Barrington Ends Gators' Season

Sometimes the true value of high school sports seeps out from under the weighty battle between winning and losing.

When the final buzzer went off on Crystal Lake South’s girls’ soccer season, amid the hugging and team-wide tears being shed, Gators senior goalkeeper Elizabeth Quinn fought back the waterworks long enough to get this out:

“Coach (Brian Allen) is definitely the most inspiring person I’ve met in my high school career,” Quinn said. “I’m going to get teary-eyed, but he’s been like a father to me and I’m going to miss him dearly.”

After his side’s 1-0 loss to Barrington in Friday’s Class 3A sectional title game, Allen sent the goodwill right back at a team that reached a sectional title game for only the second time in program history.

“They left it all on the field and I couldn’t be prouder of them,” Allen said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more. They’re emotional right now but I think it’s going to settle in, in the next couple of days, that they did something pretty darn special.”

Quinn, Vivian Qian and the Gators’ back line battled well to hold Barrington to a single goal in the first half. Molly Pfeiffer got onto the end of a Mia Calamari corner kick at 24 minutes.

The Fillies earned a 15-5 edge in shots on net for the contest, and Quinn’s aggressive play off her line was key in keeping her side within one goal of tying the contest.

“It was kind of hard not going to school and then coming out here to play,” Quinn said. “I just wanted to stay calm and play like I did last game.” Quinn was in net for the Gators’ 13th shutout of the season, a 1-0 sectional semifinal win over Rockton-Hononegah.

Chasing a goal after halftime, the Gators turned up the heat, earning a pair of corner kicks and sending dangerous balls to the Fillies’ penalty area with more frequency.

With two minutes remaining in the game, the Gators found their best shot of the day from eight yards out, only to see Barrington keeper Kelly Pedersen slap it away and over the end line.

Allen applauded Pedersen’s save and then applauded another step taken forward by his program.

“The last time we were in a sectional final we lost 6-2, and this time they gave Barrington everything they could handle and then some,” Allen said. “They hung in there all year.”

The Gators bid farewell to seven seniors from this year’s team, in captains Quinn, Qian, Ellen Brunner, and Karli Schumaker, along with Kali Loescher, Rachel Resek, and Kristen Widing.

“This whole team worked their butts off and that’s all we could do,” Quinn said. “I hope the younger players understand what just happened, and they work their butts off to keep meeting the standard.”