Morton regains winning touch,
tops Addison Trail
Alvarez has goal, assist to lead Mustangs past depleted Blzers
By Patrick Z. McGavin
BERWYN – Losses are so rare at Morton that each one is almost catastrophic at an emotional level.
The Mustangs suffered their first defeat this season against Marquette (Wis.) in the semifinals of the top bracket of the Great River Classic on Friday in Burlington, Ia.
Morton coach Jim Bageanis provided a more nuanced perspective.
“Everyone thinks when we lose a game, it’s the end of the world,” Bageanis said. “We played with the Marquette team for 73 minutes until they put a goal in.
“We knew we were going to have to get a goal, and we pushed up hard.”
After that 3-0 loss, The Mustangs bounced back with a 1-0 victory over Gateway Legacy (Mo.) Saturday. That avenged a 2-0 home loss against the private school powerhouse in the fall of 2019.
Morton returned to terra firma and the familiar space of its home field where the team is virtually unbeatable.
The comfort also produced a common result — a victory in the West Suburban Conference Gold Division.
Giovanni Alvarez had a goal and assist as the Mustangs, now ranked second in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 after a five-week run at no. 1, broke the game open with three second half goals in a 4-0 victory over Addison Trail before a crowd of nearly 200 fans Tuesday night.
Morton (13-1-3, 4-0-0) has not lost or tied in conference play since it lost to Leyden in the fall of 2011.
The Mustangs defeated Naperville Central in the Class 3A state championship that year.
“I don’t even have to tell them about the conference,” Bageanis said. “They get up for those games. I don’t even want to say how many games in a row that makes it.
“I don’t even want to jinx us.”
By contrast, a wounded-though-game Addison Trail team played hard and courageously despite missing four starters.
The Blazers (9-5-0, 3-2-0) suffered their fourth-consecutive loss.
“Morton is one of the best teams in the state every year,” Addison Trail coach Ryan Dini said. “The way we competed, and the way our guys were flying around the ball was very encouraging.
“They control the ball. We got tired, which was noticeable. We usually sub a lot more, but not having the guys to do that today, we got exposed when we got tired.”
The final score is somewhat misleading.
Morton dominated possession and shots on goal. The Blazers’ two-keeper format of starter Mateo Gomez and second half starter Joey Dionne enabled Addison Trail to stay close.
Morton led just 1-0 in the 61st minute.
The Mustangs repeatedly assaulted the Blazers’ backline, using their precise passing and lyrical runs in near perfect harmony.
A returning Chicagoland Soccer all-state player, Alvarez is creative and dynamic with the ball. He flashed his scoring touch during the abbreviated spring season, leading the Mustangs with 14 goals and eight assists.
He has a low center of gravity and a terrific jab step that allows him to get to the edge or move against the grain to gain the necessary separation.
“Usually what I do is cut off the defender when I am dribbling,” Alvarez said. “Even if he is behind me, that is what I always try to do.”
In the 27th minute, he blasted a rocket ball from the left wing some 25 yards out that Gomez made a spectacular diving stop that preserved the scoreless start.
The sequence motivated Alvarez, and he would not be denied.
He intercepted a ball moments later, made his patented quick, darting step and unleashed a howitzer from 19 yards that tucked neatly inside the near post.
His 31st-minute goal marked the only goal of the first half.
“I just went for it, and it went in the back of the net,” he said. “It was a good lead for us.”
Addison Trail created some solid chances during the first half. It created two corner kicks in the first two minutes and got strong play from midfielders Nico Parente and Alex Sandoval.
The Blazers felt the absence of their hollowed team. Defender Brian Teran is a disruptive force and the team’s best free and corner kick specialist. Midfielder Matthew Sobus has a great throw-in.
“I feel pretty happy with the team’s performance for what we have available right now and how we are limited with our depth,” Sandoval said.
“I know we didn’t have our main strong team to come out tonight. I told all the guys to just play 100 percent and play your best.”
Uriel Bibiano also flashed excellent two-way play, creating tackles and pushing numbers off the counter attack. Addison Trail could not generate any consistent threats.
Midfielders Sebastian Alicea and Jose Leyva created some decent combination play. The team could not penetrate into dangerous areas.
“Right now, the team is not at full strength,” Sandoval said. “These weeks are going to be tough, and it is going to be a hard stretch of games.
“I know our teammates are doing the most to recover and doing the best that they can so they can get back on the field.”
Sandoval had two free kicks outside the top of the box that constituted the Blazers’ top scoring threats.
He pushed one attempt over the top, and the other left-footed blast skidded just right of the frame.
Gomez had five saves in the first half. Dionne had six in the second half. He made a couple of dynamic kick saves that thwarted Morton.
The Mustangs possessive style and near relentless pressure eventually broke the Blazers down.
The game-breaking three-goal flury came in a 10-minute burst. Alvarez was at the center of events, optimizing the attack with his ball creativity and shot distribution.
In the 61st minute, he punched a ball in space that midfielder Edgar Quintero was the first to reach. Dionne moved aggressively off his line.
Quintero was too fast and punched the ball through from 12 yards for the second goal.
“He’s a fast player. I saw him, and I knew he was going to get there before anyone or before the goalie came out,” Alvarez said.
The goal marked the point of no return, with Morton’s advantage becoming ever more apparent. The last 20 minutes was a clinic.
“After I scored that second goal, I think our team got the momentum,” Quintero said. “We started passing each other the ball more, and that’s how those two goals came about.”
Alvarez earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his superb play. He punctuated the performance by conducting another bang-bang sequence, a series of intricate passes started by his hockey assist that pushed the ball to midfielder Daniel Diaz.
The 1-2-3 action ended with forward Ismael Zepeda blasting home a ball from four yards in the 68th minute. He closed out the scoring with his second goal in the 71st minute.
“We had our first taste of adversity from a loss, and we wanted to come back,” Zepeda said. “We grew as a team going on that trip. We learned from that experience. We had a good amount of possession.
“Hopefully we don’t get that taste ever again.”
Starters
Addison Trail
GK: Mateo Gomez
D: Luca Fisher
D: Emilio Macias
D: David Peters
D: Uriel Bibiano
MF: Andres Jimenez
MF: Alex Sandoval
MF: Moises Hernandez
MF: Sebastian Alicea
F: Ethan Olivia
F: Christian Alcaraz
Morton
GK: Daniel Martinez
D: Ivan Ramirez
D: Eddie Barraza
D: Juan Ramirez
D: Luis Gonzalez
MF: Edgar Quintero
MF: Giovanni Alvarez
MF: Daniel Diaz
MF: Max Aquino
MF: Jonathan Murillo
F: Ismael Zepeda
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Giovanni Alvarez, sr., MF, Morton
Scoring summary
First half
Morton—Giovanni Alvarez (unassisted), 31st minute
Second half
Morton—Edgar Quintero (Alvarez), 61st minute
Morton—Ismael Zepeda (Daniel Diaz), 68th minute
Morton—Zepeda (Diaz), 71st minute
tops Addison Trail
Alvarez has goal, assist to lead Mustangs past depleted Blzers
By Patrick Z. McGavin
BERWYN – Losses are so rare at Morton that each one is almost catastrophic at an emotional level.
The Mustangs suffered their first defeat this season against Marquette (Wis.) in the semifinals of the top bracket of the Great River Classic on Friday in Burlington, Ia.
Morton coach Jim Bageanis provided a more nuanced perspective.
“Everyone thinks when we lose a game, it’s the end of the world,” Bageanis said. “We played with the Marquette team for 73 minutes until they put a goal in.
“We knew we were going to have to get a goal, and we pushed up hard.”
After that 3-0 loss, The Mustangs bounced back with a 1-0 victory over Gateway Legacy (Mo.) Saturday. That avenged a 2-0 home loss against the private school powerhouse in the fall of 2019.
Morton returned to terra firma and the familiar space of its home field where the team is virtually unbeatable.
The comfort also produced a common result — a victory in the West Suburban Conference Gold Division.
Giovanni Alvarez had a goal and assist as the Mustangs, now ranked second in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 after a five-week run at no. 1, broke the game open with three second half goals in a 4-0 victory over Addison Trail before a crowd of nearly 200 fans Tuesday night.
Morton (13-1-3, 4-0-0) has not lost or tied in conference play since it lost to Leyden in the fall of 2011.
The Mustangs defeated Naperville Central in the Class 3A state championship that year.
“I don’t even have to tell them about the conference,” Bageanis said. “They get up for those games. I don’t even want to say how many games in a row that makes it.
“I don’t even want to jinx us.”
By contrast, a wounded-though-game Addison Trail team played hard and courageously despite missing four starters.
The Blazers (9-5-0, 3-2-0) suffered their fourth-consecutive loss.
“Morton is one of the best teams in the state every year,” Addison Trail coach Ryan Dini said. “The way we competed, and the way our guys were flying around the ball was very encouraging.
“They control the ball. We got tired, which was noticeable. We usually sub a lot more, but not having the guys to do that today, we got exposed when we got tired.”
The final score is somewhat misleading.
Morton dominated possession and shots on goal. The Blazers’ two-keeper format of starter Mateo Gomez and second half starter Joey Dionne enabled Addison Trail to stay close.
Morton led just 1-0 in the 61st minute.
The Mustangs repeatedly assaulted the Blazers’ backline, using their precise passing and lyrical runs in near perfect harmony.
A returning Chicagoland Soccer all-state player, Alvarez is creative and dynamic with the ball. He flashed his scoring touch during the abbreviated spring season, leading the Mustangs with 14 goals and eight assists.
He has a low center of gravity and a terrific jab step that allows him to get to the edge or move against the grain to gain the necessary separation.
“Usually what I do is cut off the defender when I am dribbling,” Alvarez said. “Even if he is behind me, that is what I always try to do.”
In the 27th minute, he blasted a rocket ball from the left wing some 25 yards out that Gomez made a spectacular diving stop that preserved the scoreless start.
The sequence motivated Alvarez, and he would not be denied.
He intercepted a ball moments later, made his patented quick, darting step and unleashed a howitzer from 19 yards that tucked neatly inside the near post.
His 31st-minute goal marked the only goal of the first half.
“I just went for it, and it went in the back of the net,” he said. “It was a good lead for us.”
Addison Trail created some solid chances during the first half. It created two corner kicks in the first two minutes and got strong play from midfielders Nico Parente and Alex Sandoval.
The Blazers felt the absence of their hollowed team. Defender Brian Teran is a disruptive force and the team’s best free and corner kick specialist. Midfielder Matthew Sobus has a great throw-in.
“I feel pretty happy with the team’s performance for what we have available right now and how we are limited with our depth,” Sandoval said.
“I know we didn’t have our main strong team to come out tonight. I told all the guys to just play 100 percent and play your best.”
Uriel Bibiano also flashed excellent two-way play, creating tackles and pushing numbers off the counter attack. Addison Trail could not generate any consistent threats.
Midfielders Sebastian Alicea and Jose Leyva created some decent combination play. The team could not penetrate into dangerous areas.
“Right now, the team is not at full strength,” Sandoval said. “These weeks are going to be tough, and it is going to be a hard stretch of games.
“I know our teammates are doing the most to recover and doing the best that they can so they can get back on the field.”
Sandoval had two free kicks outside the top of the box that constituted the Blazers’ top scoring threats.
He pushed one attempt over the top, and the other left-footed blast skidded just right of the frame.
Gomez had five saves in the first half. Dionne had six in the second half. He made a couple of dynamic kick saves that thwarted Morton.
The Mustangs possessive style and near relentless pressure eventually broke the Blazers down.
The game-breaking three-goal flury came in a 10-minute burst. Alvarez was at the center of events, optimizing the attack with his ball creativity and shot distribution.
In the 61st minute, he punched a ball in space that midfielder Edgar Quintero was the first to reach. Dionne moved aggressively off his line.
Quintero was too fast and punched the ball through from 12 yards for the second goal.
“He’s a fast player. I saw him, and I knew he was going to get there before anyone or before the goalie came out,” Alvarez said.
The goal marked the point of no return, with Morton’s advantage becoming ever more apparent. The last 20 minutes was a clinic.
“After I scored that second goal, I think our team got the momentum,” Quintero said. “We started passing each other the ball more, and that’s how those two goals came about.”
Alvarez earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his superb play. He punctuated the performance by conducting another bang-bang sequence, a series of intricate passes started by his hockey assist that pushed the ball to midfielder Daniel Diaz.
The 1-2-3 action ended with forward Ismael Zepeda blasting home a ball from four yards in the 68th minute. He closed out the scoring with his second goal in the 71st minute.
“We had our first taste of adversity from a loss, and we wanted to come back,” Zepeda said. “We grew as a team going on that trip. We learned from that experience. We had a good amount of possession.
“Hopefully we don’t get that taste ever again.”
Starters
Addison Trail
GK: Mateo Gomez
D: Luca Fisher
D: Emilio Macias
D: David Peters
D: Uriel Bibiano
MF: Andres Jimenez
MF: Alex Sandoval
MF: Moises Hernandez
MF: Sebastian Alicea
F: Ethan Olivia
F: Christian Alcaraz
Morton
GK: Daniel Martinez
D: Ivan Ramirez
D: Eddie Barraza
D: Juan Ramirez
D: Luis Gonzalez
MF: Edgar Quintero
MF: Giovanni Alvarez
MF: Daniel Diaz
MF: Max Aquino
MF: Jonathan Murillo
F: Ismael Zepeda
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Giovanni Alvarez, sr., MF, Morton
Scoring summary
First half
Morton—Giovanni Alvarez (unassisted), 31st minute
Second half
Morton—Edgar Quintero (Alvarez), 61st minute
Morton—Ismael Zepeda (Daniel Diaz), 68th minute
Morton—Zepeda (Diaz), 71st minute