Burlington Central beats Sycamore in first game in almost two years

SYCAMORE – In the first game for either squad in almost two years, the Burlington Central girls soccer team picked up a 2-0 win against Sycamore on Tuesday.

Jersti Devries fired home the first goal for the Rockets (1-0) to the far side just over goalie Lilly Horne in the 14th minute.

“That was a great start after two years of not knowing what we’re doing,” coach Jessica Arneson said. “Our first half looked a little better even though we were into the wind. We had some good opportunities. In the second half, we may have gotten a little frustrated, but I’ll take that 2-0 win any day of the week.”

The game stayed 1-0 until well into the second half, but the Spartans (0-1) struggled to mount any scoring opportunities.

Coach Kevin Bickley said he was missing some players who are in other sports, and the team still is feeling things out.

“It would be nice to get some more offense, getting it to the striker, getting some shots on,” Bickley said. “It looked like when we did get the chances, there were some possibilities maybe we could have pounced on.”

Bickley said the team is waiting for someone to emerge as a go-to scorer, something that hasn’t been an issue for a long time in the program. In Bickley’s first season two years ago, he said it was like a competition to see who could score the most.

“We’re still piecing things together,” Bickley said. “We’re not so sure we’ve answered the question on who’s going to play that role yet. I just don’t think we connected enough passes today. I thought if we could have put them under more pressure, maybe force them into some mistakes maybe we get a shot of that the ball pops out into the right spot.”

The ball did pop out late for the Spartans, but they were already down 2-0 at the time. The Burlington Central goalie turned away a free kick, but the rebound bounced loose.

Mariana Martinez and Olivia Conery raced to the ball, and it even came loose as the goalkeeper went to corral it, but neither could get there before the save was made.

Less than a minute before that, the Rockets padded the lead to 2-0 on a goal from Isa Hartman.

“They were so excited. I was so excited,” Arneson said. “The really great thing is that after not playing for so long, they have a cohesiveness about them, ‘I just want to go out there and play.’ There’s not any drama or other stuff. We just go out and play since it’s been so long.”

The Rockets had some other scoring chances, but Horne was fast-charging and beat the Rockets to the ball to keep the game close.

“She’s a big presence back there, good leader,” Bickley said. “She’s aggressive, good on her feet. She comes and wins those balls. We’ve got some young players in the back, and she’s the leader back there. Very vocal.”

With a postseason in the cards for girls soccer this year, Bickley said his team is hoping for a rematch.

“The first half definitely showed the break we had and trying to get our legs underneath us,” Bickley said. “Burlington Central is a quality opponent, and they’ll be in our sectional. The girls were talking here at the end they hope they get to see them.”