Corey Phillip scored his 20th goal of the season with 8:30 remaining in the fourth overtime to lift Timothy Christian to a 2-1 victory over Waterloo Gibault in the Class 1A state championship game Saturday night at North Central College in Naperville.
The title is the first in any boys sport for Timothy Christian.
“This is incredible,” Phillip said. “We knew what it had to take. In the state tournament, we have never lost in overtime and I knew we weren’t going to lose today.”
Gibault (11-15), which was gunning for its fourth state championship in five years, grabbed a 1-0 lead on a goal by Matt Reinholz with 2:08 left in the first half. But the Trojans (15-12) got the equalizer with 5:06 remaining in the second half when Mike Pizzello ran onto a cross from Nathan Middel and scored on a 10-yard shot.
Both teams appeared exhausted in the extra sessions. But Phillip had enough energy to beat his man in the penalty area and send a six-yard shot from a severe angle past Hawks goalie Brendan Fournie. In the third overtime, Fournie had kept his team in it with an incredible diving save on a header by Troy Ellens.
“I was tired,” Phillip said. “Everyone was tired, but coach was telling us at halftime and every period after that that they are more tired than us, just take them one-on-one and we’ll get that goal.”
It was the second straight year the Trojans have defeated Gibault. Timothy beat the Hawks in the semifinals last year before losing 1-0 to Winnebago in the final.
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