Burlington Central remains undefeated

Once the Burlington Central girls soccer team found the back of the net Saturday afternoon, it couldn’t be stopped.

The Rockets had 17 shots, but only 4 on goal, in the first 17 minutes of the match against Harvard. But none those went in the goal.

Camille Dela Cruz finally found the net with 22:59 remaining in the first half and the Rockets scored three times in the next minute and a half to start a 10-0 rout of the Hornets in Big Northern East play.

“We struggled a little bit early on (putting shots on goal),” Central coach Stephen Berry said. “Once we got that one play it got the confidence going.”

Alyssa Messina, Ellen Jayne and Dela Cruz had a nice passing combination in the middle of the field. Dela Cruz then scored past Harvard goalkeeper Jesica Morales. Thirty-four seconds later, Dela Cruz took a short corner kick and crossed the ball to Cali Andrew, who headed home Central’s second goal. Less than a minute later, Dela Cruz found Andrew down the left side and Andrew scored again for a 3-0 lead with 21:30 remaining in the first half.

“We decided to relax and play our own game instead of worrying about the conditions or the field,” Dela Cruz said. “We started playing as a team and knew we had to finish.”

Dela Cruz made in 4-0 with 17:04 remaining in the first half. The Rockets (5-0, 3-0) then replaced most of their starters. That didn’t stop the scoring either. Yareli Vargas, Brittany Bourdage and Franki Marchetti each scored in the final five minutes of the first half to enforce the IHSA mercy rule. The second half was only 20 minutes and the clock did not stop unless there was an injury.

Miranda Coombs, Alex Weigand and Kristyn Martin each scored in the second half for the Rockets.

Taylor Martin and Ann Marie Hilton combined for the shutout, but did not have to make a save as most of the game was played in Harvard’s half of the field.