Girls soccer: Boer's 2 goals lead Burlington Central past Hampshire

Burlington Central played a little longball to finally break open the game against rival Hampshire.

The Rockets grabbed the lead in the second minute on Eva Boer's goal but struggled to put away the Whip-Purs until scoring 3 goals in a 10-minute span in the second half. The Rockets then coasted to a 4-0 win in the quarterfinals of the Class 2A Burlington Central sectional.

The Rockets will play Saturday's Rockford Boylan-Woodstock North winner on Tuesday.

Boer finished with 2 goals, and Isabella Hartmann and Reagan Oller also scored for Central (13-6-1).

"That was kind of what we talked about, that we've got to go out and finish it earlier on," said Central coach Jessica Arneson. "We caught up in the second half for sure."

Central outshot the visitors 10-0 in the first half, but the Rockets found themselves clinging to that 1-0 lead well into the second half.

Boer's shot from about 10 yards out just 1:46 in provided that early margin.

"She really wanted to score," said the Rockets' Eva Samuelian. "She's probably one of the most aggressive on our team and she just came out and got it done."

Then the floodgates opened. Hartmann took a pass from Haley Lindquist in a mad scramble, then fired a shot from a severe angle that trickled past the keeper, giving the Rockets a 2-0 lead with just under 30 minutes to play.

Then came a pair of bombs. Oller scored on a free kick from about 40 yards out that sailed over the keeper's head and under the crossbar. Less than 2 minutes later, Boer scored her second from nearly the same spot.

The Rockets' defense was so dominant that goalkeeper Kyla Butler made just 1 save: stopping a penalty kick by Hampshire's Amelia Ingebretsen in the closing minutes.

"Our defense has been working really hard," Arnesen said. "They're so tough. Most of them played the entire game and it was hot out today. So they are a brick wall and I love having them."

Arnesen mentioned Kara Drummond in particular.

"We're trying to move pieces around to get an idea of what we can do, and Kara normally plays on the outside, but I put her in the center, and she just works so hard," said Arnesen. "She is a great center for us right now."

Ava Elders came close to extending the lead a couple of times in the first half. Her shot in the opening minute was stopped by Hampshire keeper Maisie McNamee. Midway through the half, McNamee made a diving save on Elders' rocket. The rebound came right back to Elders, but McNamee stopped that one, too.