Naperville North’s Eddie Zoeller didn’t realize the magnitude of what he had just done.

The little-used senior defender buried a penalty kick into the lower left corner of the net, turned and pumped his right arm in triumph, simply excited that he scored. Then he noticed teammate Jack Bouska .

“I started walking back, but then Jack runs over and jumps on me, and everyone starts running,” Zoeller said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, I scored the winner,’ so I started running around.”

For good reason. Zoeller, who hadn’t scored a goal during his varsity career, clinched Naperville North’s 3-2 victory over St. Laurence in the Class 3A state championship game in Hoffman Estates.

It was the perfect ending to a wild evening as the Huskies (25-0-4) won their first state title since 2018 and fifth overall.

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