Boys soccer: Hampshire tops Prairie Ridge for regional title
Junior goalkeeper Jason Polletta was the right person in the right spot at the right time Saturday for the Hampshire soccer team.
After 100 minutes of scoreless soccer in the Class 2A Burlington Central regional championship game, Polletta saved two Prairie Ridge penalty kicks to give the Whip-Purs a 4-3 victory. Tied at 3-3 going to the fifth penalty kick, Polletta dove to his left for the save.
"Right as he kicked it I dove and luckily I was there and saved it," Polletta said. "I just chose a side and dove."
Hampshire sophomore Jack Fairwood followed that save by drilling the winning kick into the left corner.
"It was awesome for all the seniors who have been here and finished second," Fairwood said. "I was nervous. I knew I had to put it away. I noticed the keeper was diving a lot to the left so I am going to go to his right."
No. 1 seed Hampshire (13-7-3) advances to the Class 2A St. Francis sectional to play Fenton - a 4-1 winner over Marmion - in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
No. 6 Prairie Ridge ends the year at 5-11-2.
"We knew coming in they are a very blue collar kind of team," Whip-Purs coach John Gosling said. "They had a great work rate, at times better than us. Both had just a couple solid opportunities."
Hampshire, who lost in the regional title game the past two years to Burlington Central and Kaneland, won its first regional since 2012 and the fourth in school history. The Whip-Purs have never won a sectional crown.
Tyler Fairwood converted the first penalty kick for the Whip-Purs, Nicholas Barrientos and Braeden Frenette also scored, and Polletta - who allowed a key goal in last year's regional final loss - did the rest with his two saves.
"He won the game plus our shooters did their job," Gosling said.
William Keaty, Ryan Barbour and Sean Fenton scored PKs for Prairie Ridge and its first-year coach Colin Brice, a former Hampshire assistant,
"Happy we got to play Hampshire," Brice said. "it's great to see another Fox Valley Conference team advancing because we do play in a tough conference."