Short-handed Barrington bests Loyola in marathon match

THE SKINNY

The Barrington girls soccer team’s 2-1 win over Loyola in penalty kicks Thursday was so evenly played that 100 minutes weren’t enough to decide the outcome. Tied 1-1 in Barrington at the end of regulation in the quarterfinals of the Naperville Invitational, Barrington (11-1-2) and Loyola (15-2-1) played two 10-minute overtime periods without a score. That sent the game into a shootout. Each team then converted four of its five allotted shots in the first sequence of penalty kicks. In the second sequence, a round-robin format, both teams scored on their first attempt. On the Fillies’ second attempt, Barrington’s Nicole Niro scored. Loyola’s second try was stuffed by Barrington keeper Hannah Luedtke, resulting in a Fillies victory.

TURNING POINT

With 22 minutes remaining in the first half, Fillies senior midfielder Mia Calamari was given a red card for a trip of a Ramblers player just in front of the Barrington goal box. The Fillies played the rest of the match short-handed (10 players) and still came away with a victory. “Gutsy, gutsy. We dug down so deep today and got a result. This is the proudest I’ve been of the team so far,” coach Ryan Stengren said.

THE STAR

Jenna Szczesny. The Barrington senior forward was a threat up top the entire game. She scored the Fillies’ lone goal of the match with 14:30 remaining in the first half to give Barrington a 1-0 lead. Loyola senior midfielder Tori Iatarola scored the Ramblers’ lone goal with 25:41 left in the match.

BY THE NUMBERS

Barrington advanced to the semifinals of the Naperville Invitational. It will play Waubonsie Valley Friday night.

QUOTABLE

“They were down a player. It should have been our game. They obviously outplayed us. They are better than us now but that doesn’t mean we won’t be better [in the postseason].” — Iatarola