CREVE COEUR – Zach Costello was not sure what to do, so he just started running.
The De Smet sophomore watched his overtime, game-winning shot enter the net, then turned and began a 75-yard sprint to somewhere.
The Spartans’ student section kept him from leaving the stadium completely.
“I didn’t even think about it. I couldn’t process it until I got over there and the fans started crashing onto me,” Costello said.
Costello scored his first varsity goal in dramatic fashion, netting the game-winner in double overtime against rival CBC to propel De Smet to a thrilling 3-2 victory Tuesday at De Smet High.
De Smet (7-2-1), which extended its unbeaten streak to five games, recovered from two deflating CBC goals and a flurry of Cadets’ chances in the first overtime to eventually score the game-winner.
Sophomore Gavin Weber and brother Landon Weber led the way for De Smet in the second overtime. Landon earned a corner kick in the opening minute, and after a ping-pong flurry in the box, Gavin delivered a cross that Landon clanged on the underside of the crossbar.
The ball ricocheted straight to the ground, and as De Smet paused to see if had entered the net, CBC goalie Sam Scott cleared it off the goal line.
“I did feel, the way this game was going, that it wasn’t going to PKs. There were just too many opportunities for both sides,” De Smet coach Josh Klein said.
The Spartans proved their coach right.
Gavin Weber retrieved the ball on the left side and dribbled horizontally across the top of the box before turning and delivering a pass towards the back post, where Costello was waiting.
“It was bouncing around in the box and Gavin got on it, put it right on my foot and I was just there at the right time,” Costello said. “Getting my first goal against CBC definitely puts weight onto it.”
De Smet put the perfect weight on long passes over and through the CBC defense to produce scoring chances in the first half. A soft through pass by senior Jake Panagos required Scott to slide way off his line to prevent senior Ethan Wehmueller from finding a breakaway opportunity.
Junior Dominic Nicoletti and Panagos were each denied by brilliant saves by Scott in the next few minutes, as De Smet generated offense by first chasing down long passes.
“It’s a weapon I think we have,” Klein said “When we see some channels, when we see a gap, we’ve been working on the timing of those runs, the diagonal play of it. I was pleased with a number of sequences they put together.”
Scott’s diving, left-handed denial of Panagos led to a De Smet corner kick and the Spartans cashed in. The boot from the corner flag landed on the head of senior Louis Cernicek at the back post, who redirected it to the near post where Wehmueller headed it into the net in the 28th minute to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
Immediately, CBC increased its energy level, and after Cadets’ senior Dominic Bartoni won the ball with a physical play, he was fouled outside the penalty area by Panagos.
While De Smet players conversed with the official, CBC senior JD Brewster quickly sent his free kick towards the net without a wall to impede its path. The ball scooted past unsuspecting senior goalie Kyle Crosswhite and into the far corner of the net to tie the score.
“It’s hard to shake that,” Crosswhite said. “It’s like, ‘Now it’s 1-1 off of something that was an interesting play.’ It’s hard to go back with a lot of intensity and a lot of energy after that.”
CBC (10-4-2) seized control of the final 10 minutes of the half, but De Smet kept the Cadets off the scoreboard and used the halftime intermission to regroup.
“We realized we couldn’t do anything about it,” senior captain Austin Werner said. “The word for today was discipline, and we had to stay disciplined on the pitch.”
Werner was excellent defensively throughout the game, sliding to block shots and maintaining a close eye on CBC All-American forward Dominic Bartoni.
“(Bartoni) is a really good player, fast, crazy shot,” Werner said. “At practice we worked on pressure-cover. If (center back) Gabe (Sauer) goes, I cover and vice versa, and that’s how we kept him from scoring.”
Instead, the crazy shot came from Panagos, who lined up a free kick from 25 yards away in the 44th minute.
He stood in a similar spot five days earlier against Vianney and dinged the crossbar. On Tuesday, he delivered a laser that sailed snugly into the top right corner to put De Smet ahead 2-1.
“It was electric,” Panagos said.
De Smet had the momentum, but Scott continued to be a stone wall, somehow denying a point-blank header off a corner kick by De Smet junior Brady Smith.
Scott’s brilliance allowed CBC to regain its rhythm, and the Cadets cashed in with the tying goal when senior Charlie Sharamitaro stood near the back post and tapped in a pinballing corner kick with 12 minutes 42 seconds remaining in regulation.
“We let off the gas, and I didn’t feel real great toward the end of that second half that we could hold on (to the lead),” Klein said. “There was just too much momentum on their end and so I wasn’t surprised by that goal.”
CBC retained its territorial advantage in the first overtime.
Crosswhite made two saves in the opening three minutes, and Bartoni delivered a pair of dangerous shots that drifted wide of the cage.
But a Landon Weber blast near the end of the first overtime required another scintillating save by Scott, and his brother Gavin Weber joined him in creating chances in the second overtime, including the memorable game-winner for Costello.
“I am super-proud,” Klein said. “We took Vianney to overtime and PKs (last Thursday) and these guys are very familiar with the kind of energy and tenacity that is required in that moment.”
It was the second of four consecutive games against district opponents for De Smet, which defeated Priory on Sept. 30 and will face Chaminade Thursday and Parkway South on Saturday.
“I told our guys that we are trying to check boxes, and I think it has given them a good goal to shoot for – visually picturing, check a box, check a box,” Klein said. “We’re excited to check this box, tonight.”