Morton stands tall vs. Missouri powerhouse
Mustangs at wrong end of disputed call in 2-0 loss to Gateway
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CICERO — Morton forward Erick Paulino had clear vision.
Moments earlier, he got free on the right wing and blasted a shot from about 16 yards that forced Gateway keeper Guilherme de Paula to make a brilliant kick-save.
Now Paulino scissored between two Lions’ defender and unleashed a rocket ball. The volatile wind turned every shot into a story of its own, with no logical movement to the ball or the trajectory.
It took a crazy skip-hop and nearly danced above the head of Paula. It snaked behind the head of the Gateway keeper, and he had made a quick backwards turn to collect the ball.
It appeared to be the Morton equalizer in the 78th minute, a stunning turn of events.
The center official and the assistant referee ruled otherwise, and play resumed.
“It looked to everyone that it was in there,” Morton coach Jim Bageanis said.
Instead the Mustangs, ranked second in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, played well and hard but were haunted by small mistakes and bad luck in the 2-0 home loss Saturday afternoon on the sunny and wind-blown day.
Gateway Legacy Christian Academy has its roots in in Granite City, Ill., in suburban St. Louis, where the small school private academy was founded.
Now the school is located in Florissant, Missouri.
The school is comparable to Lake Forest Academy, an associate member school of the Illinois High School Association, which is not eligible to play in the state tournament.
Gateway Legacy has only a soccer and basketball program. Marcos Silva, a Brazilian, is the coach. The Lions (10-2-1) defeated Lake Forest Academy in September. The school is now on a Chicago tour. The Lions defeated Stevenson 7-0 Friday.
Gateway is set to play Monday afternoon against Chicago Public League power and eighth-ranked Solorio Monday and Tuesday night against no. 6 Libertyville.
Gateway beat Naperville North 3-2 at the Go 4 the Goal Tournament on Oct. 5 in Burlington, Iowa.
The international players are primarily from São Paulo though they also come from Portugal, Spain, France, the Virgin Islands and South Africa. (The non-Brazilian players are all fluent in Portuguese, a language Silva used to addresse them during and after the game.)
Gateway plays in the Brazilian style, fast and quick. They push the ball. Silva was eager to play Morton, whom he also watched in Iowa.
“I saw them at the Go 4 the Goal tournament,” he said. “They are very similar to us. It’s different when you play a regular American team that is strong and fast. They like to possess.
“I was looking forward to this game, because it is two similar styles.”
Morton’s fluid game of movement and off-the-ball attacking overlaps with the Lions’ style. It made for exciting and invigorating play.
Morton had the northern wind—gusting up to 25 miles per hour in the first half. The Mustangs (14-3-2) could not quite take advantage.
“Nowadays everybody likes to possess the ball,” Silva said. “We possess the ball, and we attack as a team, and we defend as a team. As we keep possession most of the game, our philosophy is to play the ball at our feet. Everybody attacks, and we defend as a team.
“The wind and the cold were not the best conditions for the best football for either team. We had a strategy before the game started. When we were going against the wind, we wanted to get through the half without getting scored on.
“Second half, we are just going to press them and play the way that we play.”
Morton created some striking first half moments. Defender Saul Jaurez is a special talent, especially as a free kick specialist. Three times in the first half, he served booming long distance free kicks that created considerable difficulties.
Antonio Costa started and played the first half at keeper for the Lions. Twice he made great and athletics stops off long balls served by Juarez.
Costa also made the save of the game in the first half, a leaping one-handed tip off a header by Yani Rendon in the 30th minute.
“When I got the header, I thought I was going to score but the keeper made a good save,” Rendon said. “I thought I was going to score.
“It was a problem playing with that wind. They were a good team. It was a lot of fun to play against them. I think we did good. We just have to work harder during the week to finish those chances.”
In retrospect, the Mustangs’ inability to create greater chances when they had the wind in the first half underscored their second half difficulties.
“We probably could have done more with the wind,” Bageanis said.
Gateway took advantage at the start of the second half. Senior midfielder Eduardo Rodrigues, the team’s best player, broke down the Mustangs’ back and drilled home a ball from about 17 yards in the 44th minute.
Rodrigues earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction. A native of São Paulo, he has been in the United States for 18 months.
“I have been playing in Brazil my whole life, and this is definitely very different,” he said. “The players here are very strong, very physical. They play a different kind of game than what we are used to.
“At the beginning it was harder for me to get used to the game. Now it is easier. On the goal, we got the ball on the outside. I just saw the keeper in the middle so I tried to keep the ball on the outside.”
Morton junior Andreas Calderon played keeper in the second half, splitting time with starter Christopher Barajas.
Moments after the Gateway goal, he made two spectacular stops off balls fired from intensely closely range.
“They were a really good team,” he said. “They were aggressive, and they were fast. We did what we could against them.
“I had to do what I had to do.”
Bageanis also had the larger picture to think about. The Mustangs were playing top-ranked St. Patrick in the PepsiCo Showdown bracket final Sunday at Lyons.
Star forward Cristian Perez was held out of the game to protect him from aggravating an injury.
Morton made its stand, and played well in the second half, even going into that wind. The Mustangs created some compelling opportunities.
The team is convinced it scored on the shot by Paulino.
“With their quickness and their passing, they were a very good team,” Calderon said. “We had a very similar playing style, and they had us working hard and the wind working against us is probably what affected us the most.
“We should have taken advantage of the wind when we had it on our side. They were defensively talented.”
The final score misleads. Forward Matheus Cunha scored into a virtually empty net with eight seconds to play.
“We allowed them some opportunities late in the game, but fortunately we kept our composure,” Silva said.
Morton made an impression.
“The final score was not indicative of the game,” Bageanis said. “We got all of our guys in today and played well against a strong team from Missouri. That’s all we could ask for. We were competitive. I am not worried about the goal in the last seconds.
“We are preparing for [Sunday]. Yes, this was a game, and we take them all seriously. If we have to give one up, today is the one I’d rather give up.
Starting lineups
Gateway Legacy
GK: Antonio Costa
D: Matheus Silva
D: Matheus Lazzuri
D: Filipe Leite
MF: Eduardo Rodrigues
MF: Joao Batista
MF: Luca Ferreira
MF: Tiago Ramos
F: Bruno Rosa
F: Matheus Cunha
F: Guilherme de Paula
Morton
GK: Christopher Barajas
D: Juan Hernandez
D: Saul Juarez
D: Juan Ramirez
MF: Jesus Perez
MF: Luis Gonzalez
MF: Adrian Salto
MF: Uriel Sotelo
F: Giovanni Alvarez
F: Edwin Zizumbo
F: Romario Iniguez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Eduardo Rodrigues, sr., MF, Gateway
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Gateway—Eduardo Rodrigues (Matheus Cunha), 44th minute
Gateway—Cunha (Kayden Booysen), 80th minute
Mustangs at wrong end of disputed call in 2-0 loss to Gateway
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CICERO — Morton forward Erick Paulino had clear vision.
Moments earlier, he got free on the right wing and blasted a shot from about 16 yards that forced Gateway keeper Guilherme de Paula to make a brilliant kick-save.
Now Paulino scissored between two Lions’ defender and unleashed a rocket ball. The volatile wind turned every shot into a story of its own, with no logical movement to the ball or the trajectory.
It took a crazy skip-hop and nearly danced above the head of Paula. It snaked behind the head of the Gateway keeper, and he had made a quick backwards turn to collect the ball.
It appeared to be the Morton equalizer in the 78th minute, a stunning turn of events.
The center official and the assistant referee ruled otherwise, and play resumed.
“It looked to everyone that it was in there,” Morton coach Jim Bageanis said.
Instead the Mustangs, ranked second in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, played well and hard but were haunted by small mistakes and bad luck in the 2-0 home loss Saturday afternoon on the sunny and wind-blown day.
Gateway Legacy Christian Academy has its roots in in Granite City, Ill., in suburban St. Louis, where the small school private academy was founded.
Now the school is located in Florissant, Missouri.
The school is comparable to Lake Forest Academy, an associate member school of the Illinois High School Association, which is not eligible to play in the state tournament.
Gateway Legacy has only a soccer and basketball program. Marcos Silva, a Brazilian, is the coach. The Lions (10-2-1) defeated Lake Forest Academy in September. The school is now on a Chicago tour. The Lions defeated Stevenson 7-0 Friday.
Gateway is set to play Monday afternoon against Chicago Public League power and eighth-ranked Solorio Monday and Tuesday night against no. 6 Libertyville.
Gateway beat Naperville North 3-2 at the Go 4 the Goal Tournament on Oct. 5 in Burlington, Iowa.
The international players are primarily from São Paulo though they also come from Portugal, Spain, France, the Virgin Islands and South Africa. (The non-Brazilian players are all fluent in Portuguese, a language Silva used to addresse them during and after the game.)
Gateway plays in the Brazilian style, fast and quick. They push the ball. Silva was eager to play Morton, whom he also watched in Iowa.
“I saw them at the Go 4 the Goal tournament,” he said. “They are very similar to us. It’s different when you play a regular American team that is strong and fast. They like to possess.
“I was looking forward to this game, because it is two similar styles.”
Morton’s fluid game of movement and off-the-ball attacking overlaps with the Lions’ style. It made for exciting and invigorating play.
Morton had the northern wind—gusting up to 25 miles per hour in the first half. The Mustangs (14-3-2) could not quite take advantage.
“Nowadays everybody likes to possess the ball,” Silva said. “We possess the ball, and we attack as a team, and we defend as a team. As we keep possession most of the game, our philosophy is to play the ball at our feet. Everybody attacks, and we defend as a team.
“The wind and the cold were not the best conditions for the best football for either team. We had a strategy before the game started. When we were going against the wind, we wanted to get through the half without getting scored on.
“Second half, we are just going to press them and play the way that we play.”
Morton created some striking first half moments. Defender Saul Jaurez is a special talent, especially as a free kick specialist. Three times in the first half, he served booming long distance free kicks that created considerable difficulties.
Antonio Costa started and played the first half at keeper for the Lions. Twice he made great and athletics stops off long balls served by Juarez.
Costa also made the save of the game in the first half, a leaping one-handed tip off a header by Yani Rendon in the 30th minute.
“When I got the header, I thought I was going to score but the keeper made a good save,” Rendon said. “I thought I was going to score.
“It was a problem playing with that wind. They were a good team. It was a lot of fun to play against them. I think we did good. We just have to work harder during the week to finish those chances.”
In retrospect, the Mustangs’ inability to create greater chances when they had the wind in the first half underscored their second half difficulties.
“We probably could have done more with the wind,” Bageanis said.
Gateway took advantage at the start of the second half. Senior midfielder Eduardo Rodrigues, the team’s best player, broke down the Mustangs’ back and drilled home a ball from about 17 yards in the 44th minute.
Rodrigues earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction. A native of São Paulo, he has been in the United States for 18 months.
“I have been playing in Brazil my whole life, and this is definitely very different,” he said. “The players here are very strong, very physical. They play a different kind of game than what we are used to.
“At the beginning it was harder for me to get used to the game. Now it is easier. On the goal, we got the ball on the outside. I just saw the keeper in the middle so I tried to keep the ball on the outside.”
Morton junior Andreas Calderon played keeper in the second half, splitting time with starter Christopher Barajas.
Moments after the Gateway goal, he made two spectacular stops off balls fired from intensely closely range.
“They were a really good team,” he said. “They were aggressive, and they were fast. We did what we could against them.
“I had to do what I had to do.”
Bageanis also had the larger picture to think about. The Mustangs were playing top-ranked St. Patrick in the PepsiCo Showdown bracket final Sunday at Lyons.
Star forward Cristian Perez was held out of the game to protect him from aggravating an injury.
Morton made its stand, and played well in the second half, even going into that wind. The Mustangs created some compelling opportunities.
The team is convinced it scored on the shot by Paulino.
“With their quickness and their passing, they were a very good team,” Calderon said. “We had a very similar playing style, and they had us working hard and the wind working against us is probably what affected us the most.
“We should have taken advantage of the wind when we had it on our side. They were defensively talented.”
The final score misleads. Forward Matheus Cunha scored into a virtually empty net with eight seconds to play.
“We allowed them some opportunities late in the game, but fortunately we kept our composure,” Silva said.
Morton made an impression.
“The final score was not indicative of the game,” Bageanis said. “We got all of our guys in today and played well against a strong team from Missouri. That’s all we could ask for. We were competitive. I am not worried about the goal in the last seconds.
“We are preparing for [Sunday]. Yes, this was a game, and we take them all seriously. If we have to give one up, today is the one I’d rather give up.
Starting lineups
Gateway Legacy
GK: Antonio Costa
D: Matheus Silva
D: Matheus Lazzuri
D: Filipe Leite
MF: Eduardo Rodrigues
MF: Joao Batista
MF: Luca Ferreira
MF: Tiago Ramos
F: Bruno Rosa
F: Matheus Cunha
F: Guilherme de Paula
Morton
GK: Christopher Barajas
D: Juan Hernandez
D: Saul Juarez
D: Juan Ramirez
MF: Jesus Perez
MF: Luis Gonzalez
MF: Adrian Salto
MF: Uriel Sotelo
F: Giovanni Alvarez
F: Edwin Zizumbo
F: Romario Iniguez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Eduardo Rodrigues, sr., MF, Gateway
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Gateway—Eduardo Rodrigues (Matheus Cunha), 44th minute
Gateway—Cunha (Kayden Booysen), 80th minute