Burlington Central reloads after claiming state trophy

Updated: September 21, 2011 7:52PM

There are no polls for Class 2A or 1A when it comes to IHSA boys soccer. If that wasn’t the case, it would be interesting to see where Burlington Central would rate.

Despite having only one starter back from last year’s fourth-place finish in the state 2A finals, the Rockets got through the first half of the season pretty much unscathed. A Monday setback to tournament host St. Charles East was Central’s first loss for 2011. During the 7-0-4 start, the Rockets outscored their opposition 30-4 through Tuesday.

The Courier-News area is represented on the Sun-Times Top 10 poll by No. 6-ranked St. Charles North, which has gone 6-1-2 over its last nine contests with the lone setback being a 2-1 overtime battle with tournament host Morton.

Hats off to these guys

Since they’re not all that common, it’s worth recognizing The Courier-News area players who’ve managed to produce hat tricks.

Bartlett’s Tyler Lake put in a trio against Washington while Elgin’s Samuel Escobar went one better with four goals to account for half his team’s offense in an 8-1 victory over De La Salle which gave the Maroons the championship in the St. Patrick Tournament.

Genoa-Kingston teammates Devon Tijerina and Cris Camargo both notched hatters in Big Northern Conference wins for the Cogs. Camargo put in three against Richmond-Burton while Tijerina did the trick against North Boone.

Offensive Cogs

Speaking of Genoa-Kingston’s Camargo and Tijerina, the duo is among The Courier-News’ top three for point production. Camargo has 30 points from an area-best 14 goals plus a pair of assists.

Huntley’s Lucas Baker is next at 27 points (10g/7a) while Tijerina has 22 points (9g/4a). Bartlett’s Anthony DiNuzzo is next with 18 (6g/6a) followed by Jacob’s Mario Rako at 16 pts. (6g/4a) and Dundee-Crown’s Tony Meza 16 (7g/2a).

Genoa-Kingston’s Cris Beltran is the top set-up man with seven assists.

At the goalkeeping end, St. Charles North keeper Garrett Creasor has eight shutouts while Burlington Central’s Riley Jensen boasts six clean sheets.

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