Unusual goal pads
Morton's 2-0 win over Benet
Premier Invitational win is 9th straight for 2nd-ranked Mustangs
By Matt Le Cren
BERWYN – Morton midfielder Ivan Ramirez scored his first varsity goal Friday night, and he wasn’t even trying.
The junior launched an almost 60-yard free kick from just shy of midfield midway through the second half. He meant it as a pass, not a shot.
But Ramirez and the Mustangs, who already enjoyed a one-goal lead, caught a break when Benet defender Nick Roe, a fall-2021 Chicagoland Soccer First Team all-stater, jumped up just inside the 18 in an effort to head the ball out of danger.
Instead, the ball caromed off his head all the way into the Redwings’ net, stunning players on both sides.
“I was pretty surprised,” Ramirez said. “I hit about five of those a game and usually get two or three chances off of them.
“I was really surprised that I got that goal. I sent the ball in; and I see that guy go for the header, and he sends it backwards and it went in the goal.”
Not exactly what Ramirez, or Roe for that matter, had in mind.
“I was floating it in to see if one of my teammates could flick it on, just like the defender did for us,” Ramirez said. “I’ll take it.”
The Mustangs (9-1-0), who are ranked second in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, will take the hard-fought 2-0 victory over no. 17 Benet at their Morton Premier Invitational. They’ve now won nine-straight games since a season-opening 3-1 away loss at currently ninth-ranked Naperville Central.
“We’re known for our offensive skill and, I think, our relentless pressure offensively,” Morton coach Jim Bageanis said. “It kind of puts some teams in a little bit of a wearing down process.
“I think we’re getting to the point where we’re connecting a little more with the right guys and we’re getting the right guys in the right spots to take advantage of those plays.”
One type of play, in particular, has been working well, even when the Mustangs haven’t been able to break teams down through the run of play.
“We’ve been working hard on our set pieces,” Bageanis said. “We got a goal off that today. Well, two, but the first one we actually worked on.”
That was a corner kick that finally broke a 56-minute stalemate with neither side mustering any quality scoring chances.
Ismael Zepeda took a short corner kick from Edgar Quintero on the left side and beat Benet goalkeeper Evan Lucas with a shot to the upper far corner of the net with 23:47 left in regulation.
“We practice that in practice,” said Zepeda, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match. “If we see a player outside the box, we always go short.
“We play it short, and we try to make sure we get a good shot off. In the first half we did the same thing. I tried going near post, and the goalkeeper got a good save.”
It was the 11th goal of the season for Zepeda, and it changed the complexion of the game. Benet (6-3-0) was chasing a goal and luck was not on its side. Ramirez’s goal came less than five minutes later.
“I should have gone up earlier, I think,” Roe said. “I went up too late. It was a bad decision, and it just skidded off my head.”
But the Redwings didn’t blame their star defender, and neither did Benet coach Sean Wesley.
“It was super unlucky,” Wesley said. “I’ll take him in that spot 100 out of 100 times.”
While it felt like the worst of times to Roe, who also was shaken up during a head-to-head collision on a similar ball in the first half, Wesley didn’t see it that way.
“I thought it was a great moment for our team, actually,” Wesley said. “Look at the way they responded.
“We were not in this game. We were under it the entire game, and then one of our best players has an own-goal. That’s one of the unluckiest things that has happened this season.
“Instead of folding and yelling at people and blaming each other, we did the exact opposite; we looked the best we’ve looked in the last 15 minutes.”
Scoring chances continued to be in short supply – the teams combined for only 13 shots, five of which were on frame – but the Redwings did look more vigorous in the attack.
Senior striker Ryan Augustyn came closest to denting Morton’s net. Brayden Fagbemi got the ball on a counterattack in the midfield, raced up the middle and found Augustyn open on the right wing.
Augustyn took the ball into the box and blasted a shot toward the far post, but Morton goalkeeper Brandon Flores sprawled to his right to make his second, and as it turned out, last save with 11:30 to go.
“0-0 with Morton at halftime is where you want to be,” Wesley said. “I didn’t think we gave up that many quality chances in the first half, but certainly they have so much talent on that roster. They kept the ball, they kind of wear you down.
“We weren’t dangerous enough early to keep them honest, and they grew into it. They finally break through on a good play and get a good goal.”
Though the forwards do most of the scoring, Zepeda credited other lines with setting him up for that success.
“I have a lot of trust in my defenders and my midfielders,” Zepeda said. “All of this success that we’ve been having, it’s all on our defenders and our midfielders.
“I think without them, we wouldn’t be able to go up and attack and do what we do up-top.”
The Mustangs also delighted their fans by winning their 15th-consecutive home game and extendeding their unbeaten streak at home to 32 matches. Morton has gone 29-0-3 since their last home loss, a 3-2 decision to Lyons in the opening game of the pandemic-forced 2021 spring mini season.
The current 7th-ranked version of the Lions, who beat Libertyville 2-0 in Friday’s other invitational match, will take on the hosts at 1 p.m. Saturday.
“It means a lot,” Ramirez said. “We don’t want to lose in front of the fans, of course.
“We invite them to come here and enjoy a good time, and we don’t want to lose in front of them.
“I feel we’ve really improved since the start of the season. We had a rough start – a loss, but I think we’ve only gone up since then.”
Indeed, this was a nice win against a Benet team that is getting healthy with star playmaker Nico Picha back in the lineup and showing resilience
“They’re a good team,” Bageanis said. “We knew Picha was hurt.
“He was coming off an injury. He’s a tough player too. We had our hands full with him even when he was just coming back.
“We’ve been getting a little better each game. We’ll take it and move on.”
The Redwings also will move on from the loss and the memory of Ramirez’s fluke goal.
“I think we showed a lot of fight and courage,” Roe said. “We’ve just got to work on moving the ball around more in the midfield, especially me.
“I played long way too many times, so I think we’ve got to move the ball around instead, maintain possession.”
Starting lineups
Benet
GK: Evan Lucas
D: Matthew Benka
D: Owen McGarry
D: Nick Nirtaut
D: Nick Roe
M: Danny Boyle
M: Nico Picha
M: Peter Hepburn
F: Brayden Fagbemi
F: Drew Fieldman
F: Ryan Augustyn
Morton
GK: Brandon Flores
D: Leo Ramirez
D: David Cisneros
D: Josh Trujillo
D: Christian Valadez
M: Edgar Quintero
M: Julian Sotello
M: Caleb Mendoza
M: Ivan Ramirez
F: Deyair Ruiz
F: Ismael Zepeda
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Ismael Zepeda, sr., F, Morton
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Morton – Ismael Zepeda (Edgar Quintero) 23:47 remaining
Morton – Own-goal (Ivan Ramirez) 19:04 remaining
Morton's 2-0 win over Benet
Premier Invitational win is 9th straight for 2nd-ranked Mustangs
By Matt Le Cren
BERWYN – Morton midfielder Ivan Ramirez scored his first varsity goal Friday night, and he wasn’t even trying.
The junior launched an almost 60-yard free kick from just shy of midfield midway through the second half. He meant it as a pass, not a shot.
But Ramirez and the Mustangs, who already enjoyed a one-goal lead, caught a break when Benet defender Nick Roe, a fall-2021 Chicagoland Soccer First Team all-stater, jumped up just inside the 18 in an effort to head the ball out of danger.
Instead, the ball caromed off his head all the way into the Redwings’ net, stunning players on both sides.
“I was pretty surprised,” Ramirez said. “I hit about five of those a game and usually get two or three chances off of them.
“I was really surprised that I got that goal. I sent the ball in; and I see that guy go for the header, and he sends it backwards and it went in the goal.”
Not exactly what Ramirez, or Roe for that matter, had in mind.
“I was floating it in to see if one of my teammates could flick it on, just like the defender did for us,” Ramirez said. “I’ll take it.”
The Mustangs (9-1-0), who are ranked second in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, will take the hard-fought 2-0 victory over no. 17 Benet at their Morton Premier Invitational. They’ve now won nine-straight games since a season-opening 3-1 away loss at currently ninth-ranked Naperville Central.
“We’re known for our offensive skill and, I think, our relentless pressure offensively,” Morton coach Jim Bageanis said. “It kind of puts some teams in a little bit of a wearing down process.
“I think we’re getting to the point where we’re connecting a little more with the right guys and we’re getting the right guys in the right spots to take advantage of those plays.”
One type of play, in particular, has been working well, even when the Mustangs haven’t been able to break teams down through the run of play.
“We’ve been working hard on our set pieces,” Bageanis said. “We got a goal off that today. Well, two, but the first one we actually worked on.”
That was a corner kick that finally broke a 56-minute stalemate with neither side mustering any quality scoring chances.
Ismael Zepeda took a short corner kick from Edgar Quintero on the left side and beat Benet goalkeeper Evan Lucas with a shot to the upper far corner of the net with 23:47 left in regulation.
“We practice that in practice,” said Zepeda, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match. “If we see a player outside the box, we always go short.
“We play it short, and we try to make sure we get a good shot off. In the first half we did the same thing. I tried going near post, and the goalkeeper got a good save.”
It was the 11th goal of the season for Zepeda, and it changed the complexion of the game. Benet (6-3-0) was chasing a goal and luck was not on its side. Ramirez’s goal came less than five minutes later.
“I should have gone up earlier, I think,” Roe said. “I went up too late. It was a bad decision, and it just skidded off my head.”
But the Redwings didn’t blame their star defender, and neither did Benet coach Sean Wesley.
“It was super unlucky,” Wesley said. “I’ll take him in that spot 100 out of 100 times.”
While it felt like the worst of times to Roe, who also was shaken up during a head-to-head collision on a similar ball in the first half, Wesley didn’t see it that way.
“I thought it was a great moment for our team, actually,” Wesley said. “Look at the way they responded.
“We were not in this game. We were under it the entire game, and then one of our best players has an own-goal. That’s one of the unluckiest things that has happened this season.
“Instead of folding and yelling at people and blaming each other, we did the exact opposite; we looked the best we’ve looked in the last 15 minutes.”
Scoring chances continued to be in short supply – the teams combined for only 13 shots, five of which were on frame – but the Redwings did look more vigorous in the attack.
Senior striker Ryan Augustyn came closest to denting Morton’s net. Brayden Fagbemi got the ball on a counterattack in the midfield, raced up the middle and found Augustyn open on the right wing.
Augustyn took the ball into the box and blasted a shot toward the far post, but Morton goalkeeper Brandon Flores sprawled to his right to make his second, and as it turned out, last save with 11:30 to go.
“0-0 with Morton at halftime is where you want to be,” Wesley said. “I didn’t think we gave up that many quality chances in the first half, but certainly they have so much talent on that roster. They kept the ball, they kind of wear you down.
“We weren’t dangerous enough early to keep them honest, and they grew into it. They finally break through on a good play and get a good goal.”
Though the forwards do most of the scoring, Zepeda credited other lines with setting him up for that success.
“I have a lot of trust in my defenders and my midfielders,” Zepeda said. “All of this success that we’ve been having, it’s all on our defenders and our midfielders.
“I think without them, we wouldn’t be able to go up and attack and do what we do up-top.”
The Mustangs also delighted their fans by winning their 15th-consecutive home game and extendeding their unbeaten streak at home to 32 matches. Morton has gone 29-0-3 since their last home loss, a 3-2 decision to Lyons in the opening game of the pandemic-forced 2021 spring mini season.
The current 7th-ranked version of the Lions, who beat Libertyville 2-0 in Friday’s other invitational match, will take on the hosts at 1 p.m. Saturday.
“It means a lot,” Ramirez said. “We don’t want to lose in front of the fans, of course.
“We invite them to come here and enjoy a good time, and we don’t want to lose in front of them.
“I feel we’ve really improved since the start of the season. We had a rough start – a loss, but I think we’ve only gone up since then.”
Indeed, this was a nice win against a Benet team that is getting healthy with star playmaker Nico Picha back in the lineup and showing resilience
“They’re a good team,” Bageanis said. “We knew Picha was hurt.
“He was coming off an injury. He’s a tough player too. We had our hands full with him even when he was just coming back.
“We’ve been getting a little better each game. We’ll take it and move on.”
The Redwings also will move on from the loss and the memory of Ramirez’s fluke goal.
“I think we showed a lot of fight and courage,” Roe said. “We’ve just got to work on moving the ball around more in the midfield, especially me.
“I played long way too many times, so I think we’ve got to move the ball around instead, maintain possession.”
Starting lineups
Benet
GK: Evan Lucas
D: Matthew Benka
D: Owen McGarry
D: Nick Nirtaut
D: Nick Roe
M: Danny Boyle
M: Nico Picha
M: Peter Hepburn
F: Brayden Fagbemi
F: Drew Fieldman
F: Ryan Augustyn
Morton
GK: Brandon Flores
D: Leo Ramirez
D: David Cisneros
D: Josh Trujillo
D: Christian Valadez
M: Edgar Quintero
M: Julian Sotello
M: Caleb Mendoza
M: Ivan Ramirez
F: Deyair Ruiz
F: Ismael Zepeda
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Ismael Zepeda, sr., F, Morton
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Morton – Ismael Zepeda (Edgar Quintero) 23:47 remaining
Morton – Own-goal (Ivan Ramirez) 19:04 remaining