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Hampshire surprises Burlington Central
Updated: May 10, 2011 10:17PM
Tuesday’s Big Northern Conference East Division showdown came down to the fact that Hampshire was simply way too motivated for Burlington Central as the Whip-Purs posted a 3-1 victory.
In addition to being senior night, it was one thing for Hampshire to be dethroned as league champs, the Whip-Purs not only didn’t want see the Rockets lock up at least share of the title, they also didn’t want to see Burlington Central get through with a zero in the loss column.
With the win, Hampshire improved to 13-5-4 overall and finished 7-3-0 in its last season in the BNC before switching to the Fox Valley Conference. Burlington Central now takes a 12-6-1 ledger into today’s rescheduled match with Larkin prior to putting its 7-1-1 ledger on the line Thursday against Marengo in what will now decide the league title.
“Having won the conference going undefeated the last two years we didn’t want anyone to follow us,” Hampshire coach Patrick O’Brien admitted.
“It’s pretty cool to win on senior night, but that much better to beat our rival,” added Alex Zeller, who powered the victory with a pair of goals.
After a scoreless first half, Hampshire got on the board first when Zeller booted a 19-yarder from the right wing with 26:50 left. Before Burlington Central could regroup, the Whip-Purs were back in 1:45 as Emily Zeller’s corner kick led to sister Alex knocking it in from 5 yards out for to bring her team-best goal tally to 13 on the year. It’s also the second time this season the sisters have teamed up.
“Coach was telling us the whole game to take shots so on that first one I took a shot and thought it was going over but it dipped and went in,” Zeller said. “On the second, no one seemed to find the ball so I just stuck my out and put it in.”
Trailing by two with time winding down, Burlington Central finally got aggressive and Heather Krup’s through ball enabled Michelle Fowler to nail a 12-yarder before Hampshire keeper Alex Dumoulin could rush out far enough. Fowler’s fifth goal of the year came with 5:52 remaining, giving the Rockets hope for an equalizer, but the Whip-Purs got a counter attack that allowed Natalie Starrenburg to blast a 22-yarder from the left wing that Rockets keeper Caitlin Solberg wasn’t able to keep from the net with 25 seconds left.
“You have to score to win and Alex got us two goals and it was nice to have Natalie get that third when they had the momentum and were throwing everything at us,” O’Brien said. “We executed well in terms of finding space, so I’d say this was one of our better games ever.”
“It’s especially great to beat them,” said Starrenburg, whose ninth goal of the year almost came with 14 minutes when she hit the crossbar. “That one let me know I could hit the shot the next time and when I got another chance it felt good and it ended their momentum.”
Ironically, the outcome may just switch the motivation in favor of Burlington Central since the two teams meet again in exactly one week at Hampshire in a first-round 2A regional contest.
“We should’ve come out with a lot more heart,” Fowler said. “We need to work harder and earn to push through in every situation starting tomorrow. On Thursday, we have to win to win conference, and next week, we’ll see them again.”
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