St. Laurence’s Pauly Rzadkosz definitely felt the heartbreak that comes with being less than two minutes away from a state championship and seeing it slip away.
On the other hand, though, the junior defender was filled with immense pride after the Vikings pushed undefeated and nationally ranked Naperville North to the absolute brink.
“We just worked as hard as we can this whole season,” Rzadkosz said. “We deserve to be here. It just felt great to experience this and to play in a state championship game. It’s sad that we couldn’t get the job done, but we’re still proud of ourselves and what we were able to do.
“It was all dedication, courage and determination.”
Rzadkosz scored a huge second-half goal Saturday night, but the Huskies rallied late to force overtime and then won a penalty-kick shootout 5-4 in seven rounds to earn a 3-2 victory over St. Laurence in the Class 3A state championship game at Hoffman Estates.
Alonso Gonzalez also scored in the second half for the Vikings (24-3-4), while Vin Diesi made 12 saves in regulation and one in the shootout. Heroberta Luna, Josue Garcia, Kris Caravantes and Maxx Figueroa converted in the shootout.
The runner-up finish is the best in program history for St. Laurence. Senior forward Juan Hernandez felt the Vikings certainly proved themselves.
“We showed a lot of people that we are not a team to mess around,” Hernandez said. “Just us being here is a big statement for us. Looking forward, everyone should be scared of St. Laurence from now on.”
Eddie Zoeller scored the clinching penalty kick in the seventh round for Naperville North (25-0-4), which is ranked No. 11 in the country by the United Soccer Coaches.
The Huskies led 1-0 at halftime and mostly controlled play in the opening 40 minutes, but St. Laurence stormed back in the second half.
Rzadkosz delivered the equalizer with 23:30 to go, scoring on an assist from Jesus Salazar off a corner kick.
“Coming out at halftime, we believed that we could win this game and that we could score goals,” Rzadkosz said. “We knew we were going to get a goal. That goal from me just felt like momentum completely shifted for us. We got so much energy from that.”
Seven minutes later, Gonzalez scored off an assist from Figueroa and St. Laurence had the lead.
That held up until Naperville North’s Andrew Hebron tied it with 1:29 to go, scoring after a long scramble in front of the net.
In the end, after a marathon shootout, the Vikings came up agonizingly just short. But St. Laurence coach Jaime Alonso saw his players pour their hearts out while playing 100 minutes and beyond through a torrential rain on a freezing night.
“I think we showed the quality of soccer that we have and the quality of kids we have,” Alonso said. “It felt like a heavyweight battle. It goes all the way to penalties and unfortunately we came out on the short end of the stick, but they’re a great team so credit to them.”
Rzadkosz knows better than most how special it is to play on the most successful team in St. Laurence soccer history.
He grew up cheering on his three older cousins — Jacob, Thomas and Matthew Suchecki — who all played for the Vikings. After Matthew graduated in the spring, Rzadkosz took over his No. 3 jersey.
“They’re the reason I came to St. Laurence,” Rzadkosz said. “I’ve been following this program since I was 5 years old, watching my oldest cousin who is 24 now.
“Every year, the program just gets better and better. It feels great to get to the highest level.”
Of course, there’s one more step to take. Rzadkosz was one of nine underclassmen who started Saturday night for the Vikings.
“It’s going to be hard to beat us next year,” Rzadkosz said. “We know we have a great group of guys and we know we can play soccer at a high level.”
