ADDISON – St. Charles East senior Truitt Battin raced down the right wing as the final seconds of overtime ticked away Tuesday night at the Class 3A Addison Trail Sectional semifinal.

The star midfielder was 1-on-1 with a Lake Park defender as he cut back into the middle of the field and fired a left-footed shot from 22 yards out.

It was exactly the scenario the Saints were hoping for. But Battin’s shot sailed a couple feet over the crossbar with four seconds remaining.

Top-seeded Lake Park made the most of the reprieve, going on to win 3-2 on penalty kicks.The Lancers (18-3-3) won the shootout 6-5 in seven rounds.

“It was a hard-fought game,” Battin said. “We came out a little weak but we came back strong, so it was just in God’s hands when it came to penalties. We did our best and it was a great season.”

It was a heartbreaking way for the fifth-seed Saints (13-8) to go down after a seesaw match that saw both teams rally from one-goal deficits in regulation.

Lake Park, which beat the Saints 5-3 two weeks ago, converted its first two penalties while goalkeeper Christian Lekki stopped St. Charles East’s first shooter, freshman Sebastian Carranza, to grab an early 2-0 lead.

St. Charles East goalkeeper Jack Settle saved the Lancers’ third attempt and Alex Mancera scored to draw the Saints even after three rounds. The next six shooters all converted, with Grayson Biddle, Battin and Jacob Maslowski scoring for the Saints.

The shootout was tied at 4-4 after five rounds, necessitating sudden-death rounds in which the Saints shot first. Maslowski’s penalty gave the Saints their first lead, but Jesus Juarez barely got his shot past the diving Settle to keep the Lancers’ hopes alive.

In the seventh round, Lekki dove to his right to thwart Ulises Caballero and Lake Park won it when Andrew Eliopoulos converted.

“I thought it was a great game of soccer,” St. Charles East coach Vince DiNuzzosaid. “It’s playoff soccer. It’s a game of inches.

“We score the first goal in sudden death and Settle comes fingertips away from ending their season. That’s just the way it goes.”

Lake Park struck first on its first shot of the game when Thomas Zakic headed home Juarez’s corner kick with 32:06 to go in the first half.

Cabellero tied it at the 10:31 mark when he pounced on a loose ball in the box following a corner kick and rifled a shot through traffic.

But the Lancers retook the lead 96 seconds later when a 30-yard shot from Paul Grzybowicz deflected off a defender and into the Saints’ net.

Battin plans to move to Belgrade, Serbia, after graduation to play for professional team Red Star, which plays in the Champions League. He got the equalizer on a beautiful 26-yard free kick that went around and over the defensive wall and into the upper right corner of the net.

It was Battin’s team-leading 14th goal of the season, giving him one more than Carranza. In the end, it wasn’t quite enough.

“Our team is really good, a great group of guys,” Battin said. “I think we had a chance of winning state. It just didn’t work out. It’s just emotional having this be the last high school experience.”