Bison fall to Fillies in MSL finale
By Mike Garofola

Just one year after its last conference championship, Barrington was at it again, lifting the trophy for the third time in four seasons.

The Fillies (13-4-1) returned to the top of the group thanks for a remarkable effort from its all-state senior, Molly Pfeiffer, and a marvelous second half of soccer from front-to-back to defeat a wonderfully gifted side from Buffalo Grove 2-0 Wednesday night, at the 24th MSL Soccer Cup played at Grant Blaney Stadium in Buffalo Grove.

On an all-star night, it was Pfeiffer who shined brighter than all of the two team’s 12 stars honored at intermission, showing a higher level of play than any other in the Fillies’ biggest match of the season thus far.

"There's not a whole lot you say about Molly's performance, except that it was amazing," began Fillies manager Ryan Stengren, who was particularly happy for the three seniors who have been a part of three MSL titles.

"Molly, Aimee (Pierce) and Erin Morin have been right there from the very beginning, and I can tell you that you won't find three players who are better all-around student-athletes that these three,” Stengren said.

"Each of them has been the foundation for our program during their time here and the reason that we have such a strong group. I’m very happy for them."

There were plenty of side stories leading up to this match that are worth mentioning, including the appearance of the Bison (20-2-1) for just the third time in program history, and second since 2004, when they lost to Fremd 2-1.

It also marked a double of sorts for the sport of soccer at BG, as it was this past fall that the Rick Carlson guided his boys’ team into the 36th annual MSL championship match, where they would fall 2-1 in penalty kicks.

More importantly to the Fillies, it was a rematch of a 2-1 loss during a nasty rainstorm on April 15, which appeared to be the driving force for the Fillies in Wednesday’s game. The memory of that loss stayed with the Barrington manager ever since the final whistle blew on that mid-April night.

"Buffalo Grove is so technically skilled, and they play such great soccer to watch, but I thought on that night, we probably out-chanced them, but they were so much more efficient with their chances, and they deserved to win that match on that night," Stengren said.

"So we obviously were hoping for another chance to play them and tonight, after a shaky start, which I thought we played very nervously, we slowly got back the run of play and then dominated the second half with maybe some of our best soccer of the year."

The home side might have caused that nervous play Stengren spoke of, as the MSL East champs broke out of the blocks with a marvelous display of offensive football. The Bison were led by Skylar Groth, Kelli and Colleen Zickert, and Allie Ingham and Sara Busse, both installed in Pat Dudle's first-11, likely to give the Bison a little more physical presence against the Fillies’ big lineup.

"I thought we came out very strong, and really seemed to rattle Barrington from the start," said BG manager Pat Dudle.

"There was a lot of good stuff from us right at the start, and we continued all the way through the first half by playing great possession soccer, where we were knocking it around and keeping everyone involved, and in Barrington's end for most of the first 40 minutes,” said the junior Groth, who was one of six Bison named to the 2013 all-MSL team during a special halftime presentation.

With some inventive work and a bit of trickery, Groth came from nowhere to run onto a sensational little chip from Sara Busse, getting in on Fillies keeper Hannah Luedtke. But the Fillies sophomore keeper stayed composed, not giving an inch before saving Groth's close-range shot.

Barrington’s Kelsey Muniz -- who along with teammate Annalise Avers ran hard all night long on both sides of the ball -- took a little of the momentum the Bison had been building with a shot over the bar at 10 minutes, but the home side got back into its attack again almost right away.

Carly Brown came on to play on the outside for BG, and senior helped give the Bison attack even more of a boost with her first touch finding Groth, then Kelli Zickert, and finally Kim Herzog for a shot on frame.

Pfeiffer's superb early ball to Avers, who in turn would put Jenna Szczesny through, would put a scare into the Bison fans, but keeper Sarah O'Connor was on the play from the very start and blocked the Fillies’ leading scorer from adding to her 17-goal total.

A patient build-up ended with Ingham going over the bar at 26 minutes, and then some great soccer saw Avers find Szczesny in the center channel.

The sophomore showed terrific composure as she allowed Elli Ackermann to get deeper into her back post run before playing the junior striker a nice ball onto her foot, but O'Connor was again up to the task in saving the 12-yard attempt.

"The play really picked up on both ends and there was some great stuff from both teams, and it really was some entertaining soccer being played at that point," offered Stengren.

The Bison bench would voice its displeasure when they thought Groth was hauled down in the box, but the veteran center official allowed play to go on, and two minutes later the Fillies would find the only goal it would ultimately need for victory.

Avers and Szczesny would create a corner, which Mia Calamari would bend onto the head of Pfeiffer, who tucked her 32nd-minute goal just inside the far post.

"That first goal was so big for us, but we knew that we needed to get the second to really put the pressure on them" Stengren said.

"When they scored the first goal of the game, it really seemed to take a lot out of us, and I don't think we were really the same team as we were before Molly's goal," admitted Groth.

Although now chasing their guests, the Bison would have a go or two at Luedtke shortly thereafter, the first attempt and best coming from Kelli Zickert off a Jessica Kovach freekick from 30 yards.

If Groth and her mates thought Pfeiffer’s first-half goal took something out of them, one can only imagine what the top club on the MSL table must have felt once the Fillies attack revved up.

After most of the play went between the boxes in the first 10 minutes of the second period, with Pfeiffer's lovely flick of a Calamari serve and Kelli Zickert forcing a save from Luedtke, Barrington took over from there.

Calamari began to win everything in the middle of the park, Pfeiffer became more and more influential with each touch and shrewd run, while Szczesny seemed to find another speed to add even more pace to the speedy striker.

The extra added pressure from this trio, combined with a high work rate put increased pressure on the Bison backline of Shannon Guercio, Sara Brawly and JayJay Lowery, who were bending but not breaking despite the Fillies’ constant visits into the Bison's end.

"Our backline really deserved a lot of credit for keeping Buffalo Grove away from Hannah in that second half, and it was a big reason we were able to get forward and pressure them in their end so much," Morin said.

Szczesny nearly caught up to a ball flashed through the box and at the back post from Pfeiffer, before O'Connor stopped the sophomore at 58 minutes to help keep the Bison within striking distance.

But 9 minutes later, reserve midfielder Katie Hoots made her big splash when she one-timed a superb cross from Pfeiffer, who started it all with a spirited run up the left side.

"Molly won nearly every ball in the air, she defended, created, made some big runs, scored, had an assist, and did just about everything at a level higher than anyone else did out there tonight," Stengren said of his Marquette-bound senior.

"It was just too much Molly Pfeiffer for us tonight," Dudle said. "We knew she would be the one to stop, along with Jenna up top, and for almost one half we did, but after that Barrington was just the better team."

Pfeiffer was just happy to see her team carry the day.

"You kind of think about this being the last time you will play in the MSL Cup, but it doesn't really hit you right away, even when you’re out there playing," Pfeiffer said. "I’m sure it will later on but for now, I’m really happy for all of my teammates because this is a big accomplishment, and one that we can all be proud of."

The Fillies will open the state tournament next week at Barrington Community Park with a regional opener against Round Lake, while the Bison, anointed the top seed, begin with the winner of the Wheeling/Zion-Benton play-in game at the Libertyville regional venue.

"The confidence on this team is still very high, and I really feel they are all ready for the task ahead," said Dudle.

"Tonight's result doesn't define the season, it's only a small set-back, which I know the girls will respond to by coming out and playing great team soccer next Tuesday when the postseason begins."