Hampshire beats Burlington for first time since '05

It had been a while since the Hampshire boys soccer team had scored a win against Burlington Central.

In fact the last time the Whip-Purs defeated the Rockets was in 2005 when the majority of the current Hampshire team was still in junior high.

Junior Ricardo Parada put a quick end to the drought as he scored the lone goal in Hampshire's 1-0 victory that spoiled Burlington Central's Senior Night on Rocket Hill. The loss sent Central a half-game back in the Big Northern East standings, with Harvard (7-1-1) the current leader.

The Rockets have 2 conference games left, while Harvard has just 1, and if both teams win out they will tie as league champs. Central isn't looking for a repeat of Thursday's effort in the remaining two contests.

"They definitely came to play more than we did," Central coach Michael Gecan said of Hampshire. "We made mistakes early and they made us pay."

The most costly of said mistakes came when Hampshire midfielder Noel Sosa lined up for a corner kick early in the game. The sophomore sailed a shot to Ismael Morales, who found Parada at the top of the box. Parada drilled a spinning kick past Central goalkeeper Alex Peiper with 32:04 left in the first half to give Hampshire (12-7-1, 5-3) all of the offense it would need.

"To knock them down like that was really important," said Parada, who even surprised himself when he scored.

After gaining a lead, Hampshire turned its attention to defense and frustrated Central (11-5-2, 6-1-1) for the majority of the night. The Rockets attempted just 1 shot on goal in the second half, after tallying 4 in the first.

Many times, though, Hampshire's defensive unit failed to allow Central to get a good shot off after setting up its offense. Erick Uribe appeared to set up for a wide-open shot in the game's final 3 minutes, but senior Robert Murphy sprinted and threw a slide tackle to prevent a shot.

Central's only shot of the second half came as midfielder Cameron Ostrowski got a shot off with 16:56 left in the game, but Hampshire goalkeeper Marcus Quick (5 saves) made his lone save of the half. Hampshire focused its attention on Ostrowski, along with midfielders Kyle Reopelle and John Klopcic.

"We talked a lot about their three mids," Hampshire coach John Gosling said. "Those three play that position perfectly."

Aside from Parada's goal, the Whips attempted just 2 more shots on goal in the game.