Girls soccer: Burlington Central nabs first sectional title

Burlington Central simply refused to lose.

Scoring 2 goals in the final 2 minutes and 35 seconds, Central rallied for an exhilarating come-from-behind 2-1 win over Sycamore in the title game of the Class 2A Hampshire girls soccer sectional Saturday afternoon.

"This team will never ever quit in any situation," said Central coach Jess Arneson. "They played so hard and play with so much heart. We had a lot of chances and possessed the ball a lot and I still had faith we had ability to score late in the game. We beat a great Sycamore team. What a great feeling to win the sectionals."

The Rockets (23-2-2), who won their first sectional title, will take on Peoria Notre Dame in the DeKalb supersectional Tuesday at 5 p.m. PND defeated Geneseo 5-1 in the finals of the Dunlap sectional Friday night.

Sycamore, which had a goal by Kierah Meier called off because time had expired in the first half, scored first early in the second half when Emma Stice scored off an assist by Callahan Carl with only 3 minutes and 2 seconds elapsed in the second 40 minutes.

The Spartans held the 1-goal advantage until late when Kyrsten Pellikan scored off a rebound shot from Jordan King to tie the game at 1-1 with 2:35 remaining in the contest.

"I knew we needed to score fast and I just tried to position myself where I could score on a rebound," said Pellikan. "I had confidence we could score even late in the game. An unbelievable win."

The Rockets scored the match winner a minute and 24 seconds later when Megan Majewski scored off a perfect pass from Elizabeth Gousios with 1:11 left in the contest.

"I didn't want to have anything to do with playing overtime," said Majewski. "We were getting tired and thought we could get a goal in regulation. Kyrsten's goal really motivated us. I wanted to make sure I got in good position to score. We had a lot of good chances and possessed the ball most of the game. What a great win against a very good Sycamore team."

Central outshot Sycamore 11-4. Spartans goalie Meagan Schwartz collected 9 saves and had a shutout for 77 minutes and 25 seconds.

Rocket keeper Erin Rafferty registered 3 saves in the contest. Rafferty's best effort came with 25:10 left in the game. Sycamore's Taylor Meier broke away from Central defense and blasted a shot on Rafferty from 5 yards out, but the Rocket goalkeeper was able to push the ball over the net for a key save.