Hinsdale South defensive wall
finally crumbles against No. 1 Morton
Hornets execute game plan, but Mustangs' pressure is too strong
By Dave Owen
BERWYN -- Hinsdale South’s defensive strategy was effective early in Tuesday’s regional semifinal at Morton.
But leading just 1-0 after 21 minutes of play, the powerful Mustangs’ relentless pressure finally became too much. The No. 1 team in the state struck twice in two minutes late in the first half to lead 3-0, and went on to an eventual 7-0 win.
The Hornets traveled back to their early September experiences at the Hinsdale Central Red Devil Cup to devise a plan.
“We came in preparing to really pack in the middle,” Hinsdale South junior Mike Noble said. “We lost to Hersey 1-0 (Sept. 4), and they packed it in against Morton and tied them 0-0 (two days later).
“That was kind of our goal. We knew their offense always comes out really hard, and they’re strategic with their formations. But we kind of let up. We let some balls go through our backs and let them (Morton) get some runs through our middle, and they kind of took advantage of it.”
But the heavy underdog Hornets (1-19-1) didn’t make it easy.
Paul Figus was an early standout, nicely clearing a dangerous Morton cross deep into the box in the fourth minute.
Figus came up big again with a block of a 10-yard shot with 34:04 left, but this time Morton’s Rafael Herrera corralled the rebound and put the Mustangs up 1-0.
That early strike would be Morton’s lone finish for a while.
Beyond one near miss (Edgar Garcia’s 25-yard liner off the left post), the Hornets defense denied other chances. Figus and Daniel Jaworski combined to block a Garcia shot, and goalkeeper Alec Carpenter made a diving catch to his right of a Herrera chance with 22:30 left in the half.
Then off a Morton corner kick 19:50 before the break, Carpenter and Dino Vessol combined to deflect the chance back outside the box. Jaworski stole a subsequent cross attempt.
“We knew there would be a lot of possession and that they would be playing more defensively,” Morton coach Mike Caruso said. “We finally figured it out after a little while how to find the open space in the box and we started to finish.”
Open space developed for Morton off a Hinsdale South offensive chance. After stopping a Hornets offensive bid, the Mustangs’ quick counterattack pass from Mario Romero sprung Herrera on a clean breakaway. Despite Carpenter’s best efforts, Herrera nicely sidestepped the charging goalkeeper and scored to make it 2-0 with 18:55 left in the half.
The lead grew to 3-0 just two minutes later when Romero made a great move past a defender in the box and lined an 8-yarder inside the left post.
“They always found space in the box; I don’t know how,” Figus said. “Everyone (on Morton) seems to always know where their teammates are, and they just found open space and took advantage of it.”
Keeping the score 3-0 at halftime were big plays by Carpenter (leaping deflection over the crossbar of a 15-yard Hector Luna shot) and defender Lucas Carlson (clear of a corner kick).
But Morton (22-1-2) was in finishing mode early in the second half. Diego Lopez headed an Alexis Marin cross off the crossbar and in with 33:08 left, and Herrera completed his hat trick with a 20-yarder inside the right post with 31:14 to go to make the score 5-0.
Moved up to forward from defender seven games ago, Herrera (14 goals this season), Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match, has taken quick advantage.
“Last week we played them at Hinsdale South (a 5-0 Morton win Oct. 14), and I had a hat trick that day too,” Herrera said. “Me and Edgar (Garcia) play up top together, and somehow we click together. We’ve been playing together since we were little, so we know each other and how we play.”
Hinsdale South mounted two late chances: a 30-yard shot on goal by Vessol, then a Zach Duffy 15-yard shot from the left side with 2:30 left that was deflected off the side of the net by a Morton defender.
Meanwhile, Morton stayed on the attack to the end. After Carpenter’s great sliding kick save denied a Garcia chance, the Mustangs went up 6-0 when Saul Valverde put home the rebound of Gaspar Alvarez’s initial shot off the crossbar with 17:04 left.
Carpenter made a nice point-blank save of a 6-yard shot with 7:30 to play, with Danny Perez clearing the rebound out of danger. But with just 17.7 seconds left, Morton's Christian Tovar tucked a 30-yard free kick just under the crossbar for the 7-0 final.
Despite the eventual margin of victory, problems against Hinsdale South's strong early defensive stand left an impression on Morton.
“I think we still need to get better with our composure inside the box,” Caruso said, “because in the first half we had it down there too many times not to get a shot on the frame. So we have to work on that a little more, because obviously the further we go (in the postseason), the chances become less. And you have to capitalize on those chances.”
Starting lineups
Hinsdale South
GK- Alec Carpenter
D- Lucas Carlson
D- Myk Meilus
D- Austin West
D- Paul Figus
MF- Mike Noble
MF- Alec Raatz
MF- Sergio Torres
MF- Dino Vessol
F- Chris Metcalf
F- Karel Ondra
Morton
GK- Ian Chacon
D- Hector Luna
D- Diego Aguilar
D- Edgar Olaguez
D- Diego Lopez
MF- Alexis Marin
MF- Leo Delgado
MF- Mario Romero
MF- Rigo Lozaro
F- Rafael Herrera
F- Edgar Garcia
Man of the Match: Rafael Herrera, Morton
finally crumbles against No. 1 Morton
Hornets execute game plan, but Mustangs' pressure is too strong
By Dave Owen
BERWYN -- Hinsdale South’s defensive strategy was effective early in Tuesday’s regional semifinal at Morton.
But leading just 1-0 after 21 minutes of play, the powerful Mustangs’ relentless pressure finally became too much. The No. 1 team in the state struck twice in two minutes late in the first half to lead 3-0, and went on to an eventual 7-0 win.
The Hornets traveled back to their early September experiences at the Hinsdale Central Red Devil Cup to devise a plan.
“We came in preparing to really pack in the middle,” Hinsdale South junior Mike Noble said. “We lost to Hersey 1-0 (Sept. 4), and they packed it in against Morton and tied them 0-0 (two days later).
“That was kind of our goal. We knew their offense always comes out really hard, and they’re strategic with their formations. But we kind of let up. We let some balls go through our backs and let them (Morton) get some runs through our middle, and they kind of took advantage of it.”
But the heavy underdog Hornets (1-19-1) didn’t make it easy.
Paul Figus was an early standout, nicely clearing a dangerous Morton cross deep into the box in the fourth minute.
Figus came up big again with a block of a 10-yard shot with 34:04 left, but this time Morton’s Rafael Herrera corralled the rebound and put the Mustangs up 1-0.
That early strike would be Morton’s lone finish for a while.
Beyond one near miss (Edgar Garcia’s 25-yard liner off the left post), the Hornets defense denied other chances. Figus and Daniel Jaworski combined to block a Garcia shot, and goalkeeper Alec Carpenter made a diving catch to his right of a Herrera chance with 22:30 left in the half.
Then off a Morton corner kick 19:50 before the break, Carpenter and Dino Vessol combined to deflect the chance back outside the box. Jaworski stole a subsequent cross attempt.
“We knew there would be a lot of possession and that they would be playing more defensively,” Morton coach Mike Caruso said. “We finally figured it out after a little while how to find the open space in the box and we started to finish.”
Open space developed for Morton off a Hinsdale South offensive chance. After stopping a Hornets offensive bid, the Mustangs’ quick counterattack pass from Mario Romero sprung Herrera on a clean breakaway. Despite Carpenter’s best efforts, Herrera nicely sidestepped the charging goalkeeper and scored to make it 2-0 with 18:55 left in the half.
The lead grew to 3-0 just two minutes later when Romero made a great move past a defender in the box and lined an 8-yarder inside the left post.
“They always found space in the box; I don’t know how,” Figus said. “Everyone (on Morton) seems to always know where their teammates are, and they just found open space and took advantage of it.”
Keeping the score 3-0 at halftime were big plays by Carpenter (leaping deflection over the crossbar of a 15-yard Hector Luna shot) and defender Lucas Carlson (clear of a corner kick).
But Morton (22-1-2) was in finishing mode early in the second half. Diego Lopez headed an Alexis Marin cross off the crossbar and in with 33:08 left, and Herrera completed his hat trick with a 20-yarder inside the right post with 31:14 to go to make the score 5-0.
Moved up to forward from defender seven games ago, Herrera (14 goals this season), Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match, has taken quick advantage.
“Last week we played them at Hinsdale South (a 5-0 Morton win Oct. 14), and I had a hat trick that day too,” Herrera said. “Me and Edgar (Garcia) play up top together, and somehow we click together. We’ve been playing together since we were little, so we know each other and how we play.”
Hinsdale South mounted two late chances: a 30-yard shot on goal by Vessol, then a Zach Duffy 15-yard shot from the left side with 2:30 left that was deflected off the side of the net by a Morton defender.
Meanwhile, Morton stayed on the attack to the end. After Carpenter’s great sliding kick save denied a Garcia chance, the Mustangs went up 6-0 when Saul Valverde put home the rebound of Gaspar Alvarez’s initial shot off the crossbar with 17:04 left.
Carpenter made a nice point-blank save of a 6-yard shot with 7:30 to play, with Danny Perez clearing the rebound out of danger. But with just 17.7 seconds left, Morton's Christian Tovar tucked a 30-yard free kick just under the crossbar for the 7-0 final.
Despite the eventual margin of victory, problems against Hinsdale South's strong early defensive stand left an impression on Morton.
“I think we still need to get better with our composure inside the box,” Caruso said, “because in the first half we had it down there too many times not to get a shot on the frame. So we have to work on that a little more, because obviously the further we go (in the postseason), the chances become less. And you have to capitalize on those chances.”
Starting lineups
Hinsdale South
GK- Alec Carpenter
D- Lucas Carlson
D- Myk Meilus
D- Austin West
D- Paul Figus
MF- Mike Noble
MF- Alec Raatz
MF- Sergio Torres
MF- Dino Vessol
F- Chris Metcalf
F- Karel Ondra
Morton
GK- Ian Chacon
D- Hector Luna
D- Diego Aguilar
D- Edgar Olaguez
D- Diego Lopez
MF- Alexis Marin
MF- Leo Delgado
MF- Mario Romero
MF- Rigo Lozaro
F- Rafael Herrera
F- Edgar Garcia
Man of the Match: Rafael Herrera, Morton