Boys soccer: Giuseppe Avendano, St. Charles East stun West Chicago in Class 3A sectional semifinal

WEST CHICAGO – Giuseppe Avendano relished in his moment that seemed for much of this season unlikely to come.

Avendano, a St. Charles East senior forward, missed the previous month with a hip injury. Wednesday’s sectional final against West Chicago was just his third game since his return. The injury had been nagging all year.

Avendano scored not one, but two goals – the second, the overtime clincher – in Saints’ 2-1 overtime victory over West Chicago in Wednesday’s sectional semifinal.

It gave him a beaming smile he couldn’t, justifiably, hide.

The Saints will face York in Saturday’s sectional final at 1 p.m., a rematch of the 2021 sectional final. The Dukes defeated Glenbard West 4-2 in overtime, during the first semifinal.

“It was probably the most meaningful thing that I’ve ever done. I can’t even describe it. I’m just thinking this was meant to happen [considering] my injury,” Avendano said. “Everything kind of led to this. Hopefully, I can keep doing it. Hopefully, I can keep scoring more goals and helping my team win. Because, this is what I worked for over the summer, going through that [it means everything].”

Avendano, who had one goal to his name entering Wednesday, scored his first tally of the game in the first half, and the Saints led at the break. West Chicago (10-8-2) put on a high-pressure surge for the second half and beyond that visibly put the Saints on their heels for the final 60 minutes of play.

Wildcats senior Camilo Salinas put his team on the board with a scorching arc of a free kick with 23:25 left in the second half to tie it at 1-1. The speed and offensive aggression didn’t relent, as West Chicago’s Rafeal Posada nearly connected on a handful of chances following the end of regulation.

Avendano, however, found his moment to shake-and-bake on the far left sideline in the opening two minutes of the second overtime period. Running down the edge of the box, Avendano heeded advice his father taught him.

“Tuck it near post,” Avendano recalled. “So, let me slot it. There was no room for a mistake and it perfectly went in.”

Avendano’s big moment was a gratifying sight to his teammates.

“At the beginning of the season, when he got hurt, it was devastating,” Saints goalie Jordan Rolon said following his own eight-save performance. “Because you know how bad he wants this with his senior season. And, he [didn’t] know how good he’s going to be when he comes back. At the beginning of the playoffs, I told Seppe: ‘It’s coming. Your chance is coming. Keep driving at them. Keep taking your chances and it’s going to come. Of course it does second half. It was a beautiful shot. Beautiful moves and it was insane.”

The Wildcats continued to press hard through the game’s final seconds. They simply ran out of time for what was so close to being an equalizing goal.

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St. Charles East's Giuseppe Avendano (10) and Griffin Counts (left) celebrate after scoring a goal against West Chicago during a class 3A sectional semifinal soccer match at West Chicago High School on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (Sean King for Shaw Local News)

“We’re incredibly proud of this entire group,” Wildcats coach Jose Villa said. “We’re incredibly proud of their effort; left it all on the field. We’re grateful for this community. As you saw, how this crowd came out to go and support them; just get[ting] behind them knowing hiow hard they’ve been working since day one.”

“It’s tough to put into words the fact that we really, obviously, are saddened by this,” Villa continued. “But, at the same time, proud of this team’s effort throughout this whole season.”