Girls Soccer: Barrington edges Boylan in OT

Molly Pfeiffer made it a lucky and memorable 13.

The Barrington junior midfielder smashed in a header from a corner kick from Samantha Frank midway through overtime as the No. 6 Fillies stunned previously undefeated Rockford Boylan 1-0 in a Naperville Invite quarterfinal Thursday night in Barrington.

Barrington (12-4) advances to Friday’s second semifinal against No. 4 Naperville Central.

The goal was Pfeiffer‘s 13th of the season, and it occurred with 5:53 remaining in the extra session. “We take a lot of pride in corner and free kicks,” Pfeiffer said. “Sam played a great ball, and I was able to get position around my defender and make a play and put the ball where I had to.

The win marked a tough and grinding four-day schedule that saw the Fillies beat No. 13 Schaumburg 2-0 Monday night before dropping a 1-0 thriller to No. 11 Hersey Wednesday.

“We were definitely looking forward to this game after losing yesterday,” Pfeiffer said. “It was a great way to bounce back after a tough loss.”

Barrington coach Ryan Stengren rested Pfeiffer and many of his key defenders after the Fillies’ grueling schedule.

Pfeiffer did not enter the game until the 63rd minute. She has been playing through the complications of a hamstring injury. “Since yesterday, I felt really good,” she said.

Stengren elevated two freshmen, forward Kelsey Muniz and Annalise Avers and two sophomores, Molly Curran and Gillian Hood, from the junior varsity and into the starting lineup. “This was our third game in four days and our sixth game in nine days,” Stengren said. “I had to get these kids a rest, and this was a chance to do it.”

The Fillies have been making adjustments to injuries the entire year. Frank assumed the role of corner specialist from sophomore midfielder Mia Calamari, who suffered a season-ending injury last week during pool play of the Invite.

“Corners and getting 50/50 balls is the key to how we play,” Frank said. “I put the ball up there, but Molly did all of the work.

“She made a great play,” she said.

The game also marked another superb game by freshman keeper Hannah Luedtke. The Hersey loss snapped a streak of eight consecutive shutouts. She made five stops to run her impressive total to nine shutouts in the last 10 games.

She made a great diving stop in the closing seconds of regulation off a hard hit from sophomore Emma Krahmer. “My view was blocked, but I knew the ball was coming and I just moved my body over and made the stop,” Luedtke said. “We have a great backline, and they’ve played a huge part in us not giving up any goals.”

Boylan (16-1-1) also suffered a significant loss when its best player, star junior midfielder Abby Reed suffered a foot injury and was carried off the field in the second half. The Indiana State recruit missed the final 20 minutes of regulation and the entire overtime session.

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