South Elgin blanks Hampshire for tourney title

Score early. Play solid defense and get steady goalkeeping.

Those were the ingredients South Elgin concocted in a 1-0 win over host Hampshire in the championship game of the Hampshire boys soccer invitational Saturday afternoon.

Only 8:40 had elapsed in the match when South Elgin's Jose Gomez came away with the ball 10 yards from the net and blasted a shot past the outstretched arms of Hampshire goalie Andy Pederson for the match's lone goal.

"It was a touch shot and I got some help from the wind," said Gomez,"I just wanted to make sure I got a good shot on goal. It was good to get this win. It feels great."

South Elgin coach Nate Bowman was glad to see his team get the early lead.

'It is always good to score early and get the lead," said Bowman. "We played a good possession game and got a good effort from the kids. I would have liked to have scored a few more goals. We have to take advantage of our opportunities better. We have to finish better. That is something we have to work on."

South Elgin (7-5-2), which outshot Hampshire 16-5, was held to 1 goal primarily because of the outstanding goalkeeping by Pederson, who came up 13 saves to keep the Whip-Purs within striking distance.

"Andy is the reason we have been able to stay in games," said Hampshire coach John Gosling. "He stood on his head a few times today."

Pederson made 4 great saves in the game, 2 in each half.

In the first half with 12:34 left, Pederson made a diving save on a 20-yard direct shot by Sergio Pedroza. Late in the first half, Pederson made a leaping save on a shot by Nicholas Catania.

Early in the second half with only 5:33 elapsed, Pederson made a diving save on a breakaway shot by South Elgin's Issac Perez.

Pederson kept the Storm off the scoreboard when he made a save on a 20-yard direct kick by Gomez with 4:36 left in the game.

The Whip-Purs' (4-13-2) best chance to score came with 16:20 left to play in the game when Doug Stuehler's 10 yard direct kick was stopped by South Elgin keeper Juan Garcia, who had 3 saves.

"We have had a lot of one-goal losses," said Gosling. "We play a tough schedule and that should help when the post season comes around."