Defense helps BC to a 0-0 tie

If there is such a thing as being a difference-maker in a scoreless tie, Kyle DeRaedt was it.

Both coaches agreed that Burlington Central's junior goalkeeper was the key player as the Rockets and Kaneland played to a 0-0 tie in the Central boys soccer tournament Thursday.

The Rockets will play Genoa-Kingston for third place at 11 a.m. Saturday by virtue of scoring more goals in the tournament. Kaneland will play for fifth place at 9 a.m.

In Thursday's early game, South Elgin downed Genoa-Kingston, 4-1. The Storm will play Elgin for the tournament championship tonight at 4:30.

In the second game, Kaneland began to slowly build momentum as the game went on. The Knights kept the ball in the Burlington end for much of the second half, but DeRaedt and the Rocket defense kept Kaneland off the scoreboard.

DeRaedt made a diving save of a header by Ken Poczekaj in the first half. After the break, he went high in the air to grab a shot from the deep corner by Mitch Webster.

"Their goalie did very well," said Kaneland coach Scott Parillo. "He saved them. We had a lot of scoring opportunities on them, and we just couldn't get it in the back of the net."

Ably assisted by Mike Jenny and the rest of the Knight defense, Kaneland keeper Austin Park wasn't so bad, either. He stopped Enrique Alvarado's shot in the waning minutes to preserve the shutout.

But the story for Burlington was goalkeeping and defense.

"The defense did well, and my goalkeeper played really well tonight," said Central coach Mike Gecan. "The offense started clicking in the second half. Unfortunately, we couldn't capitalize on any of those opportunities.

"I think an even score is pretty accurate. Hopefully, we can continue to improve on this. It's a lot better than our first game, and hopefully we're going to have a great season if we can get that offense going."