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Ntahoturi's overtime goal gets Wheaton North past St. Charles North By Gary Larsen
The non-call in question occurred after regulation play of Tuesday’s game in Hoffman Estates ended in a 1-1 tie, when Wheaton North’s Josh Bennett settled a ball near midfield. The North Stars relaxed in anticipation of a hand-ball call that never came. Bennett continued the play, sending a diagonal ball forward to teammate Jacques Ntahoturi, who went around the defense on the left side and sent the game-winner in off the post. “Our guys were waiting for a call, and we let a guy sneak in behind,” North Stars coach Eric Willson said. “We were pushing forward and trying to get a goal.” “We haven’t had much success in overtime this year,” Wheaton North coach Bryce Cann said. “But we made the plays when we needed to.” The two defensive-minded squads squared off in a game that figured to be low-scoring, with a good probability for an overtime frame or two. After a scoreless first half, Wheaton North’s Pat Langan was taken down in the box and converted the penalty kick in the 47th minute. The North Stars answered with a strong attacking spurt, and were able to apply pressure on Wheaton North goalkeeper Nick Barry throughout. “We knew it would be a close game between two very similar teams, and we got more opportunities than I thought we’d get,” Willson said. The North Stars tied the game when Angelo Catalano hit a beautiful free kick to the back netting from 30 yards, in the game’s 69th minute. The Falcons answered with attacking pressure, the North Stars returned the favor, and regulation ended in a tie. But not before Barry made a huge save down the stretch. “He saved the game at the end of regulation for us,” Cann said. “And he kept us in the game. He came up huge, time after time.” Less than three minutes into the first overtime period, Bennett sent the ball forward to Ntahoturi for the finish that ended the game. “At the end we were able to catch them in one of the first numbers-up situations of the game,” Cann said. “They had the bulk of possession today but to our credit we came up big when we needed to.” “It was a crazy, up-and-down game,” Bennett said. “We had chances and they had chances.” “After we scored, we were on our heels for the rest of the second half. They’re a physical team and they’ve got some great midfielders.” Wheaton North (8-9-5) will take on Schaumburg (12-5-2) in a sectional title game on Friday. St. Charles North finished the year at 11-11-3. The North Stars went into Tuesday’s game on the heels of four consecutive wins, and again lived up to their reputation. St. Charles North played its best soccer of the season down the stretch. “We expected to be here,” Willson said. “It took a little longer than we thought it would this year, but it’s a very close group and they played for each other.” You aren’t likely to find too many sub-.500 teams playing for a sectional title in any given year, but Wheaton North annually plays a schedule that never lets up, and it has served the Falcons well again this year. After withstanding a late-season losing streak, Wheaton North has now ticked off its fourth consecutive postseason win. “We’ve just done our best, every game,” Bennett said. “We had a spark and we’ve tried to get better, every game.”
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St. Charles North waited for the call, and Wheaton North didn’t. That, in effect, decided Tuesday’s sectional semifinal between the North Stars and Falcons.
