Morton's great 21 seconds vs. DGS finalizes another league title
2nd half goals deliver 10th-straight Silver Division crown
By Dave Owen
DOWNERS GROVE -- Morton’s decade-long West Suburban Conference Gold Division winning streak and 27-1 scoring advantage this fall against league opponents suddenly seemed irrelevant for the first 25 minutes of the second half Tuesday at Downers Grove South.
In a showdown for the 2021 league title, the host Mustangs had chopped Morton’s 2-0 halftime deficit to 2-1 and were continuing to generate great pressure in quest for the equalizer.
Then in a literal matter of seconds, it all changed.
With 14:30 left to play, Morton goalkeeper Danny Martinez rushed off his line to narrowly beat a Downers Grove South attacker to Karol Niziolek’s right-side send into the box.
Just 26 seconds later, Morton star Gio Alvarez was speeding in on a long dribbling run up right wing. Alvarez’s ensuing 20-yard shot was hit so hard that a great lunging two-hand deflection by Downers Grove South goalkeeper Andrik Vidaurri could only slightly slow its ride into the upper left corner of the net.
Then a mere 21 seconds after Alvarez made the score 3-1, Ismael Zepeda’s pass found Giovanni Gallegos in the box for a 15-yard liner low inside the left post.
In about the length of time the traffic light was red on 63rd Street northeast of the stadium, the game had turned from inches away from tied to a 4-1 Morton win.
“We knew not to let our heads down,” Morton senior Jonathan Murillo. “They're a good team, so we knew we had to keep scoring.
“We came down a little bit, but Gio scored the third goal, and that's when we kind of cooled down and then kept pressuring them.”
For Downers Grove South, the shortest lapse had huge effects.
“It was about a 20-second span,” Downers Grove South coach Jon Stapleton said. “I told our guys, with a team of this quality (Morton) you can't relax. You have to be focused, disciplined and organized, and for 20 seconds we weren't. They took advantage of that and it changed the game. If it's 2-1 at the end who knows what can happen there.”
As it was, Downers Grove South (8-6-1, 5-1-x) provided Morton (15-1-3, 6-0-x) with by far its toughest test of the conference season.
And even Morton’s early goal and eventual 2-0 lead didn’t come easily.
Just over six minutes into the game, Alvarez began his hat-trick night with a long dribble up the middle and 20-yard goal high inside the left post.
Morton followed with a Murillo quality shot just wide in the 9th minute and a corner kick chance 11 minutes in.
But Downers Grove South’s offense was also anything but quiet early on.
Jerry Smazil’s six-yard shot in the 14th minute went just wide right. Then 20:10 before halftime, Niziolek momentarily seemed to have tied the game with his put-away of a cross from the six -- only to have a close offside call nullify the goal.
“Nick (Pacian) made a nice drive down the line and gave me an outstanding ball,” Niziolek said. “It (the offside call) was frustrating. I thought I was in line (onside). Sometimes the officials don't get it right, or I didn't see it from the right angle.”
Either way the score remained 1-0 Morton. A Downers Grove South threat in the 23rd minute was also denied when Smazil’s 10-yard redirect off a Julian Lopez send to the box that was saved by Martinez.
“I thought we had some quality opportunities,” Stapleton said. “Karol had the finish that went in offsides. I'd like to maybe see that one again. And Jerry at one point got behind and pushed the ball just wide of the right post.
“We felt coming in like we'd have chances, but it was a matter of slowing them down.”
And as Morton proved on each of its four goals, they can turn any slight opening into glory.
In the 29th minute, Alvarez took a Luis Gonzalez pass, volleyed the ball forward to himself into the box on a 1-v-2 chance, and was knocked down on his shot attempt at the eight.
Alvarez pile drove the ensuing penalty kick into the lower left corner of the net just beyond Vidaurri’s reach, and Morton led 2-0.
The Mustangs senior had more brilliance to come after halftime, after he tood over the first half with two improbable individual plays.
“He’s a spectacular player,” Morton coach Jim Bageanis said of Alvarez. “He does everything for us: literally sometimes.”
The hat-trick Tuesday built goal total of the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match to 17 to go along with 16 assists.
“Him having two or three guys who go after him and mark him leaves other guys open,” Bageanis said. “We're going to sorely miss him after this year.”
As his balanced stats show, Alvarez’s talent is matched by his unselfishness.
“I have to get the ball from my teammates, so whatever I do I give credit to them,” he said. “It's 11-v-11, not 1-v-11. So, I give credit to my teammates always, because without them I wouldn't be able to do this.”
Said Bageanis: “He's a real dynamic player, and he wanted this game tonight. He wanted to end with a conference championship. That was his goal, and obviously that's our goal every year. But I could tell he had an extra gear in him today.”
Alvarez wasn’t done in the first half. His corner kick in the 31st minute set up an eventual Zepeda shot that was denied at the six by Downers Grove South midfielder Jorge Alcantara’s sliding block.
In the 32nd minute, Alvarez made a great dribble move to sidestep a defender and burst into the box, but lined his shot wide left. Then one minute later, Edgar Quintero’s shot off an Alvarez pass was denied on a nice Vidaurri save at the left post.
Surviving those late Morton threats kept the score 2-0, which proved large early in the half.
“People say that 2-0 at the half is the worst score you can have,” Alvarez said. “In the second half we had to keep our heads and our mentality and keep going up.”
That wouldn’t be easy for Morton.
“Obviously no one wants to be down 2-0,” Stapleton said, “but sometimes that lead can be tricky for teams to manage. We knew if we could get one we might have the opportunity to swing the momentum a little and fight back. Which we did on the corner kick.”
After dodging a Morton threat just over three minutes into the half after Deyair Ruiz’s sliding redirect just wide on a Quintero cross, Downers Grove South struck with 30:58 left.
Josh Venouziou’s shot was deflected wide for a corner kick. And on that set piece, Darden Sylejmani’s send found Venouziou near the left post for a headed goal.
For Morton, it was the realization of the halftime fear.
“We said the first 10 or 15 minutes (after halftime) we don't want to give up a goal here,” Bageanis said. “We got caught up a little, they got in and made us pay.
“I think it brought us back to reality a little bit too, and we buckled down a little more and tried to possess the ball more. We were getting away from our game a little bit trying to do, I don't want to say fancy stuff, but we were making passes that weren't simple, let's say that.”
Morton’s fancy offense answered with a chance, a Murillo shot off a Daniel Diaz pass with 29:50 left that was thwarted by Vidaurri’s diving save.
A Diaz free kick right of the box with 25:15 to go would cause more mayhem, with Murillo and Max Aquino both in the vicinity of a deflection that squirted just wide.
But as the second half hit its halfway point, Downers Grove South hit its stride again.
Lopez pounded a free kick from 55 yards with 19 minutes left that slipped through the crowd in front and eluded goalkeeper Martinez but skipped just wide of the net.
Then came a great Downers Grove South chance with 17:25 to play -- a 25-yard Lopez free kick that Paciak redirected in the box, but Martinez saved at the left post.
“They were counterattacking us a lot,” Murillo said, “so we had to tell our defenders and the middles to keep composure and relax.”
Then Alvarez completed his hat-trick with 14:04 to play, another goal instantly followed, and Morton could truly begin to relax.
“We got that other goal (to lead 3-1) and kept attacking,” Murillo said. “We were nervous a little bit, but we had it.”
With an offense that has averaged four goals per game against an elite schedule, Morton creates more nervousness than it endures.
“We like to play an offensive style obviously,” Bageanis said, “and we have the skill to do it. We promote pushing the ball and trying to be creative. As long as we get back defensively I'm fine with that.
“Our philosophy is that we're going to wear teams down defensively a little bit and there's going to be a few cracks,” Bageanis added. “And if we can get in (on goal), that can put the game away. And I think that's what we did with those two goals. We kind of took the wind out of their sails real quick.”
Downers Grove South settled for the runnerup spot in the conference but had an impressive run.
“I told the guys 5-1 in conference and second place is nothing to hang your heads about,” Stapleton said. “Especially considering we started the season 0-3-0, to get to the point we're at.
“Josh (Venouziou) has been phenomenal in terms of scoring for us. He keeps coming up with big goals. He had the goal against Hinsdale South to tie it and send it to overtime (in a win last week), and he had the goal tonight to get us back in.
“Julian Lopez at midfield is a nice catalyst for us. He settles things down, gets us into possession and gets players into good spots. He's a real leader for us.
“And on the backline Max Paschall has been playing really well at center back. Those are guys at the three levels that stand out, and other guys are complementing those players well. They continue to shine for us.”
Intangibles have also helped Downers Grove South.
“The relationship we have as a team,” Niziolek said. “Everyone is really close, joking around, and I feel having the right atmosphere in the locker room and the support really pushes us to be better. Everyone has each other’s back.”
“And I feel like as a collective we have that drive. We want to go somewhere deep with this, and it's definitely shown throughout the season. At the start of the season it wasn't looking the best, but we were able to pull out of that. And I feel that's carried on for us as we've gone deeper into the season.”
The Morton test was a preview of things to come.
“We have Naperville North too on Thursday,” Niziolek said. “They're a tough team. I think that's going to give us a nice push going into playoffs to see what we're up against and push us to work harder.”
Said Stapleton: “Naperville North on Thursday is kind of by design (to prepare for the postseason).
“We get to play Downers North a second time (at regionals), which is never easy, then if we work through that we get Morton. Then there's Lyons or Hinsdale Central (in the sectional), so you might as well get used to it now, because there are no easy games the rest of the way.”
A potential regional final rematch at Morton on Oct. 23 looms for Downers Grove South.
As for Tuesday, Morton could sit back and celebrate 60-straight division wins -- a perfect decade of unblemished 6-0 seasons in conference.
“Every year teams want us,” Bageanis said. “It's like a state title win in their eyes if they beat us. They're always gunning for us.”
And while that feat was nice, Morton is gunning for bigger games ahead.
“All I can say is that it isn't over,” Alvarez said. “We still have a lot more to go. We got second in the state (in Class 3A in 2019) my sophomore year, and I don't want to end up in that spot again or (lose) before that. I want to make it all the way to the end.
“Especially for us, we're seniors so we want to end good. If we don't, it is what it is. But this (conference title) isn't it. We have to keep going.”
Starting lineups
Morton
GK Danny Martinez
D Juan Ramirez
D Ivan Ramirez
D Eddie Barraza-Diaz
D Luis Gonzalez
M Max Aquino
M Edgar Quintero
M Daniel Diaz
M Gio Alvarez
F Jon Murillo
F Ismael Zepeda
Downers Grove South
GK Andrik Vidaurri
D Matt Crowley
D Max Paschall
D Andrew Cimbalista
D Victor Carrasco
M Julian Lopez
M Jorge Alcantara
M Nick Opacian
M Darden Sylejmani
F Josh Venouziou
F Jerry Smazil
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Gio Alvarez, sr. MF, Morton
Scoring summary
First half
M- Gio Alvarez (unassisted), 7’
M- Alvarez (PK), 29’
Second half
DGS: Josh Venouziou (Darden Sylejmani), 50’
M- Alvarez (unassisted), 56’
M- Giovanni Gallegos (Ismael Zepeda), 57’
2nd half goals deliver 10th-straight Silver Division crown
By Dave Owen
DOWNERS GROVE -- Morton’s decade-long West Suburban Conference Gold Division winning streak and 27-1 scoring advantage this fall against league opponents suddenly seemed irrelevant for the first 25 minutes of the second half Tuesday at Downers Grove South.
In a showdown for the 2021 league title, the host Mustangs had chopped Morton’s 2-0 halftime deficit to 2-1 and were continuing to generate great pressure in quest for the equalizer.
Then in a literal matter of seconds, it all changed.
With 14:30 left to play, Morton goalkeeper Danny Martinez rushed off his line to narrowly beat a Downers Grove South attacker to Karol Niziolek’s right-side send into the box.
Just 26 seconds later, Morton star Gio Alvarez was speeding in on a long dribbling run up right wing. Alvarez’s ensuing 20-yard shot was hit so hard that a great lunging two-hand deflection by Downers Grove South goalkeeper Andrik Vidaurri could only slightly slow its ride into the upper left corner of the net.
Then a mere 21 seconds after Alvarez made the score 3-1, Ismael Zepeda’s pass found Giovanni Gallegos in the box for a 15-yard liner low inside the left post.
In about the length of time the traffic light was red on 63rd Street northeast of the stadium, the game had turned from inches away from tied to a 4-1 Morton win.
“We knew not to let our heads down,” Morton senior Jonathan Murillo. “They're a good team, so we knew we had to keep scoring.
“We came down a little bit, but Gio scored the third goal, and that's when we kind of cooled down and then kept pressuring them.”
For Downers Grove South, the shortest lapse had huge effects.
“It was about a 20-second span,” Downers Grove South coach Jon Stapleton said. “I told our guys, with a team of this quality (Morton) you can't relax. You have to be focused, disciplined and organized, and for 20 seconds we weren't. They took advantage of that and it changed the game. If it's 2-1 at the end who knows what can happen there.”
As it was, Downers Grove South (8-6-1, 5-1-x) provided Morton (15-1-3, 6-0-x) with by far its toughest test of the conference season.
And even Morton’s early goal and eventual 2-0 lead didn’t come easily.
Just over six minutes into the game, Alvarez began his hat-trick night with a long dribble up the middle and 20-yard goal high inside the left post.
Morton followed with a Murillo quality shot just wide in the 9th minute and a corner kick chance 11 minutes in.
But Downers Grove South’s offense was also anything but quiet early on.
Jerry Smazil’s six-yard shot in the 14th minute went just wide right. Then 20:10 before halftime, Niziolek momentarily seemed to have tied the game with his put-away of a cross from the six -- only to have a close offside call nullify the goal.
“Nick (Pacian) made a nice drive down the line and gave me an outstanding ball,” Niziolek said. “It (the offside call) was frustrating. I thought I was in line (onside). Sometimes the officials don't get it right, or I didn't see it from the right angle.”
Either way the score remained 1-0 Morton. A Downers Grove South threat in the 23rd minute was also denied when Smazil’s 10-yard redirect off a Julian Lopez send to the box that was saved by Martinez.
“I thought we had some quality opportunities,” Stapleton said. “Karol had the finish that went in offsides. I'd like to maybe see that one again. And Jerry at one point got behind and pushed the ball just wide of the right post.
“We felt coming in like we'd have chances, but it was a matter of slowing them down.”
And as Morton proved on each of its four goals, they can turn any slight opening into glory.
In the 29th minute, Alvarez took a Luis Gonzalez pass, volleyed the ball forward to himself into the box on a 1-v-2 chance, and was knocked down on his shot attempt at the eight.
Alvarez pile drove the ensuing penalty kick into the lower left corner of the net just beyond Vidaurri’s reach, and Morton led 2-0.
The Mustangs senior had more brilliance to come after halftime, after he tood over the first half with two improbable individual plays.
“He’s a spectacular player,” Morton coach Jim Bageanis said of Alvarez. “He does everything for us: literally sometimes.”
The hat-trick Tuesday built goal total of the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match to 17 to go along with 16 assists.
“Him having two or three guys who go after him and mark him leaves other guys open,” Bageanis said. “We're going to sorely miss him after this year.”
As his balanced stats show, Alvarez’s talent is matched by his unselfishness.
“I have to get the ball from my teammates, so whatever I do I give credit to them,” he said. “It's 11-v-11, not 1-v-11. So, I give credit to my teammates always, because without them I wouldn't be able to do this.”
Said Bageanis: “He's a real dynamic player, and he wanted this game tonight. He wanted to end with a conference championship. That was his goal, and obviously that's our goal every year. But I could tell he had an extra gear in him today.”
Alvarez wasn’t done in the first half. His corner kick in the 31st minute set up an eventual Zepeda shot that was denied at the six by Downers Grove South midfielder Jorge Alcantara’s sliding block.
In the 32nd minute, Alvarez made a great dribble move to sidestep a defender and burst into the box, but lined his shot wide left. Then one minute later, Edgar Quintero’s shot off an Alvarez pass was denied on a nice Vidaurri save at the left post.
Surviving those late Morton threats kept the score 2-0, which proved large early in the half.
“People say that 2-0 at the half is the worst score you can have,” Alvarez said. “In the second half we had to keep our heads and our mentality and keep going up.”
That wouldn’t be easy for Morton.
“Obviously no one wants to be down 2-0,” Stapleton said, “but sometimes that lead can be tricky for teams to manage. We knew if we could get one we might have the opportunity to swing the momentum a little and fight back. Which we did on the corner kick.”
After dodging a Morton threat just over three minutes into the half after Deyair Ruiz’s sliding redirect just wide on a Quintero cross, Downers Grove South struck with 30:58 left.
Josh Venouziou’s shot was deflected wide for a corner kick. And on that set piece, Darden Sylejmani’s send found Venouziou near the left post for a headed goal.
For Morton, it was the realization of the halftime fear.
“We said the first 10 or 15 minutes (after halftime) we don't want to give up a goal here,” Bageanis said. “We got caught up a little, they got in and made us pay.
“I think it brought us back to reality a little bit too, and we buckled down a little more and tried to possess the ball more. We were getting away from our game a little bit trying to do, I don't want to say fancy stuff, but we were making passes that weren't simple, let's say that.”
Morton’s fancy offense answered with a chance, a Murillo shot off a Daniel Diaz pass with 29:50 left that was thwarted by Vidaurri’s diving save.
A Diaz free kick right of the box with 25:15 to go would cause more mayhem, with Murillo and Max Aquino both in the vicinity of a deflection that squirted just wide.
But as the second half hit its halfway point, Downers Grove South hit its stride again.
Lopez pounded a free kick from 55 yards with 19 minutes left that slipped through the crowd in front and eluded goalkeeper Martinez but skipped just wide of the net.
Then came a great Downers Grove South chance with 17:25 to play -- a 25-yard Lopez free kick that Paciak redirected in the box, but Martinez saved at the left post.
“They were counterattacking us a lot,” Murillo said, “so we had to tell our defenders and the middles to keep composure and relax.”
Then Alvarez completed his hat-trick with 14:04 to play, another goal instantly followed, and Morton could truly begin to relax.
“We got that other goal (to lead 3-1) and kept attacking,” Murillo said. “We were nervous a little bit, but we had it.”
With an offense that has averaged four goals per game against an elite schedule, Morton creates more nervousness than it endures.
“We like to play an offensive style obviously,” Bageanis said, “and we have the skill to do it. We promote pushing the ball and trying to be creative. As long as we get back defensively I'm fine with that.
“Our philosophy is that we're going to wear teams down defensively a little bit and there's going to be a few cracks,” Bageanis added. “And if we can get in (on goal), that can put the game away. And I think that's what we did with those two goals. We kind of took the wind out of their sails real quick.”
Downers Grove South settled for the runnerup spot in the conference but had an impressive run.
“I told the guys 5-1 in conference and second place is nothing to hang your heads about,” Stapleton said. “Especially considering we started the season 0-3-0, to get to the point we're at.
“Josh (Venouziou) has been phenomenal in terms of scoring for us. He keeps coming up with big goals. He had the goal against Hinsdale South to tie it and send it to overtime (in a win last week), and he had the goal tonight to get us back in.
“Julian Lopez at midfield is a nice catalyst for us. He settles things down, gets us into possession and gets players into good spots. He's a real leader for us.
“And on the backline Max Paschall has been playing really well at center back. Those are guys at the three levels that stand out, and other guys are complementing those players well. They continue to shine for us.”
Intangibles have also helped Downers Grove South.
“The relationship we have as a team,” Niziolek said. “Everyone is really close, joking around, and I feel having the right atmosphere in the locker room and the support really pushes us to be better. Everyone has each other’s back.”
“And I feel like as a collective we have that drive. We want to go somewhere deep with this, and it's definitely shown throughout the season. At the start of the season it wasn't looking the best, but we were able to pull out of that. And I feel that's carried on for us as we've gone deeper into the season.”
The Morton test was a preview of things to come.
“We have Naperville North too on Thursday,” Niziolek said. “They're a tough team. I think that's going to give us a nice push going into playoffs to see what we're up against and push us to work harder.”
Said Stapleton: “Naperville North on Thursday is kind of by design (to prepare for the postseason).
“We get to play Downers North a second time (at regionals), which is never easy, then if we work through that we get Morton. Then there's Lyons or Hinsdale Central (in the sectional), so you might as well get used to it now, because there are no easy games the rest of the way.”
A potential regional final rematch at Morton on Oct. 23 looms for Downers Grove South.
As for Tuesday, Morton could sit back and celebrate 60-straight division wins -- a perfect decade of unblemished 6-0 seasons in conference.
“Every year teams want us,” Bageanis said. “It's like a state title win in their eyes if they beat us. They're always gunning for us.”
And while that feat was nice, Morton is gunning for bigger games ahead.
“All I can say is that it isn't over,” Alvarez said. “We still have a lot more to go. We got second in the state (in Class 3A in 2019) my sophomore year, and I don't want to end up in that spot again or (lose) before that. I want to make it all the way to the end.
“Especially for us, we're seniors so we want to end good. If we don't, it is what it is. But this (conference title) isn't it. We have to keep going.”
Starting lineups
Morton
GK Danny Martinez
D Juan Ramirez
D Ivan Ramirez
D Eddie Barraza-Diaz
D Luis Gonzalez
M Max Aquino
M Edgar Quintero
M Daniel Diaz
M Gio Alvarez
F Jon Murillo
F Ismael Zepeda
Downers Grove South
GK Andrik Vidaurri
D Matt Crowley
D Max Paschall
D Andrew Cimbalista
D Victor Carrasco
M Julian Lopez
M Jorge Alcantara
M Nick Opacian
M Darden Sylejmani
F Josh Venouziou
F Jerry Smazil
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Gio Alvarez, sr. MF, Morton
Scoring summary
First half
M- Gio Alvarez (unassisted), 7’
M- Alvarez (PK), 29’
Second half
DGS: Josh Venouziou (Darden Sylejmani), 50’
M- Alvarez (unassisted), 56’
M- Giovanni Gallegos (Ismael Zepeda), 57’