Barrington tops the charts
Fillies named no. 1 in country in 2 polls
By Mike Garofola
On the strength of its first state title -- a thrilling season-ending shootout victory against New Trier in the Class 3A state title game -- and a season-ending 20-game win streak that completed a 28-1-0 campaign, Chicagoland Soccer's no. 1-rated club, Barrington, was named the top team in the nation in the TopDrawerSoccer.com and USA Today/NSCCA final polls.
"This is just icing on the cake," said Fillies senior Jackie Batliner, the superb four-year backline star who will play next fall at DePaul University.
"All 20 of us on our roster committed themselves to the team and each other, and sacrificed a lot in order to train as hard as we could in order to get ourselves the opportunity to compete at a high level, and ultimately, the first state title in program history."
Batliner was part of a stingy defense that conceded just six goals in 29 games this season, and just one during the past two years of Mid-Suburban League play.
"I've been saying all year long that the focus of this team has been off the charts," said Fillies manager Ryan Stengren. "(All) of the girls have been very methodical and businesslike in their approach to training, and in their preparation as well.
"There has been a lot of pride within our program leading up to this year; and the seniors that we've had created a culture of excellence around here which our younger players have been fortunate to be around (and hopefully) continue to carry on next season and afterwards."
Along with Batliner, whom Stengren called the best all-around defender in the state, seniors and four-year veterans Kayla Keck and Haley Tausend provided brilliant play throughout the season in front of goalkeeper Samantha Schmitz, who finished with 21.5 clean-sheets, and a tidy 0.23 goals against average.
The junior made a pair of remarkable saves in the final against New Trier, one coming in regulation, the other in the shootout to help the Fillies win 3-0 in kicks.
Sophia Spinell, who will play at Miami of Ohio next fall, enjoyed a breakout season following a sensational junior year playing on the outside for the Fillies, who have won an unprecedented six-consecutive Mid-Suburban League titles.
"Learning I was named All-State, then later All-Midwest was amazing, but when you add the result at state last weekend, it just couldn't get much better than that," said Spinell, who was also named co-player of the year in the Mid-Suburban League West Division with teammate Batliner.
"This team was so close, both on and off the field, and a lot of that is credited to (Stengren) who promoted that type of atmosphere, and worked so hard in our preparation, training, scouting, and everything else that helped us have the type of season we had."
Spinell recorded 17 goals, and 26 assists on the season, meaning the senior had a hand in more than 40 percent of the 99 goals the Fillies scored, 10 of which came off corners whipped in from Spinell.
Another four-year player, Anna Brodjian, was the co-leader in goals scored at 17, two tallies ahead of sophomore Ashley Prell, who will be a key figure for the Fillies' 2018 and 2019 campaigns.
"Anna didn't even play in our first four games, then played sparingly during the next week to 10 days because she was coming back from offseason ACL surgery, but she was a force up-top with Ashley all year long," said Stengren.
"One of the reasons we remained healthy this spring was because of Russ (Schellhase) who is the absolute best athletic trainer," said Batliner.
"When I suffered a severe ankle sprain one day before supersectionals, I thought to myself: 'This might be it for me this season.'
"But Russ kept me injury free all throughout my high school career, and I had a lot of confidence in him being able to get me ready for supers, then the state tournament, and he did -- just as he did for everyone else that needed him this year."
The Fillies were a team that hit on all cylinders this season. Their only loss came in the final of the inaugural North Shore Invitational to then top-ranked Naperville North. Barrington avenged that loss two weeks later with a championship win in the Naperville Invitational.
"This was a special group of players we had this year," began Stengren, who is now 202-40-17 after 10 years in charge.
"They never stopped working and didn't let anything slow them down or get in their way.
"The seniors gave up going to graduation when we had our semifinal with Downers Grove North. And when the seniors had their end-of-the-year field trip, they decided to stay back so they could join the rest of their team for a pizza party.
"This, and more (is) what this team did for each other. And now they have seen first hand what hard work can bring."
Fillies named no. 1 in country in 2 polls
By Mike Garofola
On the strength of its first state title -- a thrilling season-ending shootout victory against New Trier in the Class 3A state title game -- and a season-ending 20-game win streak that completed a 28-1-0 campaign, Chicagoland Soccer's no. 1-rated club, Barrington, was named the top team in the nation in the TopDrawerSoccer.com and USA Today/NSCCA final polls.
"This is just icing on the cake," said Fillies senior Jackie Batliner, the superb four-year backline star who will play next fall at DePaul University.
"All 20 of us on our roster committed themselves to the team and each other, and sacrificed a lot in order to train as hard as we could in order to get ourselves the opportunity to compete at a high level, and ultimately, the first state title in program history."
Batliner was part of a stingy defense that conceded just six goals in 29 games this season, and just one during the past two years of Mid-Suburban League play.
"I've been saying all year long that the focus of this team has been off the charts," said Fillies manager Ryan Stengren. "(All) of the girls have been very methodical and businesslike in their approach to training, and in their preparation as well.
"There has been a lot of pride within our program leading up to this year; and the seniors that we've had created a culture of excellence around here which our younger players have been fortunate to be around (and hopefully) continue to carry on next season and afterwards."
Along with Batliner, whom Stengren called the best all-around defender in the state, seniors and four-year veterans Kayla Keck and Haley Tausend provided brilliant play throughout the season in front of goalkeeper Samantha Schmitz, who finished with 21.5 clean-sheets, and a tidy 0.23 goals against average.
The junior made a pair of remarkable saves in the final against New Trier, one coming in regulation, the other in the shootout to help the Fillies win 3-0 in kicks.
Sophia Spinell, who will play at Miami of Ohio next fall, enjoyed a breakout season following a sensational junior year playing on the outside for the Fillies, who have won an unprecedented six-consecutive Mid-Suburban League titles.
"Learning I was named All-State, then later All-Midwest was amazing, but when you add the result at state last weekend, it just couldn't get much better than that," said Spinell, who was also named co-player of the year in the Mid-Suburban League West Division with teammate Batliner.
"This team was so close, both on and off the field, and a lot of that is credited to (Stengren) who promoted that type of atmosphere, and worked so hard in our preparation, training, scouting, and everything else that helped us have the type of season we had."
Spinell recorded 17 goals, and 26 assists on the season, meaning the senior had a hand in more than 40 percent of the 99 goals the Fillies scored, 10 of which came off corners whipped in from Spinell.
Another four-year player, Anna Brodjian, was the co-leader in goals scored at 17, two tallies ahead of sophomore Ashley Prell, who will be a key figure for the Fillies' 2018 and 2019 campaigns.
"Anna didn't even play in our first four games, then played sparingly during the next week to 10 days because she was coming back from offseason ACL surgery, but she was a force up-top with Ashley all year long," said Stengren.
"One of the reasons we remained healthy this spring was because of Russ (Schellhase) who is the absolute best athletic trainer," said Batliner.
"When I suffered a severe ankle sprain one day before supersectionals, I thought to myself: 'This might be it for me this season.'
"But Russ kept me injury free all throughout my high school career, and I had a lot of confidence in him being able to get me ready for supers, then the state tournament, and he did -- just as he did for everyone else that needed him this year."
The Fillies were a team that hit on all cylinders this season. Their only loss came in the final of the inaugural North Shore Invitational to then top-ranked Naperville North. Barrington avenged that loss two weeks later with a championship win in the Naperville Invitational.
"This was a special group of players we had this year," began Stengren, who is now 202-40-17 after 10 years in charge.
"They never stopped working and didn't let anything slow them down or get in their way.
"The seniors gave up going to graduation when we had our semifinal with Downers Grove North. And when the seniors had their end-of-the-year field trip, they decided to stay back so they could join the rest of their team for a pizza party.
"This, and more (is) what this team did for each other. And now they have seen first hand what hard work can bring."