Morton's Gongora a fast learner
By Dave Owen
Undersized freshmen are supposed to struggle at least a little in their adjustment to high school varsity soccer.
Someone forgot to tell that to Morton’s Mayte Gongora.
The 5-foot-1 midfielder made the Mustangs’ varsity in the 2019 preseason with high potential but limited early expectations. She immediately showed the potential part, and completely shattered the idea of breaking in slowly by securing a spot in the starting lineup.
“Mayte came in last year as a freshman, extremely quiet but with great fundamentals,” Morton coach Jim Bageanis said. “When we kept her on the varsity, we were hoping to have her see (playing time in) about half the game each day.
“Well when she hit game day, she was probably the most focused player on the field. Myself and my assistants said ‘We can’t take her out.’ That’s how dominant Mayte is on the field for us.”
Unaccustomed to being on the field with players who were often two or three years her senior, Gongora learned quickly to deal with that situation.
“At first I was nervous,” she said. “I’m a freshman going onto varsity, playing against older girls.
“But the (Morton) girls were really welcoming, and they told me what to expect. I feel that really helped me in being more confident on the field.
“Me not being that tall was really challenging as well,” Gongora added. “But the girls told me what I could do and what to expect, as did Bageanis. He told me what to expect as well. And me, I kept working, even throughout the season, to just get stronger.”
Whatever expectations there were, Gongora exceeded them.
“We had her play defensive mid,” Bageanis said, “and she ran with it from the first game.
“She keeps us balanced. She sees the game extremely well and is able to anticipate plays developing that she breaks up. Not to mention she’s usually marking the opponent’s best midfielder.”
Gongora’s freshman season culminated with some very special accomplishments for Morton: a 10-game winning streak late in the season, and the first unbeaten WSC Gold title in the history of the Mustangs’ girls program.
“That (championship) was big,” Gongora said. “It was something that we all really wanted. To be able to accomplish that was super huge for us. We were all really happy and excited about it.
“As the season went on, we started getting closer to each other and grow chemistry together. I feel that showed on the field. We were able to get more wins.”
That late season run looked like it would be a great springboard into this season. Eight starters returned, including standout goalkeeper Dayanna Gonzalez and top scorers Adriana Moreno (19 goals, 8 assists) and Melanie Carranza (12 goals, 10 assists).
Then came mid-March, the school shutdowns over the COVID-19 virus, and what began as a waiting game became wait until next year for all Illinois prep spring sports.
Even for a sophomore with two more seasons to look foward to at Morton, the spring has been agonizing.
“It’s hard knowing you won’t be able to play a season in your high school career,” Gongora said. “And especially for the seniors, it being their last season.”
Gongora also had looked forward to building on the chemistry and offensive opportunities she helped develop last year with senior midfielders Carranza and Medelin Loza and junior Moreno.
“Those are great players,” she said. “I love how they play, and they were able to tell me as well how I can improve coming in as a freshman.
“They helped me a lot, and they helped the team a lot as well, being able to bring us goals. You feel like you can trust them so much when you’re on the field with them.”
Gongora also quickly emerged as a player who could turn an opponents’ possession in the midfield into a quick Morton counterattack.
“I feel like I’m a player that can get out of hard situations,” Gongora said, “and I’m able to make plays for other girls to be able to score. That can cause me to be more of a dangerous player to guard too, because I’m able to get the ball to the forwards so they can score goals.”
Gongora’s talent, poise and quick maturity are products of both years of soccer and a good role model in her older brother Axel (a former Mount Carmel standout who is now a freshman on the St. Xavier University soccer team).
“I was about four when I started playing,” she said. “My brother (Axel) played too, with the same club I started with (the Mayas based in Cicero). He had already been playing with that club for about three years.
“We would play against each other as kids, but as we got older he got way stronger.”
Then again, the younger sister has become a pretty strong player in her own right.
“Her work rate on the field is tireless,” Bageanis said. “And while she’s a defensive mid, she has the ability to carry the ball upfield and find teammates with her passing ability. Her weighted passes are impressive. We were hoping to get her more offensively involved this season.
“And she is an excellent student (4.0 through half of sophomore year),” Bageanis said. “She is involved with our PE leadership program and is a great example for our girls of balancing school and athletics. And she is only going to get even better over the next two years.”
In this season of frustration, that is something for Morton fans to really look forward to.
“I feel like next year we’re still going to have a strong group (16 of 23 varsity players return),” Gongora said. “And having Adriana as one of our leaders, hopefully next year she’s going to really be able to help get the team back on track.”
Gongora is another emerging leader. And after proving to be a very motivated fast learner in 2019, recent events have pushed her drive to succeed to new levels.
“I plan to work even harder now because of the season that we lost,” she said. “I plan on winning something big for Morton. Hopefully making it to state.”
By Dave Owen
Undersized freshmen are supposed to struggle at least a little in their adjustment to high school varsity soccer.
Someone forgot to tell that to Morton’s Mayte Gongora.
The 5-foot-1 midfielder made the Mustangs’ varsity in the 2019 preseason with high potential but limited early expectations. She immediately showed the potential part, and completely shattered the idea of breaking in slowly by securing a spot in the starting lineup.
“Mayte came in last year as a freshman, extremely quiet but with great fundamentals,” Morton coach Jim Bageanis said. “When we kept her on the varsity, we were hoping to have her see (playing time in) about half the game each day.
“Well when she hit game day, she was probably the most focused player on the field. Myself and my assistants said ‘We can’t take her out.’ That’s how dominant Mayte is on the field for us.”
Unaccustomed to being on the field with players who were often two or three years her senior, Gongora learned quickly to deal with that situation.
“At first I was nervous,” she said. “I’m a freshman going onto varsity, playing against older girls.
“But the (Morton) girls were really welcoming, and they told me what to expect. I feel that really helped me in being more confident on the field.
“Me not being that tall was really challenging as well,” Gongora added. “But the girls told me what I could do and what to expect, as did Bageanis. He told me what to expect as well. And me, I kept working, even throughout the season, to just get stronger.”
Whatever expectations there were, Gongora exceeded them.
“We had her play defensive mid,” Bageanis said, “and she ran with it from the first game.
“She keeps us balanced. She sees the game extremely well and is able to anticipate plays developing that she breaks up. Not to mention she’s usually marking the opponent’s best midfielder.”
Gongora’s freshman season culminated with some very special accomplishments for Morton: a 10-game winning streak late in the season, and the first unbeaten WSC Gold title in the history of the Mustangs’ girls program.
“That (championship) was big,” Gongora said. “It was something that we all really wanted. To be able to accomplish that was super huge for us. We were all really happy and excited about it.
“As the season went on, we started getting closer to each other and grow chemistry together. I feel that showed on the field. We were able to get more wins.”
That late season run looked like it would be a great springboard into this season. Eight starters returned, including standout goalkeeper Dayanna Gonzalez and top scorers Adriana Moreno (19 goals, 8 assists) and Melanie Carranza (12 goals, 10 assists).
Then came mid-March, the school shutdowns over the COVID-19 virus, and what began as a waiting game became wait until next year for all Illinois prep spring sports.
Even for a sophomore with two more seasons to look foward to at Morton, the spring has been agonizing.
“It’s hard knowing you won’t be able to play a season in your high school career,” Gongora said. “And especially for the seniors, it being their last season.”
Gongora also had looked forward to building on the chemistry and offensive opportunities she helped develop last year with senior midfielders Carranza and Medelin Loza and junior Moreno.
“Those are great players,” she said. “I love how they play, and they were able to tell me as well how I can improve coming in as a freshman.
“They helped me a lot, and they helped the team a lot as well, being able to bring us goals. You feel like you can trust them so much when you’re on the field with them.”
Gongora also quickly emerged as a player who could turn an opponents’ possession in the midfield into a quick Morton counterattack.
“I feel like I’m a player that can get out of hard situations,” Gongora said, “and I’m able to make plays for other girls to be able to score. That can cause me to be more of a dangerous player to guard too, because I’m able to get the ball to the forwards so they can score goals.”
Gongora’s talent, poise and quick maturity are products of both years of soccer and a good role model in her older brother Axel (a former Mount Carmel standout who is now a freshman on the St. Xavier University soccer team).
“I was about four when I started playing,” she said. “My brother (Axel) played too, with the same club I started with (the Mayas based in Cicero). He had already been playing with that club for about three years.
“We would play against each other as kids, but as we got older he got way stronger.”
Then again, the younger sister has become a pretty strong player in her own right.
“Her work rate on the field is tireless,” Bageanis said. “And while she’s a defensive mid, she has the ability to carry the ball upfield and find teammates with her passing ability. Her weighted passes are impressive. We were hoping to get her more offensively involved this season.
“And she is an excellent student (4.0 through half of sophomore year),” Bageanis said. “She is involved with our PE leadership program and is a great example for our girls of balancing school and athletics. And she is only going to get even better over the next two years.”
In this season of frustration, that is something for Morton fans to really look forward to.
“I feel like next year we’re still going to have a strong group (16 of 23 varsity players return),” Gongora said. “And having Adriana as one of our leaders, hopefully next year she’s going to really be able to help get the team back on track.”
Gongora is another emerging leader. And after proving to be a very motivated fast learner in 2019, recent events have pushed her drive to succeed to new levels.
“I plan to work even harder now because of the season that we lost,” she said. “I plan on winning something big for Morton. Hopefully making it to state.”