McHenry routed in semis

McHenry’s Gabby Breisch (right) vies for the ball against Barrington’s Christina Hirdes during the second half of an IHSA Class 3A Jacobs Sectional semifinal match Wednesday in Algonquin. Barrington won, 6-0. (Travis Haughton – thaughton@nwherald.com)

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ALGONQUIN – Panic settled in within the first few minutes of McHenry’s girls soccer match against Barrington on Wednesday. Although the Warriors played a more confident second half, it wasn’t enough.

Barrington took a five-goal lead into halftime of the IHSA Class 3A Jacobs Sectional semifinal and routed the Warriors, 6-0, to advance to Friday’s championship match against Huntley.

The Red Raiders and the Fillies will square off at 5 p.m. Friday, a change from the previously scheduled start time.

McHenry knew entering Wednesday’s match what it was up against in Barrington: A skilled and quick soccer team that had trounced a talented Lake Zurich squad, 5-0, in the regional final to earn the sectional semifinal berth.

But had the Warriors kept their composure early, it might have been an easier match.

“They jumped from the opening whistle, and we tried to keep the girls relaxed, but it felt like they lost sight of that,” McHenry coach Jim Nelson said. “We knew coming in that they were a good team, but we just couldn’t seem to settle.”

Barrington opened its scoring within the first 2 minutes of play.

Caroline Condon crossed from the left to Mary Kubiuk in front of McHenry’s goal for the 1-0 advantage.

Four minutes later, Condon made it a 2-0 match and Kubiuk, who had a hat trick, followed with an unassisted goal at the 28:16 mark.

Sara Condon scored the Fillies’ fourth goal with 12:03 remaining in the first, and Liz Sauer pushed through Barrington’s fifth goal when she won the ball in front of the Warriors’ net off a corner kick and sent it into the right corner of the goal.

McHenry knew its strategy had to change.

“We wanted to adjust our approach to how they were coming at us,” Nelson said. “If you play smart against the formation they were running, you can play with them. I was very happy with the way we stepped up in the second.”

The Warriors had a handful of opportunities, including one corner kick and two key chances off free kicks, but weren’t able to capitalize.

Despite the loss, the season did not end on a low note, Nelson said.

“I’m very proud of this team’s efforts all year,” Nelson said. “They played hard every game from whistle to whistle, they fought every day, and to come out and win a second regional was outstanding. I couldn’t be more proud.”