Over the course of the season, senior forward Marc Walker emerged as St. Charles East’s leading scorer. He reached double digits in both goals and assists.

But in the Saints’ biggest game Wednesday night, coach Vince DiNuzzo handed Walker a different assignment — and Walker concentrated on giving 100% or more.

“DiNuzzo gave me a job, and I just made sure I stuck to it and put everything in because the only thing you can control in this game is effort,” he said. “Mistakes, they all start from technical.

“But I think focus and effort is one thing that you have to focus on the entire game. That’s been our mindset this entire year. I think that’s why we made it so far.”

With Walker helping out defensively, the Saints stayed with New Trier, but their postseason run came to an end in a 2-1 loss in the Class 3A St. Charles North Supersectional.

Walker finished with 13 goals and 11 assists for St. Charles East (19-8), and his offensive production was a major reason why the Saints won a sectional title.

Giuseppe Avendano scored the lone goal Wednesday for St. Charles East with 24:44 left in the second half, creating a 1-1 tie. That was short-lived, though, as the Trevians (21-1-2) scored 40 seconds later and held on for the win.

New Trier advances to a 7:30 p.m. Friday state semifinal against Glenbrook North (21-3-2), a 3-1 supersectional winner over Elgin.

DiNuzzo had no qualms about asking Walker to track back Wednesday.

“We asked him to tuck into the midfield and help defend,” DiNuzzo said. “We had him playing kind of out of position, but he’s somebody that we trust. He’s a leader for these guys. They look up to him.

“He’s someone that gets the boys going in terms of energy and enthusiasm. He’s someone we can always turn to for confidence. We’re going to miss him. He’s a good kid. He’s matured greatly over four years.”

Both teams had opportunities in the first half but entered halftime scoreless.

New Trier took control of the run of play in the second half, however. Only 1:17 into the second half, Calyx Hoover scored to give the Trevians a 1-0 lead.

The Saints had no shots on goal in the half before Avendano struck. His two goals in the sectional semifinals after missing much of the regular season with an injury helped the Saints get here.

Still playing restricted minutes, Avendano scored off a feed from Logan Lewarchick to tie the game 1-1.

“I just saw the run, so I took the touch and made it in,” Avendano said. “It felt amazing. I just wish we didn’t concede right after. In the moment, I was just like, ‘Wow, this again?’

“It’s just so upsetting. It’s just a mountain of emotions. I think we could have made it farther but things didn’t go as planned.”

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DiNuzzo knows how electric Avendano can be.

“It seems like he can go 8-10 minutes and is really effective,” DiNuzzo said. “He was able to get on the end of Logan’s ball. It was a good combination to get behind the back line and he hit it on the volley. It was a very nice goal.”

New Trier answered immediately on a long pass into the box, with Kevin Farina converting the game-winner.

Walker said the ending was disappointing, but the Saints making it this far after an early exit during his sophomore season is something that will stick with them forever.

“I think this group of guys is a brotherhood, and I’m never going to separate from these guys,” Walker said. “I love this program. I’m so grateful for all the life lessons.

“It taught me everything. I’m sad it ended like this.”

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