Boys soccer: Shores strikes twice in Hampshire's win

Burlington Central probably wishes Sawyer Shores was a summer vacation spot instead of one of Hampshire's talented soccer players.

Unfortunately for the Rockets, Shores is a highly skilled senior forward who also isn't afraid of playing in the rain, mud and slick conditions either.

Shores scored twice during the second half of Wednesday's Fox Valley Conference game to lead the Whip-Purs to a 2-0 road victory.

"I give props to everyone," Shores said. "I couldn't have done it without all of them. Those were great balls, great plays, great defense, great everything. It may have been sloppy, but we came out and played our game and got it done."

Shores has now scored 10 goals on the season.

While the action on the field provided a good competitive battle, off the field more than $1,000 was raised for Burlington Central senior Fernando Valdivia, who is receiving treatment for Ewing's Sarcoma.

"We have such a good group of parents and boosters so it was nice to do something for his family, to help out in the bigger picture than the game itself," Rockets coach Michael Galeski said. "We only have five home games but every game is an event night with 300 people here. It's a good community and everyone is pulling in the same direction."

Burlington Central (3-8, 0-6) could have used Valdivia.

"He probably would've been a key part and starting in my central midfield," Galeski said. "That's when it really hits hard knowing he could be out there."

The Rockets, who were already without starting goalkeeper Tristan Samuelian, lost center back Eli Boer with an injury and were coming off a 7-0 loss the night before to Crystal Lake South.

"We had just played the best team in the conference and then had to play on a night like this," Galeski said. "But we're young and inexperienced and our nonconference schedule is tough and we're now in the new conference. We've graduated 19, 13 and 11 the last three years and today we had four freshmen out there, so we'll be fine in these years. It's a good experience for them."

Hampshire (12-6-1, 3-2) had some opportunities in the first half, but nothing to show for it.

"We were a little upset with our start," junior Kobe Frenette said. "We could have done a lot better and finished more so we needed to pick it up in the second half."

Sawyer buried his first goal in the 54th minute. Just a minute earlier, he misfired just wide right on a free kick just outside the box.

"It started on the defensive end and winning it," he said. "(Gerardo Marquez) played a great ball and it skipped in front of the defender and I just took it and went with it, doing what I'm always doing."

Sawyer connected again about 10 minutes later, receiving a beautiful pass from Frenette and then dribbling downfield before firing. The Whip-Purs then continued doing their part the rest of the way to protect the shutout.

The Rockets have lost six of their last seven and been shut out in all six of those losses. The Whip-Purs certainly made things difficult on them.

"We did a really good job," Hampshire senior defender Ryan Heileman said. "Kyle (Schultz) played great and Adrian (Mlkiewicz) played a really strong game along with our midfield. It was just great team defense and when we possess the ball up top it helps a lot. They really didn't have many chances."