Burlington Central blanks Richmond-Burton

Those familiar with the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers basketball team know they're synonymous with the term "Lob City" because of their rim-rocking dunks and jaw-dropping alley oops.

So how in the world could Burlington Central's girls soccer team in a 3-0 Big Northern East win over Richmond-Burton Tuesday coin the same nickname if there's no such thing as an alley oop in the soccer world?

Well there is now.

Freshmen Jordan King and Sydney Pryor provided the highlight of the night with a scintillating second-half goal when Pryor's corner from the right arc into the blustery wind on Rocket Hill managed to hit the crossbar like a lob pass against the glass, only to bounce back directly to King in the goal box. In one motion King leapt into the air and connected with the header for the Rockets' second goal of the match and an insurmountable 2-0 lead with 30 minutes remaining.

"I was just watching the ball and I didn't know where it was going," King said at first. "I just had a little clue (and said to myself) 'just stay right here, just to wait for it.' I was hoping it would drop right in where (Cassi Ciganek) and everyone was else in the center but it hit the post and I was right there."

It was King's 19th goal of the season just 8 games in, but as far as coming up with a catchy title for the play, Pryor couldn't have been anymore straightforward.

"Luck," she said, laughing with King. "I felt it was pretty cool."

Maybe luck was on their side, but the Rockets (7-1, 4-1) have worked tirelessly on their corners this season and it showed against Richmond-Burton (3-3-2, 3-2-2) as Central capitalized on 2 of its 6 total corners, including one in the first half where Pryor lofted the ball against a blustery wind from the left arc to the near post that Ciganek netted 5 yards from the goal off a defensive clear in the 11th minute for a 1-0 lead.

"We've been saying corner kicks can make the difference in close games, and they can make close games games we put into the bag," Rockets coach Jess Arneson said. "That's exactly what we did today and I'm very proud of them for that. Sydney has been doing really well on her corners."

It was a testament to say the least because of the wind factor on Rocket Hill this season. Blowing from west to east, it was Burlington's foe in the first half and friend in the second half of its third-straight win.

"These home games, we've pretty much got wind every game and it was nice to have the wind in the second half because it gave us room to what our offense does well and that's run," Arneson said. "The wind takes (the dump-ins) and they run in on it. We have a couple of fast girls who it works really well for so they were able to capitalize on it and keep Richmond-Burton on their toes."

Which was elegantly exemplified by Megan Majewski's pass over the top to Elizabeth Gousios, who chipped in the breakaway in the 73rd minute. Central held a 9-4 shot advantage and took it to R-B throughout whether it was on the attack, in front of the net or in the corners.

"Our defenders didn't do their job of taking care of cleaning that up," R-B coach Casey DeCaluwe said. "It's individual battles being won by the other team and our players have to figure out they can't play soft in there."