Hinsdale Central goalkeeper Wes Bergevin smothers Morton’s late attempt to tie

La GRANGE — Hinsdale Central senior goalkeeper Wes Bergevin has been in big games and big situations before, but nothing quite like on Saturday.

The all-state goalie faced a penalty shot situation against Morton with 23 seconds left in regulation. The Red Devils led 3-2 and were on the verge of not only winning the sectional title, but pulling off a major upset.

The pressure was magnified for Bergevin because he committed the foul against Mustangs senior midfielder Edgar Garcia that put him in this situation. He fouled Garcia — who was moving down the field unopposed — while he was in the box, setting up the penalty kick.

“I saw the ball coming my way and I was a little off my line. It was close, but that’s the way it goes,” Bergevin said.

Junior midfielder Leo Delgado lined up his shot for the Mustangs. He fired a low line drive to Bergevin’s left. Bergevin made the correct read and dove for the ball. He deflected the shot and the ball bounced away.

The 10th-ranked Red Devils (16-4-4) were able to hold on and preserve their 3-2 come-from-behind victory over top-ranked Morton (24-2-2).

“I was looking at the board and I saw there were 23 seconds left and I thought there was no way I’m gonna let my team down,” Bergevin said. “It was definitely nerve-wracking, though.”

His teammates had plenty of faith in him.

“The penalty shot was unfortunate, but we believed in Wes,” senior defender Will McGowen said. “We knew he could do it.”

Bergevin had a rough start against the high-powered Morton offense, surrendering two goals to Garcia in a span of two minutes midway through the first half.

“Going down 2-0 is about the worst thing that can happen to you in soccer,” Red Devils coach Michael Wiggins said. “The boys know that when they’re 7 and 8 years old.”

Bergevin settled down and made some excellent defensive stops and saves, which allowed the Red Devils’ offense to find its footing. Senior midfielder Jack Baderman cut the Mustangs’ lead to 2-1 on a penalty kick with 16:08 left in the first half.

The Red Devils evened the score early in the second half on a header by senior midfielder Justin Yi, and McGowen put them in the lead with 17:33 left. Bergevin and his defense held the line from there as they withstood a relentless Mustangs’ offense.

“Once we got the penalty kick the momentum definitely shifted for us,” Bergevin said. “And we’ve been in situations where we’ve been behind against some really good teams and we’ve been able to pull it out.”

The Red Devils will play Naperville North, which defeated Batavia 2-0, on Tuesday in the Lewis University Supersectional.