Hilario Sanchez certainly remembers the feeling. He and his St. Laurence teammates were soaked, shivering and devastated on a rainy and cold night last November in Hoffman Estates.
The Vikings were 89 seconds away from stunning Naperville North and winning the Class 3A state title before the Huskies produced the game-tying goal and then slipped past St. Laurence in penalty kicks for a 3-2 win.
“To this day, we still talk about it,” Sanchez said. “A bunch of us play club together, and we talked about it all the time during club season. We couldn’t stop thinking about it. Every day in practice, it’d be like, ‘We wish we could go back in time and fix our mistakes.’
“It’s just nightmares, to be honest. Heartbroken.”
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But that disappointment comes with a whole heck of a lot of hunger for Sanchez, a senior defender who earned all-state honors last fall.
“It’s just made me want to go harder and harder every day,” Sanchez said. “Yeah, it stinks because we were right there. But we’ve got most of our guys back, everybody’s gotten a lot better and we feel like this is the year.”
Indeed, the Vikings’ roster looks much the same as last season’s group heading into Monday, when the season begins.
Nine starters return, with Sanchez and fellow senior Pauly Rzadkosz anchoring the back line. And coach Jaime Alonso knows how bad they all want to make it back to the state championship game with a different outcome.
“I don’t think you can get much closer than we did last year,” Alonso said. “It was a unique experience for the entire community. Obviously, the sky is the limit for these kids.”
Sanchez is a huge reason why. He helped the Vikings (24-3-4) post 13 shutouts last season, including back-to-back 1-0 wins against perennial powerhouses Lyons and Morton at the Hinsdale Central Sectional.
Sanchez is the ultimate security blanket for his teammates, who place total trust in him.
“Hilario is a great player,” Rzadkosz said. “I love playing with him. He’s a great leader. He’s vocal. He likes to communicate, and that’s a big part of soccer.
“And I think the big thing is just his confidence. He’s so confident out there. He knows what he can do. He’s not scared of anything.”
That level of self-belief rose even higher with last year’s success and accolades.
“Being chosen all-state, it gave me more confidence, to be honest,” Sanchez said. “I wouldn’t say I’m a cocky player, but … well, I guess I am. But in a good way. I stay humble. It makes me want more, more, more. I know I have to keep getting better. My teammates motivate me a lot.”
Sanchez has been playing soccer since he was 7 years old. Aside from casual basketball games with friends and family, it has been his only sport.
And he’s always had a passion for defense.
“Playing in the back, I can see everything,” he said. “I can communicate with others. I can take my time and I don’t have to be all over the place. I like being able to just focus in on what I need to do and make sure I do my job.”
Alonso knows he can always count on Sanchez to do just that.
“I think his game matured a lot last season,” Alonso said. “We trust in his communication, his patience on the ball and his overall IQ. I think his soccer IQ is through the roof. He knows when to speed up and when to slow down. He’s someone who’s going to bring people along with him.”
How far along? Sanchez believes all the way. With a dream ending. No more nightmares.
“We have everything we need,” he said. “We just have to be a team. That’s it.
“You can just feel what’s coming with this team. I feel greatness.”