Boys soccer: St. Charles North holds off Wheaton North in OT

Jameson D'Amico finally found the back of the net.

For 80 minutes, it seemed as if the frame was shrinking for St. Charles North. The North Stars watched shot after shot whiz by just left or right of the goal or sail just over the top.

But 2 minutes into overtime, D'Amico saw his chance. He pounced on a loose ball to the right of the Wheaton North goal and fired it in from the corner.

Jake Persenico added an insurance goal late in overtime to give the North Stars a 2-0 win in one semifinal of the Class 3A Conant boys soccer sectional. The title game is Friday at 6 p.m. against Glenbard East, which defeated West Chicago in penalty kicks in Tuesday's second semifinal.

"I just took a breath and placed it where I wanted," said D'Amico. "I knew we were missing a lot of chances in regulation, so I knew this was a big play. I just closed my eyes and hoped for the best."

Earlier, particularly in the second half, the North Stars (14-2-4) created numerous chances, but couldn't put a ball on frame.

Persenico had an open net on a breakaway but just missed to the right side. A shot by Bernard Elegbede just missed high. Later, Elegbede sent a perfect centering pass to D'Amico, whose shot was a hair too high. And Kyle Kolodziej's attempt in the late going missed high.

"We had been talking about executing in the final third and, whoever that was, somebody had to step up and make a play for us," said North Stars' coach Eric Willson. "We asked somebody to do that, because we felt like we were creating lots of chances and just couldn't finish that last little bit. And, fortunately, Jameson D'Amico, senior, came through and found a way to get it in the back of the net for us, so that was awesome."

Up until then, the North Stars' defense had dominated. Center backs Peter Willis and Kolodziej, right back Connor Bettini, and Joey Sommer, who filled in for left back Alex Romero, kept the Falcons' offense at bay most of the night. Goalkeeper Piercarlo Ricossa faced just 2 solid shots.

The 12th-seeded Falcons, meanwhile, saw their Cinderella run come to an end.

"This is a great group of boys," said Wheaton North coach Rob Stassen. "I wouldn't change a single thing with these guys. A 12th seed, shouldn't have been here, we stepped up when we had to step up."

The Falcons' defense wasn't too shabby, either, holding the top seed scoreless for more than 80 minutes. Jack Mancuso, Nathan Heyen, Jack Tegart in the middle, and Sunday Moo, forced St. Charles North to work overtime for the victory.