Girls soccer: Barrington, Lake Zurich advance to sectional final
The three teams — Barrington, Lake Zurich, and Warren — who joined host Huntley in Tuesday's Class 3A sectional semifinals at Red Raider Stadium had to not only contend with one another but a rather peculiar mix of weather.
That mix included a sunny afternoon, temperatures hovering around the high 80s, and potential high winds that were capable of taking a soccer ball with it that included the chance of rain and hail by evening's end.
When it was all done Barrington and Lake Zurich earned their bids to Friday's sectional final. The Fillies used a Madeline Lewis goal to prevail over the Red Raiders 1-0 in two overtimes while the Bears used an early tally to beat Warren 3-1 in the evening's second sectional tilt.
It will be a rematch for both squads as Barrington beat LZ at Rockton Hononegah last year en route to a second straight Class 3A title game.
In the opener, after a scoreless first 90 minutes of play, it looked like it would take a huge break for someone to get on the scoreboard with what could be the game's lone score.
That break came Barrington's way just two minutes into period six when Lewis, a junior midfielder, took a pass from senior midfield mate Kaitlin Taylor and drilled a wind-aided curveball past Huntley senior goaltender Maddie Lackovic for the golden goal that sends No. 1 seed Barrington to its 15th straight sectional final.
"My teammate got me the ball in the right area to make the shot," Lewis said. "It was (still) a team effort. It wasn't just me, it was everybody, our goal was to make it to the next round. Setbacks in a game are going to happen and (today) we were prepared for them."
Fillies coach Ryan Stengren had a look of both relief and appreciation after the game.
"We thought with the wind we could shoot with distance,“ Stengren said. ”We really limited their chances and we were buzzing all over (the pitch). Something's got to break. Madeline made a play. Good for her. Good for us. It's just nice to playing in the sectional championship."
In the second game, as the lights in Red Raider Stadium turned on just past the midway point of the first half, one could take notice of their movement courtesy of the increased winds that made their way through the pitch.
A short time later Lake Zurich increased their movements as it broke a 1-1 tie in the final 10 minutes of the opening stanza and added some insurance in the early stages of the half number two to send themselves back to Huntley Friday.
After an Addison Stanciak goal evened things for Warren (12-8-1) at 1-1 in the 15th minute, the No. 2 seeded Bears (17-2-3) took the lead for good thanks to a score from senior forward Lauren Bailey in the 30th minute making it 2-1 at halftime.
Then sophomore forward Sydney Arendarczyk added some insurance with a score less than five minutes into the second for the game's final goal.
Junior Ellie Wise got the Bears first on the scoreboard with her goal in the game's sixth minute of play.
"We're excited about the opportunity," Lake Zurich coach Mike Castronova said. "Warren is a great team. That goal at the end of the first half was huge. Our defense played great."