe Wahlberg, whom Harks moved from his backline into the role as an attacking midfielder.
Wahlberg was dynamic in the final 15 minutes before time, putting two on frame to force Schmitz to save.
Maleski took a sure goal out of the back of the net minutes later when, on the tail-end of a near perfect counter, Teik lashed a fierce shot from 16 yards that the junior pushed up and over the bar.
Herr and Ashley Prell set up the near goal from Teik, but it was the resulting corner that proved disastrous for the St. Charles North.
Rosen, a terrific dead ball provider, curled in her left-footed corner towards the near post. A diving Rocco, nearly horizontal in her effort, then thumped in her header to double the Fillies advantage at 62 minutes.
"I knew we had a corner kick goal in us tonight after seeing some things that might work when we were watching St. Charles beat Conant in their sectional final last weekend," said Stengren.
Before the big home crowd could sit down from its minute-long celebration of the Rocco goal, the visitors stormed back with a pair of attempts at Schmitz and then two corners, only to have the Fillies backline stay air-tight against its high-powered opponents.
"Juliana (Moreno) was so strong in the middle of our backline all night, Batliner was so good defending and tackling, and, again, Ellie (McAuley) never backed down, even though she took a physical beating at times from one of the best players in the state in (Hailey) Rydberg," said a proud Stengren.
Schmitz, who commanded the Barrington box for 80 minutes, allowed nothing to spill free and charged
off her line with conviction. She saved everything that came her way but got some help and breathed a sigh of relief when a dangerous Rydberg try found the post in the 76th minute.
"This team, with many who had never played a minute of varsity soccer last season, did so well during the regular season to help us win another conference championship (then) came through during the postseason when it really counted to help get us to state," said Schmitz, who will play next fall at Harvard.
When the shrill of the referee's whistle ended the 80-minute affair, the Fillies were soon surrounded by their friends, families and former players before accepting their supersectional trophy.
"The support our program receives from our athletic director, alumni, parents, and even our principal and superintendent, who both have been out to see a couple of times this season, has been overwhelming," said Stengren.
For Harks and his St. Charles North club, this was a bitter, disappointing way to end a marvelous season, one in which the club lifted trophies at the PepsiCo Showdown, Adidas Tournament of Champions (Burlington, Ia.) and for the Upstate Eight Conference River Division, and regional and sectional titles.
"I was really proud of the effort from the girls tonight, and all throughout the season," said Harks.
"They never backed down, never gave up, and continued to fight right up until the final whistle. (It) said a lot about a great group of players, who should be very proud of what they accomplished this past season."
CeCe Wahlberg, the North Stars classy junior, who will one of the team’s key figures in 2019 season, had this to say while her teammates packed up for the ride home.
"It was a great season, and one that I was able to share with my sister (Gia) which was amazing, and something that I feel very fortunate to have been able to experience."
Starting lineups
Barrington (4-4-2)
GK- Samantha Schmitz
D- Madi Rosen
D- Kate McGreevy
D- Juliana Moreno
D- Christine Batliner
M- Jen Devona
M- Michayla Herr
M- Ashley Rocco
M- Ellie McAuley
F- Ashley Prell
F- Tina Teik
St. Charles North (4-3-3)
GK- Sara Maleski
D- Makenna Collins
D- C.C. Wahlberg
D- Dmi Petrusha
D- Alyssa Kraft
M- Sami Rydberg
M- Claudia Najera
M- Cassidy Joyce
F- Hailey Rydberg
F- Gia Wahlberg
F- Chloe Netzel
Scoring Summary
First half
Barrington: Devona (U/A) 34'
Second half
Barrington: Rocco (Rosen) 62'
Chicagoland Soccer co MVP's of the Match: Samantha Schmitz, sr., GK, Barrington
Ellie McAuley, so., M, Barrington
Referee: Rafal Zielinski
Fillies stay alive in bid for repeat 3A title, topple North Stars 2-0
By Mike Garofola
BARRINGTON -- The road to the Class 3A state finals looked like it was paved in royal blue and black, the school colors of St. Charles North.
The North Stars enjoyed a fabulous collection of wonderfully gifted attacking players this season. The exquisite bunch entered the Barrington Supersectional on Tuesday with 95 goals on the season. They walked into Barrington Community Stadium as the team to beat.
St. Charles North (21-1-1), ranked no. 1 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, coasted to wins in most of its 21 victories. In the North Stars four postseason games they outscored their opponents 17-1. Now only Barrington stood between them and a Final Four berth.
The contest was certainly not a David vs. Goliath matchup. Despite its youth and inexperience, fourth-ranked Barrington had fashioned an impressive season of its own with a seventh-straight league title and a 10th-consecutive supersectional appearance among the highlights.
Still, when a national media outlet ranks a team as the best in the country, as Top Drawer Soccer did with St. Charles North, the chances of defeat for its opponent dramatically increase.
The first quarter hour justified the ranking. The high-powered North Stars attack ran on high octane fuel.
But after Barrington settled in and began to get back into the game, its ultra-aggressive pressing/counter pressure approach prevented the visitors from generating opportunities.
At the same time the Barrington midfield, led by Michayla Herr and Ashley Rocco and bolstered by the play of sophomore Ellie McAuley, took over control of the middle of the park and began on the path that would create a first half, one-goal advantage.
Jen Devona struck six minutes before the intermission, and Rocco added another with a remarkable effort just after the hour and Barrington shocked St. Charles North 2-0 to knock the North Stars out of the tournament.
Barrington (19-3-2) advances to meet Naperville North (20-3-4) in the 5 p.m. semifinal Friday at North Central College in Naperville.
"I don't think there were too many people who gave us a chance to get back to the state tournament after losing most of our starting lineup from our state championship team from a year ago," began Fillies manager Ryan Stengren.
"But our two seniors (Samantha Schmitz and Michayla Herr) led like the two great captains that they are and our young players grew up as the year went on, and we're back once again."
For the record, Barrington is in the tournament for the eighth time in program history. The Fillies have collected five state trophies, including one for its first state title in 2017.
"I don't think either Sam or myself felt heading into the season that we could make it back to state," said Herr, who will play at Wisconsin next fall. “We just lost too many great players, almost all of them either three- or four-year starters.
"But a funny thing, just five days into our training session, I was excited about the young players we had, and how much they wanted to work to improve. And right then, I knew we really did have a chance to make it back."
Both Schmitz and Herr named nearly every player on their roster as difference-makers in Tuesday’s memorable victory, but the pair made sure that sophomore Ellie McAuley was the one player who got the bulk of the praise.
"Ellie had the most responsibility of any of us," added Schmitz, who along with her young teammate shared Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors. “(She) was asked to man-mark their all-state forward (Hailey Rydberg), and she was just amazing at how she kept her from getting good looks and into any kind of rhythm or comfort zone.”
Barrington played St. Charles North to a 2-2 draw March 22. More recently, Stengren scouted his opponent another time or two. After watching the North Stars, he knew he would have to deploy one of his players to shadow the North Stars extraordinary senior Rydberg, who bagged 22 goals on the season, along with Gia Wahlberg.
"We knew that Gia wasn't 100 percent because of an injury, so the hope was to make Hailey work for everything and not combine with Wahlberg. Together (they) would provide a lot of trouble for us," said Stengren.
During the opening quarter hour, there was no stopping the North Stars who poured forward with confidence and pace, and forced the Fillies to defend with all their might. Barrington kept their fingers crossed that the visitors would not score early and force them to chase the game.
The Fillies had little answer during this early sequence to the creativity, purpose and industry in which Sami Rydberg, Chloe Netzel, Sarah Andrey and Hailey Rydberg produced. But except for a couple of half chances, the St, Charles North was unable to put anything of pure quality on frame. That changed when Wahlberg let fly a snap-shot off a deep throw that required action from Schmitz.
This 31st-minute attempt came after Fillies attack came to life with freshman Jen Devona constantly around the ball and sophomore Tina Teik holding the ball and turning toward goal, while outside backs Madi Rosen and Christine Batliner got forward or supplied lovely service over the top.
Devona found a way to poke her close range shot at, then off of North Stars keeper Sara Maleski, and over the goal line for the lone score of the first half at 34 minutes.
"This team showed so much this season always playing with a lot of heart, desire and grit, so we knew if we could pull their goal back, we could then use that momentum to get one or two more tonight," said St. Charles North manager Brian Harks, who was looking to guide the North Stars to their first state appearance since 2012 when they finished second.
St. Charles North didn’t show any fear or nerves after the second half restart. They gathered themselves up to go right at the Fillies.
Hailey Rydberg put Gia Wahlberg through on the right side, but her attempt went into the outside side netting moments into the second period.
Barrington came back down and created a corner for Rosen, whose curling attempt was headed wide by Herr. Then came Rosen's 35-yard free kick missile that dipped and dived before reaching Maleski, who did well with the difficult strike.
Schmitz saved the day for Barrington with an incredible point-blank stop on what looked like an unstoppable blast from Andrey. When the ball, on its way out of the area was thought to have been handled by a Fillies player in the box, the North Stars bench and its fans howled in disbelief of the non-call.
This 56th-minute sequence highlighted a five-minute surge from Hailey Rydberg, Najera, Sami Rydberg and CeCe Wahlberg, whom Harks moved from his backline into the role as an attacking midfielder.
Wahlberg was dynamic in the final 15 minutes before time, putting two on frame to force Schmitz to save.
Maleski took a sure goal out of the back of the net minutes later when, on the tail-end of a near perfect counter, Teik lashed a fierce shot from 16 yards that the junior pushed up and over the bar.
Herr and Ashley Prell set up the near goal from Teik, but it was the resulting corner that proved disastrous for the St. Charles North.
Rosen, a terrific dead ball provider, curled in her left-footed corner towards the near post. A diving Rocco, nearly horizontal in her effort, then thumped in her header to double the Fillies advantage at 62 minutes.
"I knew we had a corner kick goal in us tonight after seeing some things that might work when we were watching St. Charles beat Conant in their sectional final last weekend," said Stengren.
Before the big home crowd could sit down from its minute-long celebration of the Rocco goal, the visitors stormed back with a pair of attempts at Schmitz and then two corners, only to have the Fillies backline stay air-tight against its high-powered opponents.
"Juliana (Moreno) was so strong in the middle of our backline all night, Batliner was so good defending and tackling, and, again, Ellie (McAuley) never backed down, even though she took a physical beating at times from one of the best players in the state in (Hailey) Rydberg," said a proud Stengren.
Schmitz, who commanded the Barrington box for 80 minutes, allowed nothing to spill free and charged
off her line with conviction. She saved everything that came her way but got some help and breathed a sigh of relief when a dangerous Rydberg try found the post in the 76th minute.
"This team, with many who had never played a minute of varsity soccer last season, did so well during the regular season to help us win another conference championship (then) came through during the postseason when it really counted to help get us to state," said Schmitz, who will play next fall at Harvard.
When the shrill of the referee's whistle ended the 80-minute affair, the Fillies were soon surrounded by their friends, families and former players before accepting their supersectional trophy.
"The support our program receives from our athletic director, alumni, parents, and even our principal and superintendent, who both have been out to see a couple of times this season, has been overwhelming," said Stengren.
For Harks and his St. Charles North club, this was a bitter, disappointing way to end a marvelous season, one in which the club lifted trophies at the PepsiCo Showdown, Adidas Tournament of Champions (Burlington, Ia.) and for the Upstate Eight Conference River Division, and regional and sectional titles.
"I was really proud of the effort from the girls tonight, and all throughout the season," said Harks.
"They never backed down, never gave up, and continued to fight right up until the final whistle. (It) said a lot about a great group of players, who should be very proud of what they accomplished this past season."
CeCe Wahlberg, the North Stars classy junior, who will one of the team’s key figures in 2019 season, had this to say while her teammates packed up for the ride home.
"It was a great season, and one that I was able to share with my sister (Gia) which was amazing, and something that I feel very fortunate to have been able to experience."
Starting lineups
Barrington (4-4-2)
GK- Samantha Schmitz
D- Madi Rosen
D- Kate McGreevy
D- Juliana Moreno
D- Christine Batliner
M- Jen Devona
M- Michayla Herr
M- Ashley Rocco
M- Ellie McAuley
F- Ashley Prell
F- Tina Teik
St. Charles North (4-3-3)
GK- Sara Maleski
D- Makenna Collins
D- C.C. Wahlberg
D- Dmi Petrusha
D- Alyssa Kraft
M- Sami Rydberg
M- Claudia Najera
M- Cassidy Joyce
F- Hailey Rydberg
F- Gia Wahlberg
F- Chloe Netzel
Scoring Summary
First half
Barrington: Devona (U/A) 34'
Second half
Barrington: Rocco (Rosen) 62'
Chicagoland Soccer co MVP's of the Match: Samantha Schmitz, sr., GK, Barrington
Ellie McAuley, so., M, Barrington
Referee: Rafal Zielinski