Boys soccer: York surprises St. Charles East in shootout
York hadn't participated in a penalty shootout prior to Saturday night's Class 3A Lake Park sectional against St. Charles East.
Forced to do so after rallying in overtime to get to the shootout, the Dukes were perfect in converting their chances while senior goalkeeper James Sampson was able to make a key stop on the fourth attempt from the Saints as the Dukes held on for a thrilling 4-3 shootout victory.
No. 7 seed York (15-6-1) advances to the Class 3A St. Charles East sectional where it will face Geneva in a semifinal at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
"I saw the focus on the boys faces when we were walking in and from the beginning of the day we kind of asserted ourselves," York coach Lukasz Majewski said. "I thought we had the better of play throughout the first half. The second half was a little different, but we had chances."
No. 2 seed St. Charles East (18-2-3) appeared destined for its third regional title in four seasons after breaking the scoreless tie midway through the first overtime when Sebastian Carranza connected with Sam Wade.
The Dukes weren't ready to quit though, especially after battling for 85 minutes in a heavy rains and their season on the line.
"We never give up," York sophomore Sam Musial said. "They scored and we wanted one back. I thought we played great and it showed."
When Joe Meade missed nearly midway through the second overtime, Musial was there to clean it up, tying the game with 5:30 left.
"It was lying there on a plate and I just put it in the goal," Musial said. "I as ecstatic. It was the greatest feeling. We tied it up, sent it to PK and we got the win."
It was a crushing blow for the Saints who were playing without Renato Avendano, their goal-scoring leader, who is injured.
"It was great to finally break through without Renato, but we just lost our mark on one sequence and allowed (Meade) enough space to create and that was the difference," Saints coach Vince DiNuzzo said. "I thought we played well, but had multiple chances to finish the game and failed to do so."
Meade, Ethan Oder, Kalvin Glodz and Ryan Woolfe all converted their PKs in succession in the shootout for the Dukes, while Sampson denied St. Charles East's fourth attempt before the Saints missed their final try.
"Losing in PKs is a very difficult way for a team to end their season," DiNuzzo said. "We are proud of the team's season as a whole, but we did not reach our goals. When a team doesn't reach their goals it is disappointing."
The Dukes, winners of 9 of 10 games, are one of the hotter teams in the state, and Sampson's strong play in net has been one of the keys to their success.
"He's been fantastic for us," Majewski said. "A couple of breakaway saves and then he was huge in PKs. You can't ask for anything else."