Nov. 08--Waterloo junior goalie Trevor Coplin darted toward a group of teammates at the center of the field before taking a last-second detour toward a yellow-clad referee.
His bearings recalibrated, Coplin leaped on a mob of his teammates following a 4-3 victory over Peoria Notre Dame in the Class 2A boys state final Saturday at Hoffman Estates High School.
Coplin could be excused if he didn't quite get the celebration right. The state championship was the first for Waterloo in any team sport in school history.
"I was lost," Coplin said. "I didn't know where I was going."
The Bulldogs (25-3-1) made a statement by scoring two goals within the first two minutes. Kane Osterhage drilled home a shot off a free kick 1 minute, 43 seconds in, and five seconds later, Philip Most scored unassisted.
Waterloo's size and physical play, along with the offensive firepower of Osterhage and Ben Huels, overwhelmed the Irish at the start of the match.
"It was a great feeling," Osterhage said of the start. "We couldn't ask for a better start with two goals in two minutes."
The teams traded goals the rest of the match, with Ryan Stites and Huels adding second-half scores that thwarted late rallies by the Irish (22-2-3). T.J. Rea scored to pull Notre Dame within 3-2 midway through the second half, and Marty Dahlquist made it 4-3 with 5 minutes to play.
"They had a pretty potent offense and some real special players in Osterhage and Huels," Notre Dame Mike Bare said.
Carmel 4, Washington 2: Carmel scored four goals in the first half to cruise past Washington in the 2A third-place game. All four of Carmel's goals came in a 15-minute period late in the first half, with Ryan McKernan, Braco Lasso, Michael Alemu and Austin Ehren each scoring.
The win clinched the best finish in team history for the Corsairs (19-8-1).
"We played a different level of play after not getting the outcome we wanted (Friday)," Lasso said. "We had nothing to lose and we put everybody on the line. Third place is great. We had a good season."
Raul Garcia scored twice in the second half for Washington (12-8-3).
"After the first goal, everybody started to play like a family like we had been playing before state," Garcia said.
Two years after becoming the third Public League team to win a state soccer title, Washington added a fourth-place trophy.
"It's another trophy for the program and the city of Chicago," Washington coach Alvaro Perez said. "We're proud of it. It didn't take 30 years to come back (to state)."
Bob Narang is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
Player of the game: Kane Osterhage, Waterloo, goal, assist.
Key performers: Waterloo -- Philip Most, goal; Ben Huels, goal. Notre Dame -- T.J. Rea, goal; Marty Dahlquist, goal.
