Against all odds, Hinsdale Central
rallies to upset No. 1 Morton
Late Bergevin PK stop tops huge rally, earns supersectional date
By Dave Owen
LAGRANGE -- The odds of coming back from a 2-0 deficit against top-ranked Morton are not good.
Stopping a potential game-tying penalty kick by a great striker in the final seconds … that’s just as improbable.
But using the combination of dangerous set pieces and a huge PK save by star goalkeeper Wes Bergevin, Hinsdale Central incredibly achieved both feats with a 3-2 win over the state’s No. 1 team in the title match of the Lyons Township Sectional on Saturday.
The Red Devils (16-4-4) advance to face Naperville North in the Lewis University Supersectional on Tuesday courtesy of the final big plays over the weekend provided by frequent postseason stars Will McGowen and Bergevin.
McGowen’s sixth goal of the season (four since the playoffs started) off an Evan Floersch free kick gave the Red Devils a 3-2 lead with 17:33 left.
Then after Morton’s Edgar Garcia was tripped on his race with Bergevin for a loose ball just right of the goal with 23.3 seconds left, Morton was awarded a penalty kick that could potentially tie the game.
But Bergevin, the hero of the Red Devils’ sectional semifinal win with two saves in PKs against Lyons, rose to the occasion again, diving all out to his left to swat Leo Delgado’s PK wide of the post.
“Looking at the board there’s 23 seconds left and there’s no way I was going to let that go in and let my team down,” Bergevin said of the huge save. “They fought so hard for 80 minutes and put everything on the field. My goalie instincts kicked in (on the PK), and I just went for it.”
“He’s an All-American, a great goalie,” Red Devils senior Justin Yi said.
Success in big situations is nothing new to the Bergevin family. His father Marc was director of player personnel for the Blackhawks' 2010 Stanley Cup champions, and is now general manager of the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens.
In high winds and a temperature more suited to hockey than soccer, Hinsdale Central's hopes appeared to be on thin ice 16 minutes into the match.
Morton (24-2-2) jumped ahead 1-0 with 26:20 left in the first half when, after Bergevin’s diving save of a Rafael Herrera shot, Garcia put the rebound inside the left post.
Garcia struck again less than two minutes later, corralling a deflected throw-in in open space up top and lining a 15-yarder into the upper left hand corner of the net.
“Right after they scored both goals we were a little down quite honestly,” Red Devil senior defender Floersch said. “But we have seniors on the team and unsung guys who really rallied and slowed the game down.”
History helped the Red Devils keep their cool.
“We were down to Peoria Notre Dame 3-1 earlier in the year,” Red Devil coach Mike Wiggins said, “and fought back to get a 4-3 win down in Peoria in a hostile environment with a loud crowd and a very good team. For 20 years all I’ve ever tried to do is put us in that environment in the regular season that gives us the very best to play against.”
Floersch’s play at defender was instrumental in the shutout of Morton’s explosive offense over the last over 64 minutes of play. His offensive role in the comeback was also huge.
With 16:08 left in the half, a foul gave Floersch a 45-yard free kick – which he drove high and deep into the crease.
Morton goalkeeper Ian Chacon made a reaching catch over Red Devil senior Jack Baderman, who was fouled on the play. Baderman lined the ensuing PK off a diving Chacon’s hand and into the net to make the score 2-1.
“They kind of got the momentum on that PK,” Morton coach Mike Caruso said, “and I thought they started winning the 50/50 balls after that. They kept moving through the ball and we kind of stopped and lunged, so we fouled a few more times and gave them more free kicks instead of keeping our feet moving.”
Many more dangerous restarts would follow in the second half, while an offensive chance for Jake Semba (25-yarder stopped by Chacon) and big save by Bergevin (leaping deflection over the net of a Herrera 6-yard header 2:30 before halftime) completed a nice first half finish for the Red Devils.
“Up 2-0 is the worst lead in soccer,” Wiggins said. “The boys have grown up hearing that since they were 8 years old. You get one and hope it leads to two. We knew that we could play with them. We had a plan, and it really did play out.”
Hinsdale Central wasted no time executing the rest of that plan. Just 1:45 into the second half, Mikey Usher fielded a throw-in and sent a cross across the box, where Justin Yi’s perfectly-placed header inside the left post tied the score 2-2.
After losing to Morton 3-0 in the Red Devil Cup finals on Sept. 6, this was a different day.
“We drew on the fact that we knew the previous game wasn’t a good showing of how we are skill-wise,” Yi said. “We really believed we were equal in level to this team and rallied around that, did our homework, played with a lot of passion and stuck to our system. We wanted to prove that the previous game (with Morton) wasn’t Hinsdale Central.
“At halftime we were down 2-1, but we were confident we could come back,” Yi added. “We were shutting down their midfielders. Credit to them (Morton) – they’ve been great all season. But we were man marking their two midfielders, and we just powered through.”
Morton also felt the tide turn.
“Once they tied us up they got a lot of momentum,” Herrera said. “They were on us basically all half.”
Added Caruso: "They beat Lyons twice this season for a reason. They get the job done with their dead balls and set pieces. We lunged in on the fouls on two of the goals. They kept their feet moving and the ref gave them the benefit of the doubt because they kept their feet moving."
The Red Devils’ offense powered on with 35:40 left, nearly taking the lead when Sam Johnson slipped into the box to deflect home a 60-yard Floersch free kick. But a close offside ruling erased the goal and kept the score 2-2.
Morton had the next two chances, but were stymied on a wide shot from 12 yards out and a 30-yard Mustang direct kick by Usher and McGowen.
Hinsdale Central was back on the attack with 22:05 left on a Bryan Loebig 20-yard shot over the net. Morton's foul of Loebig with 17:33 left would unleash another dangerous set piece – the one that led to the eventual sectional-winning goal.
Floersch launched a perfectly placed 45-yard free kick into the box, where McGowen’s leaping header inside the left post gave the Red Devils their only lead at 3-2.
“Evan and I have a combination play where he knows where to hit it, and I get to the spot,” McGowen said. “It’s the same routine, and it worked.
“I’ve been trying to elevate my game in the last 18 (yards), put my head on it and hopefully flick it in.”
While Bergevin was the day’s biggest man of the moment at the end, Floersch excelled defensively as usual and created big chances on set pieces to earn Man of the Match honors.
“You think of Hinsdale Central and you think of a strong team on restarts,” Floersch said. “We knew during the run of play we weren’t going to score much, but we focused on restarts and preparing ourselves for balls in the air.
"There’s a few guys that I always try to see where they’re at, like Will McGowen – he’s been extremely strong in the playoffs with his head, and Justin Yi too. My job is just to put the ball in that area, make the goalie come out and force a tough decision on the goalkeeper.
'My job was easy,” Floersch added. “Will McGowen and Justin had to get on the end of those balls. It’s credit to them for committing to the ball, getting up and challenging the keeper.”
The Red Devils kept challenging up 3-2 when Mitch Collins headed a Jake Semba cross just wide with 9:40 left. Morton answered with three big threats, starting with Bergevin’s catch 10 yards out of a corner kick with 8:05 to go. McGowen later blocked a 35-yard direct kick, then teamed with Jimmy Walker to deny a threat in the corner.
The last minute was wild: first, a diving Chacon save of a Loebig 12-yarder with 40 seconds left, then the end-to-end rush resulting in the Morton PK.
"We battled to the last whistle, even getting the ball down there in the last 20 seconds and getting a PK," Caruso said. "Their keeper made a great save. They played hard and deserved it."
Bergevin’s big save and Yi’s header out of danger of the ensuing Mustang corner kick as time expired set off a celebration as the Red Devils joined Class 3A's final eight teams.
“Tonight and tomorrow it’ll be fun to celebrate,” Floersch said, “but going into practice Monday we know what we have to do.”
“We know coach will have us prepared,” Floersch added. “He’s on his way right now to scout them (Naperville North against Batavia). This was probably the most prepared game we’ve ever been in, and it’s one game at a time. That’s our motto."
Said Yi: “We trust him (Wiggins). We trust his scouting, and we trust our system. I think we can make the adjustments that are needed to make that final round.”
Senior McGowen outlined the message sent in Saturday's win, an attitude he hopes can carry the Red Devils to even bigger things in the next week.
“We always stick with it. We never stop,” McGowen said. “We play every game like it’s a state championship game.”
Starting lineups
Hinsdale Central
GK- Wes Bergevin
D- Evan Floersch
D- Nick Silva
D- Will McGowen
M- Jimmy Walker
M- Jack Baderman
M- Jeremy Yi
M- Justin Yi
M- Mikey Usher
F- Bryan Loebig
F- Sam Johnson
Morton
GK- Ian Chacon
D- Alexis Marin
D- Hector Luna
D- Diego Aguilar
D- Edgar Olaguez
M- Mario Romero
M- Rigo Lozano
M- Jorge Mercado
M- Leo Delgado
F- Rafael Herrera
F- Edgar Garcia
Man of the Match: Evan Floersch, Hinsdale Central
rallies to upset No. 1 Morton
Late Bergevin PK stop tops huge rally, earns supersectional date
By Dave Owen
LAGRANGE -- The odds of coming back from a 2-0 deficit against top-ranked Morton are not good.
Stopping a potential game-tying penalty kick by a great striker in the final seconds … that’s just as improbable.
But using the combination of dangerous set pieces and a huge PK save by star goalkeeper Wes Bergevin, Hinsdale Central incredibly achieved both feats with a 3-2 win over the state’s No. 1 team in the title match of the Lyons Township Sectional on Saturday.
The Red Devils (16-4-4) advance to face Naperville North in the Lewis University Supersectional on Tuesday courtesy of the final big plays over the weekend provided by frequent postseason stars Will McGowen and Bergevin.
McGowen’s sixth goal of the season (four since the playoffs started) off an Evan Floersch free kick gave the Red Devils a 3-2 lead with 17:33 left.
Then after Morton’s Edgar Garcia was tripped on his race with Bergevin for a loose ball just right of the goal with 23.3 seconds left, Morton was awarded a penalty kick that could potentially tie the game.
But Bergevin, the hero of the Red Devils’ sectional semifinal win with two saves in PKs against Lyons, rose to the occasion again, diving all out to his left to swat Leo Delgado’s PK wide of the post.
“Looking at the board there’s 23 seconds left and there’s no way I was going to let that go in and let my team down,” Bergevin said of the huge save. “They fought so hard for 80 minutes and put everything on the field. My goalie instincts kicked in (on the PK), and I just went for it.”
“He’s an All-American, a great goalie,” Red Devils senior Justin Yi said.
Success in big situations is nothing new to the Bergevin family. His father Marc was director of player personnel for the Blackhawks' 2010 Stanley Cup champions, and is now general manager of the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens.
In high winds and a temperature more suited to hockey than soccer, Hinsdale Central's hopes appeared to be on thin ice 16 minutes into the match.
Morton (24-2-2) jumped ahead 1-0 with 26:20 left in the first half when, after Bergevin’s diving save of a Rafael Herrera shot, Garcia put the rebound inside the left post.
Garcia struck again less than two minutes later, corralling a deflected throw-in in open space up top and lining a 15-yarder into the upper left hand corner of the net.
“Right after they scored both goals we were a little down quite honestly,” Red Devil senior defender Floersch said. “But we have seniors on the team and unsung guys who really rallied and slowed the game down.”
History helped the Red Devils keep their cool.
“We were down to Peoria Notre Dame 3-1 earlier in the year,” Red Devil coach Mike Wiggins said, “and fought back to get a 4-3 win down in Peoria in a hostile environment with a loud crowd and a very good team. For 20 years all I’ve ever tried to do is put us in that environment in the regular season that gives us the very best to play against.”
Floersch’s play at defender was instrumental in the shutout of Morton’s explosive offense over the last over 64 minutes of play. His offensive role in the comeback was also huge.
With 16:08 left in the half, a foul gave Floersch a 45-yard free kick – which he drove high and deep into the crease.
Morton goalkeeper Ian Chacon made a reaching catch over Red Devil senior Jack Baderman, who was fouled on the play. Baderman lined the ensuing PK off a diving Chacon’s hand and into the net to make the score 2-1.
“They kind of got the momentum on that PK,” Morton coach Mike Caruso said, “and I thought they started winning the 50/50 balls after that. They kept moving through the ball and we kind of stopped and lunged, so we fouled a few more times and gave them more free kicks instead of keeping our feet moving.”
Many more dangerous restarts would follow in the second half, while an offensive chance for Jake Semba (25-yarder stopped by Chacon) and big save by Bergevin (leaping deflection over the net of a Herrera 6-yard header 2:30 before halftime) completed a nice first half finish for the Red Devils.
“Up 2-0 is the worst lead in soccer,” Wiggins said. “The boys have grown up hearing that since they were 8 years old. You get one and hope it leads to two. We knew that we could play with them. We had a plan, and it really did play out.”
Hinsdale Central wasted no time executing the rest of that plan. Just 1:45 into the second half, Mikey Usher fielded a throw-in and sent a cross across the box, where Justin Yi’s perfectly-placed header inside the left post tied the score 2-2.
After losing to Morton 3-0 in the Red Devil Cup finals on Sept. 6, this was a different day.
“We drew on the fact that we knew the previous game wasn’t a good showing of how we are skill-wise,” Yi said. “We really believed we were equal in level to this team and rallied around that, did our homework, played with a lot of passion and stuck to our system. We wanted to prove that the previous game (with Morton) wasn’t Hinsdale Central.
“At halftime we were down 2-1, but we were confident we could come back,” Yi added. “We were shutting down their midfielders. Credit to them (Morton) – they’ve been great all season. But we were man marking their two midfielders, and we just powered through.”
Morton also felt the tide turn.
“Once they tied us up they got a lot of momentum,” Herrera said. “They were on us basically all half.”
Added Caruso: "They beat Lyons twice this season for a reason. They get the job done with their dead balls and set pieces. We lunged in on the fouls on two of the goals. They kept their feet moving and the ref gave them the benefit of the doubt because they kept their feet moving."
The Red Devils’ offense powered on with 35:40 left, nearly taking the lead when Sam Johnson slipped into the box to deflect home a 60-yard Floersch free kick. But a close offside ruling erased the goal and kept the score 2-2.
Morton had the next two chances, but were stymied on a wide shot from 12 yards out and a 30-yard Mustang direct kick by Usher and McGowen.
Hinsdale Central was back on the attack with 22:05 left on a Bryan Loebig 20-yard shot over the net. Morton's foul of Loebig with 17:33 left would unleash another dangerous set piece – the one that led to the eventual sectional-winning goal.
Floersch launched a perfectly placed 45-yard free kick into the box, where McGowen’s leaping header inside the left post gave the Red Devils their only lead at 3-2.
“Evan and I have a combination play where he knows where to hit it, and I get to the spot,” McGowen said. “It’s the same routine, and it worked.
“I’ve been trying to elevate my game in the last 18 (yards), put my head on it and hopefully flick it in.”
While Bergevin was the day’s biggest man of the moment at the end, Floersch excelled defensively as usual and created big chances on set pieces to earn Man of the Match honors.
“You think of Hinsdale Central and you think of a strong team on restarts,” Floersch said. “We knew during the run of play we weren’t going to score much, but we focused on restarts and preparing ourselves for balls in the air.
"There’s a few guys that I always try to see where they’re at, like Will McGowen – he’s been extremely strong in the playoffs with his head, and Justin Yi too. My job is just to put the ball in that area, make the goalie come out and force a tough decision on the goalkeeper.
'My job was easy,” Floersch added. “Will McGowen and Justin had to get on the end of those balls. It’s credit to them for committing to the ball, getting up and challenging the keeper.”
The Red Devils kept challenging up 3-2 when Mitch Collins headed a Jake Semba cross just wide with 9:40 left. Morton answered with three big threats, starting with Bergevin’s catch 10 yards out of a corner kick with 8:05 to go. McGowen later blocked a 35-yard direct kick, then teamed with Jimmy Walker to deny a threat in the corner.
The last minute was wild: first, a diving Chacon save of a Loebig 12-yarder with 40 seconds left, then the end-to-end rush resulting in the Morton PK.
"We battled to the last whistle, even getting the ball down there in the last 20 seconds and getting a PK," Caruso said. "Their keeper made a great save. They played hard and deserved it."
Bergevin’s big save and Yi’s header out of danger of the ensuing Mustang corner kick as time expired set off a celebration as the Red Devils joined Class 3A's final eight teams.
“Tonight and tomorrow it’ll be fun to celebrate,” Floersch said, “but going into practice Monday we know what we have to do.”
“We know coach will have us prepared,” Floersch added. “He’s on his way right now to scout them (Naperville North against Batavia). This was probably the most prepared game we’ve ever been in, and it’s one game at a time. That’s our motto."
Said Yi: “We trust him (Wiggins). We trust his scouting, and we trust our system. I think we can make the adjustments that are needed to make that final round.”
Senior McGowen outlined the message sent in Saturday's win, an attitude he hopes can carry the Red Devils to even bigger things in the next week.
“We always stick with it. We never stop,” McGowen said. “We play every game like it’s a state championship game.”
Starting lineups
Hinsdale Central
GK- Wes Bergevin
D- Evan Floersch
D- Nick Silva
D- Will McGowen
M- Jimmy Walker
M- Jack Baderman
M- Jeremy Yi
M- Justin Yi
M- Mikey Usher
F- Bryan Loebig
F- Sam Johnson
Morton
GK- Ian Chacon
D- Alexis Marin
D- Hector Luna
D- Diego Aguilar
D- Edgar Olaguez
M- Mario Romero
M- Rigo Lozano
M- Jorge Mercado
M- Leo Delgado
F- Rafael Herrera
F- Edgar Garcia
Man of the Match: Evan Floersch, Hinsdale Central