St. Charles East forward Giuseppe Avendano has had a difficult senior year.

Dealing with a hip injury that knocked him out for most of his final soccer season, Avendano had to gradually build his way back to strength — and back into the Saints’ lineup.

He received some encouraging words heading into the postseason, however, from senior goalkeeper Jordan Rolon that provided a foreshadowing for Wednesday night.

“At the beginning of the season when he got hurt, it was devastating because we know how bad he wants it,” Rolon said. “It’s his senior season. He didn’t know how good he was going to be when he came back.

“Beginning of the playoffs, I told Giuseppe, ‘It’s coming. Your chance is coming.’”

That chance came against the host Wildcats in a Class 3A West Chicago Sectional semifinal.

Despite missing most of the season, with only one goal entering the game, Avendano scored twice for St. Charles East in a 2-1 overtime victory, including the winner with 8:03 left in the second OT.

Avendano was so excited celebrating his first goal, which put the Saints up 1-0 with 18:51 left in the first half, that he received a yellow card.

Facing a 1-1 tie in double OT, Avendano scored the goal for the Saints (17-7) that sets up a 1 p.m. Saturday date for the sectional title against York (16-4), a 4-2 winner in double OT over Glenbard West.

For Avendano, it made his battle returning to the lineup worth the effort.

“It was the most meaningful thing I’ve ever done,” Avendano said. “I can’t even describe it. I’m just thinking this was meant to happen. Everything has led to this.

“Hopefully, I can keep doing this. Hopefully, I can keep scoring more goals and help my team win because this is what I worked for over the summer and going through all of that.”

Avendano was out for over a month with his injury, which is still lingering. He’s gradually increased his minutes over the past few games, leading to this moment.

He scored his first goal Wednesday less than a minute after coming off the bench.

“It was a deflection,” Avendano said. “I was on for like 30 seconds. I just kind of hit it and it deflected in.”

That lead held until West Chicago’s Camilo Salinas fired a 30-yard free kick past Rolon with 23:23 remaining in the second half.

“I’m going to respect that shot, that goal on us,” Rolon said. “That was a really nice shot. I had to make sure I wasn’t bothered by that and I was still mentally there.”

West Chicago (10-8-2) brought the pressure from halftime through the first overtime. The Saints had to hold serve to even stay in the game.

“We were fighting for our lives,” Avendano said. “They are really good. I have to give them that.

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“We were really prepared and we just kind of trusted all the work we did, all the practices.”

That all led to the big moment for Avendano, who converted a one-on-one goal that demanded his best.

“I remembered somehow that my dad always tells me to tuck it near post,” Avendano said. “So I was like, ‘OK, let me slide it.’ There was no room for a mistake, and it perfectly went in.”

St. Charles East coach Vince DiNuzzo knows how much Avendano has gone through this season, making the moment even sweeter.

“The resiliency from him, he’s fighting through a bad injury that’s going to be here for a while,” DiNuzzo said. “For him to put in his minutes (Wednesday) was amazing.

“He changed the game completely.”

Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.