Fourth place for Burlington Central
Burlington Central's boys soccer made a lot of history by just making a trip to Naperville over the weekend.
The Rockets wanted to come home with the championship trophy, but instead had to settle for fourth place in the IHSA Class 2A state boys soccer tournament after losing to Waterloo 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at North Central College.
Still, the Rockets went farther than expected and had something to bring back home to Burlington Central the school's third state trophy in three years, following girls volleyball's second-place finish in 2008 and softball's third-place finish in 2009.
“It's like we we're in the final four teams in the state,” said Burlington Central coach Michael Gecan, whose team finished 20-6-3. “We're walking away with a trophy that's a size of a small child.
“It's a good feeling. Once we get this out of our heads, we'll realize what we've accomplished. But it's not the way we wanted it to end.”
The Rockets' soccer team left Naperville after the match, returned home to take a ride on fire trucks through Burlington and were treated to a pep assembly back at the school.
Christopher Gousios, a junior who scored the only Rockets' goal in both games and led the team with 21 goals and 7 assists for the season, carried the trophy off the field.
“We had a great season,” Gousios said. “For a team that never won a regional, we raised the bar to get this far. We're realizing that we're one of the top four teams in the state.”
Waterloo (24-2-3) opened the scoring in the 12th minute. Nathan Vogt scored off a cross from Dane Dudley.
The Bulldogs added two other goals in the second half, one on a hand ball call in the penalty box in the 55th minute. Lance Kohler converted the penalty kick. Then Kohler scored again in the 64th minute.
“I thought the second half was the pivotal part,” Waterloo coach Chad Holden said. “We weren't sure if (Burlington Central) was going to keep gaining momentum. We were able to sustain it and play our soccer the rest of the half.”
Burlington Central had its opportunities by hitting a couple of posts and two shots were cleared off the line by Waterloo defenders.
“It's unfortunate, we couldn't get the ball in the back of the net,” Gecan said. “I thought in the second half we came out blazing and could've changed the game.
“It's not that often that you get a second chance to go out with a win. The guys gave it all they had and they're still trying to take it all in. It's been a great season.”
Peoria Notre Dame won its second Class 2A state championship in three years with an 8-0 victory over Ridgewood. It was the largest margin of victory in a state championship game.
The Irish (26-1) got 2 goals each from Cody Gilfillian and Vince Cicciarelli. Others who scored were Drew Olehy, Kevin Whalen, Alex Garcia and Mark Streid.
The Rebels ended their season as the runner-up at 19-7-2.