Burlington Central reaches semifinals of PepsiCo Showdown
Burlington Central's girls soccer team earned a little respect Thursday.
Alexis Rosa scored with 1:42 left in overtime to give the Rockets a 2-1 win against Fenwick in the quarterfinals of the PepsiCo Showdown tournament on Rocket Hill.
The Rockets, 3-0 in the tournament and 9-1 overall, now advance to the semifinals where they will play either Deerfield or West Aurora Saturday at Olympic Park in Schaumburg.
Some in the Central program felt that big-school opponents, and perhaps even the officials, didn't give the smaller school its due.
It didn't take the Rockets long to get noticed. Elizabeth Gousios scored on a breakaway, off a feed from Rosa, less than 3 minutes into the game.
The Rockets' defense and goalkeepers Erin Rafferty and Abbie Ciganek almost made that goal stand up. The score stood until the Friars' Sydney Jensen converted a penalty kick in the 73rd minute, setting up the extra period.
Despite losing a lead late in the game, the Rockets didn't deflate at all. They went on the attack early in the overtime, with Rosa and Megan Majewski getting chances early on.
"That attitude is hard to come by," said Central coach Jess Arneson. "It's hard to get a team to turn around from a poor call or just being controlled or whatever it is. It's hard to switch that, and my girls did so well with that, and I'm so proud of them."
The winning goal came when Jordan King fired the ball toward the net from the deep right corner, drawing Fenwick keeper Lexi Rodriguez to that side. The ball deflected to Rosa, who was camped right in front of the net. She knocked it in for the game-winner.
"(The win) means a lot," said Rosa. "It makes them respect us more, definitely."
Fenwick had several chances to tie the game at the end of the first half. First, Kaylie Fredian's shot hit the crossbar. The Friars kept it in the zone, but Annie Perez's shot hit the upright. The rebound caromed right to Lauren Stibich who had a shot from point-blank range, but Rafferty reacted in time to make the save.