Hampshire pulls the upset on Burlington Central
When Hampshire's Jose Hernandez scored 3 minutes into overtime, Whip-Pur fans stormed the field. Only one problem: the game wasn't over. There are no "golden goals" in the playoffs, and the teams had to complete the 20-minute overtime.
The Whip-Purs (9-13-2) still got their celebration, though. Michael Boutin added an insurance goal, and the fourth-seeded Whips upset the host team and top seed 3-1 in the semifinals of the Class 2A Burlington Central boys soccer regional Tuesday.
Hernandez scored the tying goal in the 72nd minute of regulation, then netted the eventual game-winner with 6:26 to go in the first overtime session.
"You come into their place and they're an intense team in their place," said Hampshire coach John Gosling, whose team will play Kaneland in Friday's 4:30 p.m. championship. "They have a lot of desire. But we got tired of losing to them for the last couple of years. They beat us in regionals two years ago. We beat them today."
The Rockets dominated most of the first 70 minutes, but led just 1-0 on a breakaway goal by Jack Shramme. He ran in all alone, deked out the goalkeeper, and continued untouched toward the net, having only to guide the ball in.
"We always thought we were the better team, but it all comes down to goals," said Central's Nate McMahon. "The team that scores the most goals wins, and that's what they did. We just couldn't make it happen tonight."
It looked like Schramme's goal would hold up until Hernandez got loose to the left of the goal and rolled in a shot from about 30 yards out.
Central had one more chance to win in regulation, but Peter Panagakos deflected Cole Tecza's shot away in the closing minutes.
Hampshire came out more aggressively in the extra session. Hernandez, camped on the left side of the net, took a cross and fired it in from close range.
Then, with the second 10-minute overtime winding down, Boutin took a cross from Tyler Fairwood and fired it in. By then it was just a matter of time until the Hampshire fans could begin their celebration in earnest.