Morton, DGS can't finish what they started
Scoreless WSC Gold tilt suspended in 51st minute by lightning
By Matt Le Cren
BERWYN -- Adriana Moreno lay writhing on the ground in pain, her ankle sprained and the breathing of Morton fans momentarily stopped.
The star sophomore forward had been injured in a collision with 1:44 remaining in the first half of Monday’s West Suburban Conference Gold Division clash with visiting Downers Grove South.
Moreno was helped off the field and missed the rest of the half. Luckily for Morton, that’s all she missed.
Moreno returned after intermission and nearly gave her team the lead with 33:05 remaining when she turned a defender in the left side of the box and ripped a right-footed shot that missed the left post by about a foot.
“When I hurt myself, (the pain) was really bad, and I thought I wasn’t going to play,” Moreno said. “But when the trainer wrapped my leg, it was not hurting any more.
“I got it wrapped, because I didn’t want to stay out. She wrapped it really tight; I had to go back out, because I wasn’t comfortable playing with it.”
Once it was adjusted, Moreno was fine and so were the host Mustangs, who held their own in a match which may ultimately decide the WSC Gold title. Both sides will have to wait a while to find out, and not only because it was just the second league match for each side.
Neither team had been able to generate much offense when lightning, followed by rain, caused the game to be suspended with 29:32 left in the second half with the score 0-0.
Morton (8-5-0, 1-0-0) will have a scoring chance immediately when the game resumes as Moreno, who has a team-leading 13 goals, was lining up a 26-yard free kick from outside the top of the box when play was halted.
“So far we had a lot of passing, and we had a lot of chances to get it into the goal,” Moreno said. “But we didn’t make it.”
Moreno’s second half attempt was Morton’s only shot of the game, a result of Downers Grove South’s stiff backline led by Brynn Davis and Taylor Petring, who helped keep the sturdy attacker in check.
“It was a little scrappy and a little sloppy, but at least we were staying competitive,” Morton coach Jim Bageanis said. “We had a few times where we almost got in.
“We had a couple chances and with the (strong) wind. I wish we had been able to stay out here, because we’d have the wind for another 30 minutes and that would have helped us a little bit.”
But Downers South (5-5-1, 1-0-0) didn’t fare much better. The visitors were the more dangerous team, thanks in large part to junior stars Maddie Raftery and Jordan Rose, but were no more successful in finding the back of the net.
The Mustangs were limited to three shots -- two by Rose and the other from Raftery -- and thus were in danger of being shut out for the third-straight game.
Morton goalie Dayanna Gonzalez saved both of Rose’s shots, the first a 23-yarder in the sixth minute and the second a rebound from the top of the 18 after Morton defender Esperanza Aranda volleyed a shot from Raftery out of the crease just two minutes before play was stopped.
Seven minutes before that, Raftery caused some havoc on the left wing as she raced paced two defenders into the clear in the box. But her 12-yard shot missed the right post.
“That was one of the things I told the girls before the game, (Downers South is) having a really good year,” Bageanis said. “I said you’re going to have to match the intensity, because if you don’t these girls are going to come right down on us and bury us.”
That hasn’t happened yet, which is a testament to Morton’s scrappy play.
“Lorena Jaimes has done a good job for us playing a stopper position. Mayte Gongora, she’s a freshman, and she’s having to mark other teams’ best players,” Bageanis said. “She’s really an offensive mid, but she’s playing defense this year.
“She’s just a good all-around player, kind of a hidden talent you might not see in the box score, but she does a lot for us like Jackie Murillo did in the middle.”
Murillo, a senior midfielder who has started since her freshman year, is out for the year after undergoing surgery before the season for a torn ACL. That makes Morton’s recent performances all the more impressive. The Mustangs have won four-consecutive games and five of their last seven, with the only losses coming on penalty kicks.
While this year’s team may not have the depth of the 2018 team, which went 20-5-0 and shared the league title with Downers South, it still has high aspirations.
“Last year we had a really good squad,” Moreno said. “But this year we’re improving.
“We expect to improve and work hard as a team, and we want to win conference and not share it.”
Downers South, of course, has the same aspirations, but coach Chris Hernandez was worried about his squad’s lack of fire.
“Talking to the girls afterward, it was a very emotionless game, which is strange,” Hernandez said. “There was no arguing, no attitude, and we’re not talking about the yelling and screaming aspect, but there is a certain pride that you should have on the field, and it wasn’t there.
“So to have an emotionless type of game, it just seemed very robotic.”
Even so, the visitors had the upper hand in terms of possession.
“I think we controlled the play for a lot of parts,” Hernandez said. “We know that they like to play on the counter.
“Their forwards are pretty talented, so we’re trying to limit their space and possession, and we did. We had some opportunities, but unfortunately, we didn’t capitalize on them.”
Starting lineups
Downers Grove South
GK Angel Biondo
D Taylor Petring
D Brynn Davis
D Marlo Rachie
D Janette Ocana
M Gabriella Galvez
M Olivia Meyer
M Jordan Rose
M Jordan Victorin
F Maddie Raftery
F Nicole Fajardo
Morton
GK Dayanna Gonzalez
D Lorena Jaimes
D Mayte Gongora
D Nayelly Villalobos
D Joanna Solano
M Jessica Franco
M Madelin Loza
M Melanie Carranza
M Esperanza Aranda
F Esmerelda Bautista
F Adriana Moreno
Scoring
None
Game suspended because of lightning with 29:32 remaining in second half.
Scoreless WSC Gold tilt suspended in 51st minute by lightning
By Matt Le Cren
BERWYN -- Adriana Moreno lay writhing on the ground in pain, her ankle sprained and the breathing of Morton fans momentarily stopped.
The star sophomore forward had been injured in a collision with 1:44 remaining in the first half of Monday’s West Suburban Conference Gold Division clash with visiting Downers Grove South.
Moreno was helped off the field and missed the rest of the half. Luckily for Morton, that’s all she missed.
Moreno returned after intermission and nearly gave her team the lead with 33:05 remaining when she turned a defender in the left side of the box and ripped a right-footed shot that missed the left post by about a foot.
“When I hurt myself, (the pain) was really bad, and I thought I wasn’t going to play,” Moreno said. “But when the trainer wrapped my leg, it was not hurting any more.
“I got it wrapped, because I didn’t want to stay out. She wrapped it really tight; I had to go back out, because I wasn’t comfortable playing with it.”
Once it was adjusted, Moreno was fine and so were the host Mustangs, who held their own in a match which may ultimately decide the WSC Gold title. Both sides will have to wait a while to find out, and not only because it was just the second league match for each side.
Neither team had been able to generate much offense when lightning, followed by rain, caused the game to be suspended with 29:32 left in the second half with the score 0-0.
Morton (8-5-0, 1-0-0) will have a scoring chance immediately when the game resumes as Moreno, who has a team-leading 13 goals, was lining up a 26-yard free kick from outside the top of the box when play was halted.
“So far we had a lot of passing, and we had a lot of chances to get it into the goal,” Moreno said. “But we didn’t make it.”
Moreno’s second half attempt was Morton’s only shot of the game, a result of Downers Grove South’s stiff backline led by Brynn Davis and Taylor Petring, who helped keep the sturdy attacker in check.
“It was a little scrappy and a little sloppy, but at least we were staying competitive,” Morton coach Jim Bageanis said. “We had a few times where we almost got in.
“We had a couple chances and with the (strong) wind. I wish we had been able to stay out here, because we’d have the wind for another 30 minutes and that would have helped us a little bit.”
But Downers South (5-5-1, 1-0-0) didn’t fare much better. The visitors were the more dangerous team, thanks in large part to junior stars Maddie Raftery and Jordan Rose, but were no more successful in finding the back of the net.
The Mustangs were limited to three shots -- two by Rose and the other from Raftery -- and thus were in danger of being shut out for the third-straight game.
Morton goalie Dayanna Gonzalez saved both of Rose’s shots, the first a 23-yarder in the sixth minute and the second a rebound from the top of the 18 after Morton defender Esperanza Aranda volleyed a shot from Raftery out of the crease just two minutes before play was stopped.
Seven minutes before that, Raftery caused some havoc on the left wing as she raced paced two defenders into the clear in the box. But her 12-yard shot missed the right post.
“That was one of the things I told the girls before the game, (Downers South is) having a really good year,” Bageanis said. “I said you’re going to have to match the intensity, because if you don’t these girls are going to come right down on us and bury us.”
That hasn’t happened yet, which is a testament to Morton’s scrappy play.
“Lorena Jaimes has done a good job for us playing a stopper position. Mayte Gongora, she’s a freshman, and she’s having to mark other teams’ best players,” Bageanis said. “She’s really an offensive mid, but she’s playing defense this year.
“She’s just a good all-around player, kind of a hidden talent you might not see in the box score, but she does a lot for us like Jackie Murillo did in the middle.”
Murillo, a senior midfielder who has started since her freshman year, is out for the year after undergoing surgery before the season for a torn ACL. That makes Morton’s recent performances all the more impressive. The Mustangs have won four-consecutive games and five of their last seven, with the only losses coming on penalty kicks.
While this year’s team may not have the depth of the 2018 team, which went 20-5-0 and shared the league title with Downers South, it still has high aspirations.
“Last year we had a really good squad,” Moreno said. “But this year we’re improving.
“We expect to improve and work hard as a team, and we want to win conference and not share it.”
Downers South, of course, has the same aspirations, but coach Chris Hernandez was worried about his squad’s lack of fire.
“Talking to the girls afterward, it was a very emotionless game, which is strange,” Hernandez said. “There was no arguing, no attitude, and we’re not talking about the yelling and screaming aspect, but there is a certain pride that you should have on the field, and it wasn’t there.
“So to have an emotionless type of game, it just seemed very robotic.”
Even so, the visitors had the upper hand in terms of possession.
“I think we controlled the play for a lot of parts,” Hernandez said. “We know that they like to play on the counter.
“Their forwards are pretty talented, so we’re trying to limit their space and possession, and we did. We had some opportunities, but unfortunately, we didn’t capitalize on them.”
Starting lineups
Downers Grove South
GK Angel Biondo
D Taylor Petring
D Brynn Davis
D Marlo Rachie
D Janette Ocana
M Gabriella Galvez
M Olivia Meyer
M Jordan Rose
M Jordan Victorin
F Maddie Raftery
F Nicole Fajardo
Morton
GK Dayanna Gonzalez
D Lorena Jaimes
D Mayte Gongora
D Nayelly Villalobos
D Joanna Solano
M Jessica Franco
M Madelin Loza
M Melanie Carranza
M Esperanza Aranda
F Esmerelda Bautista
F Adriana Moreno
Scoring
None
Game suspended because of lightning with 29:32 remaining in second half.