Huntley’s season ends short of expectations

Huntley's Rachel Chapuis goes after the ball around Barrington's Mary Kubiuk during the IHSA Class 3A Jacobs Sectional championship game Friday in Algonquin. Barrington won, 3-0. (Sandy Bressner (Photographer))

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

ALGONQUIN – All the Barrington girls soccer team wanted to do was make it back home, and Huntley did not do much to stand in the Fillies’ way.

Barrington earned a spot in its own IHSA Class 3A supersectional match with a 3-0 victory against Huntley on Friday in the Jacobs Sectional final, ending a season for Huntley that began with state finals expectations.

“We said all along we just wanted to get back to playing at home,” said Barrington coach Ryan Stengren, whose team will face Conant in Tuesday’s Barrington Supersectional. “It’s a great accomplishment for this team.”

It is one that Huntley had circled at the top of its own list this season, especially after a heart-wrenching loss in last year’s Class AA Streamwood Sectional final in a penalty kick shootout to Maine South.

But in last year’s sectional final, Huntley played perhaps its best game of the season. Friday against Barrington, the Raiders were not as sharp as they had hoped to be or were one year ago.

“We didn’t come out to play, and Barrington did,” Huntley coach Kris Grabner said. “Three goals came on our mistakes. They had a desire to get to the ball, and they did. We didn’t do much to stop it, and they just took it to us.”

Huntley’s first miscue came with 22 minutes remaining in the first half. Barrington forward Mary Kubiuk shot from the right corner of the box, but as the ball was heading wide, a Huntley defender inadvertently nudged it into the goal for a 1-0 Barrington advantage.

“We wanted to attack, attack, attack,” Stengren said. “We feel like our best defense is our offense.”

While the Fillies took their shots, they kept Huntley from getting many of its own. The Raiders (24-2-1) took only two shots on goal in the first half, as forwards Cori Wronski, Aimee Wronski and Emily Konior were tightly marked.

“I tell the girls in every match that we have to set the tone early,” Grabner said. “We didn’t do that today.”

Huntley didn’t defend two Barrington corner kicks well, either. Lauren Decraene scored with 7:35 remaining in the first half off a corner kick from Amy Johnson, and Emmelie Hirdes headed in a shot off another Johnson corner kick with 25:05 left in the second half.

Although the way in which the Raiders lost stung – the only other time the Raiders were shut out was a scoreless tie against St. Charles North – Huntley accomplished a lot this season.

Cori Wronski scored an area-best 27 goals. The Raiders’ defense earned 18 shutouts. Huntley played a tough non-conference schedule and still carried only one loss into Friday’s match.

It also was the first season in which the Raiders completed an undefeated sweep of its Fox Valley Conference Fox Division opponents for a third consecutive crown.

“It was an outstanding season,” Grabner said. “The soccer was good for the most part. We missed [sophomore sweeper Alyse Williams, who tore an ACL in the Raiders’ 17th game of the year], but the defense stepped up and did a great job. We said ‘yes’ to everyone who wanted to play us. When St. Charles North questioned whether they wanted to play us, we said we’d take them on. We didn’t shy away from anyone. I’m very proud of all they were able to accomplish.”