Waterloo Gibault’s backup sophomore keeper Brendan Fournie took the roller-coaster ride from goat to hero.
Two-time defending Class A champion Gibault (13-12) went along for the ride with a 2-1 victory thanks to a 4-2 shootout advantage over Manteno after 120 minutes of soccer ended in a 1-1 tie.
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Fournie entered the game in 67th minute after starter Ty Schutt suffered blurred vision from an earlier collision. Fournie let in a 40-yard goal that tied the game in the 78th minute.
“I was scared to death,” Fournie said. “After that first goal I didn’t know what to do. There’s no excuse. I should have had it. It slipped through my hands.
“After making a few saves in overtime and my teammates giving me confidence, (in the shootout) I thought I could get one save, and that’s what happened.”
Fournie actually might have been the best man for the job in the shootout. He got the reps in practice the past few weeks when the Hawks practiced penalty kicks.
“After their third shooter hit the post … it gave me an extra boost,” said Fournie, who stopped the fourth and final Manteno shot.
Kevin Brady, Justin Billmeyer, Andrew Phillips and Jacob Posey connected in succession to seal the victory after opening shooter Griffin Wielgus missed. Billmeyer scored Gibault’s goal with 15.8 seconds left in the first half on a free kick outside the top of the box into the top right corner.
Manteno senior Austin Newsom tied the game with his 30th goal of the season as Manteno (21-3-2) pushed up for its final attacks.
“I thought I crushed it. I kicked it as hard as I could and hoped,” Newson said. “It was wet out and I guess the keeper just couldn’t handle it. It was one of the best goals of my life. Seeing that with two minutes left and tying it up, I thought we were going to come out with the win. We had all the momentum.
“I’m proud of my team. This is our first year at state. We played the defending champions and we played them tough.”