For the record, No. 9 Schaumburg defeated Barrington 4-2 Wednesday night for the second time this season–this time for the Mid-Suburban League girls soccer title.
Oh, and Pam Jenrick had a goal and an assist for the Saxons (14-3-1), who came into the match at Barrington as MSL South champions.
That said, attention now turns to the state tournament and Saturday’s first-round games. And it’s not too much of a stretch to say that MSL North champ Barrington may be a decisive winner when it comes to the IHSA tournament draw.
The Broncos (14-4-3) are seeded No. 1 in the sectional and favored to reach the supersectional–of which they are hosts. The opponent will be a team from the Rockford area. It would come as no surprise if Barrington found itself in the enviable position of reaching the state finals at Naperville Central the weekend of June 5-6.
And what of Schaumburg, which has two convincing 4-2 victories over the Broncos this season? Well, if the Saxons reach the super, their likely opponent would be the two-time defending state champion, top-ranked St. Charles.
“Luck of the draw?” Barrington coach Jeff Muhr posed. “It happens all the time. I don’t think the format of the state tournament is necessarily the best one.”
But Muhr caught himself, smiled and said, “We’ve got to get there first.” And he knows that Wednesday night’s result won’t get him there.
Schaumburg opened the scoring 7 minutes 36 seconds into the game when Nicole Gariti converted Megan Gallagher’s corner kick into a goal. Gallagher struck again early in the second half with another corner kick. This time her kick got to Tracy Gleixner, Schaumburg’s all-time assist leader, who fed Abbey Zizak for the goal.
“I usually look for Gleixner,” said Gallagher, who dominated the teams’ first matchup April 29 with two goals and one assist.
Amanda Wandtke, assisted by Lindsey Krolak, brought Barrington within 2-1 with 12:07 left. After Robin Keller scored for Schaumburg with 5:50 left, Lisa Solberg countered for Barrington 95 seconds later to make the score 3-2.
Jenrick, who had assisted Keller, finally put things away for Schaumburg with 1:22 left on Gleixner’s second assist of the game, the 39th of the Bowling Green-bound senior’s career.
Schaumburg outshot Barrington 13-12.
“We just caught the breaks tonight,” said Schaumburg coach Greg Charvat. “We were real motivated to win this game.” As for looking down the road, he would have none of that: “We aren’t looking at St. Charles–we’re looking at Saturday’s game (against Streamwood). I don’t even want to talk about St. Charles.”
