Waiting for the penalty kick, St. Laurence senior goalkeeper Noah Mendez picked up something in his peripheral vision.
There up the sideline near midfield, coach Jaime Alonso was frantically jumping up and down trying to signal to his goalkeeper.
And then Mendez figured it out.
“I saw Coach jumping up and down and pointing,” Mendez said with a laugh. “I knew which way the kick was going to go, and I was going to save it. Coach studies the kicks.”
Mendez made the save with a dive to his left and then made an impressive point-blank save on the rebound. That helped to preserve St. Laurence’s exciting 1-0 victory on Sept. 3 over Lockport in Reavis’ Windy City Ram Classic final.
Mendez finished with eight saves for the Vikings, who won their first Ram Classic title.
Senior Jesus “Chuy” Salazar scored for St. Laurence with junior Adan Gutierrez providing the assist.
Mendez transferred to St. Laurence from Mount Carmel before his junior year.
Ineligible to compete at the varsity level, he played a couple JV games but ultimately missed much of the season dealing with a left hip flexor.
St. Laurence eventually finished as Class 3A state runner-up, losing a heartbreaker to Naperville North in the championship.
All Mendez could do was watch and wait.
“The environment (on the team) was definitely amazing to be around,” Mendez said. “It really did suck watching that last game and not being able to play. You think about it all the time. What could I have done? Now, it’s another year and another opportunity.”
St. Laurence returns nine starters from the state team.
The Vikings led 1-0 after Salazar’s goal in the 46th minute, a low, hard shot from 15 yards out up the right to the left far post.
Just a minute later, Mendez had to step up when Lockport drew a penalty.
He guessed right with his dive and then on the rebound knocked down a rocket of a shot at his chest to help preserve the lead.
“I’m super excited to play this year,” Mendez said. “It’s amazing because this is my year, my only year. I’ve got to make the most of it. I think about that before every game. This year is all I have (in high school).”
Alonso said Mendez will be a huge presence in goal.
“Noah has put in a lot of work to his game,” Alonso said. “Him not being able to play last year, that drove a different kind of hunger in him. It shows every day in training. He’s bought in right away and brought the guys along with him.”
Salazar was a starting midfielder last year as a junior. He finished with three goals and five assists.
“Winning this means everything,” Salazar said. “We’ve had that bitter taste since our state run. We knew we were going to come flying this season. It’s been showing.”