Despite loss, Burlington's bar raised again

Opportunities to win state championships usually come along once in a lifetime. Some teams seize the moment, others don't.

Burlington Central's boys soccer team, which had seized several moments throughout this postseason, became a team that didn't on Friday.

Early in the sun-drenched but colder than cool afternoon, the Rockets saw their magic carpet ride through the IHSA state tournament series come to an end when they lost to Ridgewood 2-1 in the Class 2A semifinals at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on the campus of North Central College in Naperville.

The Rockets had their chances, but failed to capitalize on all but one, which turned out to be one fewer than Ridgewood, which also saw many chances get turned away by a Central team that played as hard and as well as could be expected defensively.

Throughout the season and especially in the postseason, Central had thrived on playing the game in its opponent's half of the field. Pressure the other team's defense, score just enough, use the hot hand of junior goalkeeper Riley Jensen and a staunch defense to turn away any threats, and move on.

But on this day things didn't work out that way. Ridgewood was actually the aggressor, and much of the match was played in front of the Burlington Central net instead of the other way around.

“At this point all of the teams are highly skilled, and so are we,” offered Rockets' senior defender Zach Jochum, the redness in his eyes showing the bitter disappointment of a whole team that wanted badly to bring home the school's first state championship in any team sport.

“Today, especially in the second half (Ridgewood) just wanted it more.”

One had to figure momentum was on Central's side. Junior standout Chris Gousios had scored the icebreaker with just 1:32 left in the first half to put the Rockets ahead 1-0. At halftime, we recalled Tuesday's supersectional win over Lakes and how that late goal in the first half was a springboard to a dominating second half for BC.

But on Friday, the momentum didn't swing. Ridgewood kept pushing and pushing and finally got the equalizer when Andy Mazurczak was left alone just long enough to beat Jensen. Just a little over 4 minutes later the Rebels took the lead for good when Mazurczak again scored, this time after Jensen had been taken out of the play in what clearly could have been called a foul, or not, as the referee didn't blow his whistle.

“That's a learning experience for my junior goalkeeper,” Rockets' coach Michael Gecan said. “You have to go up hard. But that's a kid who has been playing in the goal for two years of his life. Next year will he make that mistake? Absolutely not.

“But that didn't lose the game. We had our chances and we didn't take advantage of them.”

Unfortunately for Central, that was it. The Rockets fought to the bitter end but really didn't have a solid shot to tie, unlike a couple of solid shots earlier that could have made it a 2-0 or 3-0 game by halftime had they found the back of the net.

That's kind of the way a game like soccer goes, though, especially at the state level. If you take advantage of your chances, odds are you'll win and move on. Don't and, well, you're left playing for third place.

Which is what the Rockets will do today when they take on Waterloo in the consolation game.

But it's a consolation game that Central hopes will define its season as a winner, and a new school to be reckoned with in future seasons of boys soccer.

“We just need to stay composed,” Jochum said of coming back today. “Today was the most fun and best game I've played in. The atmosphere was great and the intensity was high. It would have been better if we had won, but now we're not going to settle for fourth place. We're going to come out and take third.”

To Gecan, a win today would ease some pain, as well as keep the program moving up the ladder of respectability. Remember, this is a program that hadn't won a regional title until this year and one that had a 6-12-2 record in 2005, Gecan's first season as head coach.

“There's nothing wrong with third and we're going for it,” Gecan said. “It would be a huge step for the program and that's what we're going for. All we were looking for this season was a regional championship and we ended up in the state semifinals. Next year the eyes will be squarely on the prize.”

Regardless of what happens today, this team of Rockets has certainly raised the bar not only for future soccer teams at the school but for all the sports programs wearing blue and white. Just as the girls volleyball team in 2008 and the softball team in 2009 did, this bunch has shown that Burlington Central is a state threat in the IHSA's 3- and 4-class system.

And before long, it's a pretty safe bet there will be a team on Rocket Hill hoisting a state championship trophy.