Boys soccer: Second half rally sparks St. Charles East

Thursday's crosstown DuKane Conference match between visiting St. Charles East and St. Charles North paired two teams heading in different directions.

The Saints took the field unbeaten in their last seven games while the North Stars were looking to break a five-game winless streak.

For 65 minutes it appeared as if both streaks would end, but the Saints scored the equalizer with just under 15 minutes remaining and then netted the winner with 7:47 left to play to rally for a hard-fought 2-1 victory.

"I know the score didn't reflect that, but I thought we played well in the first half," Saints coach Vince DiNuzzo said. "They came out in the second half and saw how many guys they had behind the ball and we knew it would be difficult to break down because they're disciplined defensively, but I'm proud of the guys for staying engaged."

Renato Avendano sparked the Saints (10-1-1, 2-0).

"He came back and won the ball and played a wall pass," DiNuzzo said. "He got in the box, created the foul and that kind of changed the game."

Having watching St. Charles North's Thomas Weber convert a penalty kick with 13:05 left in the first half, Avendano replicated it.

While he shot right and North Stars goalkeeper Bob Curran guessed right, Avendano still was able to sneak it past him.

"When I'm playing soccer I don't really think, I guess," Avendano said. "In a way, it's just all instinct. I don't have a side until I hit the ball. The moment the foot hits the ball that's when it goes a certain direction. I don't set it in my mind."

Seizing the momentum of having knotted things up, the Saints won it with 7:47 left on senior Zach Gamster's goal off a Sebastian Carranza throw-in.

"I was kind of unmarked and the defender was giving me space," Gamster said. "I saw enough space at the front post and I predicted the ball would go right there. And we've been doing front post crosses in practice, and it happened to go to me and I was able to get a foot on it."

And crush the North Stars (5-4-1, 0-2-2) while doing so.

"We're going to have to move forward," North Stars coach Eric Willson said. "That's all you can do."