Johnsburg eliminates Burlington Central

Two minutes into its regional semifinal against Johnsburg, Burlington Central led 1-0 and life was good for the Rockets. But things went downhill from there as the Skyhawks ousted the Rockets, 4-1, at the Class 2A Burlington Central regional.

The Skyhawks will play Marmion Academy for the regional title on Saturday.

Stephen Hall got the Rockets on the scoreboard just 1:28 into the game, banging in a rebound in front of the net, but the Rockets would not score again.

It was a disappointing end to a historic season for the Rockets. At 14-6-2, they finished with the best record in school history. They won their conference for the third time and ended a 3-year winless streak against Harvard.

"I wasn't expecting that," said Central coach Mike Gecan. "That score is not how good we are."

The Rockets largely controlled the first half. The 10th-seeded Skyhawks (12-6-2) had only 3 shots on goal, but 2 were perfectly placed.

Reid Bright scored on a breakaway with 26:26 to play in the first half. He sent a shot from the left side into the right side of the net so that Central goalkeeper Alex Pieper had no chance.

Less than 10 minutes later, Mike Dombrowski scored on a shot on the ground. Pieper appeared to be screened on the play.

Those goals seemed to take the air out of the Rockets. The Skyhawks added an insurance goal on a header by Dakota Pruitt early in the second half. Bright finished the scoring on a penalty kick.

"Once those goals start going in like that, it's tough to watch," said Gecan.

Meanwhile, the Rockets had numerous chances but couldn't find the net.

"Every time we missed one of those opportunities, it was like another blow to the stomach," Gecan said. "We had so many opportunities, but we were a little wide or a little high."

Alexis Camarena had a couple of shots that would have kept the Rockets in the game, but either just missed or was stopped by Johnsburg keeper Trevor Cherwin.