Morton takes control vs. gritty Leyden
Mustangs build 4-0 lead, roll to 5-2 West Suburban Gold win
By Gary Larsen
NORTHLAKE -- Conference rivals Morton and Leyden are in different places at this early point of the 2018 season. Morton is ranked fourth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, while Leyden’s annually solid program is negotiating some growing pains.
Still, while Morton won 5-2 in Tuesday’s West Suburban Conference Gold Division game, the win didn’t come easy. And Morton coach Jim Bageanis knew it wouldn’t.
“It’s always going to be a tough game,” he said.
Morton (3-1-1, 1-0-0) led 2-0 at halftime and 4-0 in the second half before Leyden (2-5-1, 0-1-0) got its first goal. Ramario Iniguez led the way with two goals for the Mustangs, who got one goal apiece from German Tinoco, Jesus Perez and Andre Olvera.
Despite playing without injured starting center mid Isaac Carnalla, Morton found another engine to propel its attack.
“Christian Perez did a great job of that in the middle for us today. He stepped up, took that position, and controlled the game with Isaac out,” Bageanis said. “He doesn’t say much, but he lets his actions speak for him.”
Perez was named Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match for his effort in leading an attack that always aims to move the ball around the pitch. Senior captain and forward Tinoco was not surprised that Perez rose to the occasion Tuesday.
“When somebody’s out, somebody else has to step in and it can be anybody, really,” Tinoco said. “After a while we were getting to know each other more and getting a feel for how each other plays. Everything’s going great so far, and we just have to hustle a little bit more. This game was a little bit sloppy at times but other than that, we played fine.”
Morton went up 1-0 on a penalty kick from Perez at 15 minutes and led 2-0 at halftime after Jairo Samudio took a ball deep on the right side in transition and sent a low cross across the box. Iniguez was there to finish from 12 yards. Leyden’s best chance to score in the first half came when senior forward Lalo Hernandez turned the corner near the endline on the right side and sent a ball across the goalmouth at 17 minutes, but teammate Alan Vazquez couldn’t quite get an extended foot on it.
Leyden’s Carlos Duarte fired a shot from 20 yards right into the hands of Morton keeper Andres Zamora at 25 minutes, and Leyden keeper David Duwal tipped a Morton shot over the crossbar at 32 minutes and made another save to his left near the post two minutes later.
Morton also sent three free kicks from distance just wide or high of frame in the first half, and at 24 minutes Perez got to the endline on the left side and rolled a ball across the goalmouth that tore past the far post before being cleared out by Leyden.
The first six minutes of the second half put Morton firmly in control. Olvera hit a perfect free kick from 25 yards on the left side that curled to the back netting past Leyden’s second half keeper, Jesus Mancha, at 44 minutes. Two minutes later, Iniguez finished a follow-up shot near the goalmouth after an initial save by Mancha.
Leyden coach Mark Valintis bemoaned the defensive lapses that led to both of Morton’s goals early in the second half. But he knows that those mistakes can happen to players still adapting to varsity soccer.
“(Olvera) hits a fantastic free kick, but we don’t have to have a silly foul there,” Valintis said. “It’s those things that come with inexperience, that you have to learn.”
Inexperienced though they may be, Valintis’ Eagles never hung their heads or stopped fighting. Senior forward Lalo Hernandez blistered a shot from distance at 53 minutes to make it 4-1. Morton's Tinoco got it back at 62 minutes on a long shot with Mancha charging at him at the 18.
Leyden's Hernandez converted a penalty kick one minute later after being tripped in the box to finish the day’s scoring.
Leyden earned a 2-1 edge in scoring during the game’s final 30 minutes.
“Even though we don’t always do the right thing, and we make mental mistakes, the best thing about every single one of our guys is that they don’t stop competing,” Valintis said. “We might do dumb things, but we don’t quit. And that’s an encouraging thing to see from a young team.”
Hernandez was a force to be reckoned with all day against the Morton defense. Afterwards, Hernandez pointed to inconsistent intensity as a problem that the Eagles need to fix moving forward.
As a senior and a team leader, Hernandez also has a message for the younger Eagles still learning what it takes to win at the varsity level.
“When the effort is there, we play amazing. But so far we’re inconsistent,” Hernandez said. “I tell them that I don’t want them to regret anything from their high school season, because it goes by fast. Before they know it they’ll be seniors playing in their last games, so I don’t want them to have any regrets.”
Valintis hopes a tough early schedule has shown his boys that they’ll need to play more intense, physical soccer moving forward. The veteran Leyden coach got fine performances from a bevy of players on Tuesday.
“(Hernandez) was outstanding today, I thought (Matt) Espinoza and Jesus (Recendez) played great (defensively), and (defender) Dennis Arreaza has been a great leader for us,” Valintis said. “Pablo Mancha is a freshman outside midfielder, and I thought he had the best game of his varsity career tonight. I also thought both of my goalies played well. None of the goals we gave up were their fault, and they probably kept out another three or four goals.”
Bageanis left Leyden’s home field pleased with his side’s play.
“Overall, we played quick. We weren’t holding the ball too much; we were moving the ball and trying to get a flow going,” Bageanis said. “I was happy with that part of our game today.
“We had some guys that had to step up in some positions and I thought we played really well. Ramario came off the bench and scored two goals, Jesus Perez had another solid game for us, and Jairo Samudio played a good game on the outside today.”
Bageanis wants to see more consistent marking up in back “but we’ve been getting better as we’ve been going along,” he said, “so I’ve got to give them that. I thought
Saul Juarez did a good job for us in back today in his first game at sweeper for us.”
Juarez played solidly throughout the win, and he’s enjoying his time anchoring the backline.
“I was coming in anywhere in the back four,” Juarez said. “I like playing sweeper. It’s more of a challenge, and I get to cover my teammates. We have a great team. I think every one of our players are quality.”
Starting lineups
Leyden
GK David Duwal
D Jesus Recendez
D Matt Espinoza
D Max Haruk
D Dennis Arreaza
M German Hernandez
M Alan Vazquez
M Jakub Dabek
M Pablo Mancha
F Lalo Hernandez
F Polo Lopez
Morton
GK Andres Zamora
D Saul Juarez
D Juan Hernandez
D Anarbol Barajas
D Andre Olvera
M Uriel Sotelo
M Christian Perez
M Miguel Castro
M Jesus Perez
F German Tinoco
F Edwin Zizumbo
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Christian Perez, so., MF, Morton
Scoring summary
First half
Morton: Perez (PK) 15 minutes
Morton: Iniguez (Samudio) 22 minutes
Second Half
Morton: Olvera (FK) 44 minutes
Morton: Iniguez (UA) 46 minutes
Leyden: Hernandez (UA) 53 minutes
Morton: Tinoco (UA) 62 minutes
Leyden: Hernandez (PK) 63 minutes
Mustangs build 4-0 lead, roll to 5-2 West Suburban Gold win
By Gary Larsen
NORTHLAKE -- Conference rivals Morton and Leyden are in different places at this early point of the 2018 season. Morton is ranked fourth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, while Leyden’s annually solid program is negotiating some growing pains.
Still, while Morton won 5-2 in Tuesday’s West Suburban Conference Gold Division game, the win didn’t come easy. And Morton coach Jim Bageanis knew it wouldn’t.
“It’s always going to be a tough game,” he said.
Morton (3-1-1, 1-0-0) led 2-0 at halftime and 4-0 in the second half before Leyden (2-5-1, 0-1-0) got its first goal. Ramario Iniguez led the way with two goals for the Mustangs, who got one goal apiece from German Tinoco, Jesus Perez and Andre Olvera.
Despite playing without injured starting center mid Isaac Carnalla, Morton found another engine to propel its attack.
“Christian Perez did a great job of that in the middle for us today. He stepped up, took that position, and controlled the game with Isaac out,” Bageanis said. “He doesn’t say much, but he lets his actions speak for him.”
Perez was named Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match for his effort in leading an attack that always aims to move the ball around the pitch. Senior captain and forward Tinoco was not surprised that Perez rose to the occasion Tuesday.
“When somebody’s out, somebody else has to step in and it can be anybody, really,” Tinoco said. “After a while we were getting to know each other more and getting a feel for how each other plays. Everything’s going great so far, and we just have to hustle a little bit more. This game was a little bit sloppy at times but other than that, we played fine.”
Morton went up 1-0 on a penalty kick from Perez at 15 minutes and led 2-0 at halftime after Jairo Samudio took a ball deep on the right side in transition and sent a low cross across the box. Iniguez was there to finish from 12 yards. Leyden’s best chance to score in the first half came when senior forward Lalo Hernandez turned the corner near the endline on the right side and sent a ball across the goalmouth at 17 minutes, but teammate Alan Vazquez couldn’t quite get an extended foot on it.
Leyden’s Carlos Duarte fired a shot from 20 yards right into the hands of Morton keeper Andres Zamora at 25 minutes, and Leyden keeper David Duwal tipped a Morton shot over the crossbar at 32 minutes and made another save to his left near the post two minutes later.
Morton also sent three free kicks from distance just wide or high of frame in the first half, and at 24 minutes Perez got to the endline on the left side and rolled a ball across the goalmouth that tore past the far post before being cleared out by Leyden.
The first six minutes of the second half put Morton firmly in control. Olvera hit a perfect free kick from 25 yards on the left side that curled to the back netting past Leyden’s second half keeper, Jesus Mancha, at 44 minutes. Two minutes later, Iniguez finished a follow-up shot near the goalmouth after an initial save by Mancha.
Leyden coach Mark Valintis bemoaned the defensive lapses that led to both of Morton’s goals early in the second half. But he knows that those mistakes can happen to players still adapting to varsity soccer.
“(Olvera) hits a fantastic free kick, but we don’t have to have a silly foul there,” Valintis said. “It’s those things that come with inexperience, that you have to learn.”
Inexperienced though they may be, Valintis’ Eagles never hung their heads or stopped fighting. Senior forward Lalo Hernandez blistered a shot from distance at 53 minutes to make it 4-1. Morton's Tinoco got it back at 62 minutes on a long shot with Mancha charging at him at the 18.
Leyden's Hernandez converted a penalty kick one minute later after being tripped in the box to finish the day’s scoring.
Leyden earned a 2-1 edge in scoring during the game’s final 30 minutes.
“Even though we don’t always do the right thing, and we make mental mistakes, the best thing about every single one of our guys is that they don’t stop competing,” Valintis said. “We might do dumb things, but we don’t quit. And that’s an encouraging thing to see from a young team.”
Hernandez was a force to be reckoned with all day against the Morton defense. Afterwards, Hernandez pointed to inconsistent intensity as a problem that the Eagles need to fix moving forward.
As a senior and a team leader, Hernandez also has a message for the younger Eagles still learning what it takes to win at the varsity level.
“When the effort is there, we play amazing. But so far we’re inconsistent,” Hernandez said. “I tell them that I don’t want them to regret anything from their high school season, because it goes by fast. Before they know it they’ll be seniors playing in their last games, so I don’t want them to have any regrets.”
Valintis hopes a tough early schedule has shown his boys that they’ll need to play more intense, physical soccer moving forward. The veteran Leyden coach got fine performances from a bevy of players on Tuesday.
“(Hernandez) was outstanding today, I thought (Matt) Espinoza and Jesus (Recendez) played great (defensively), and (defender) Dennis Arreaza has been a great leader for us,” Valintis said. “Pablo Mancha is a freshman outside midfielder, and I thought he had the best game of his varsity career tonight. I also thought both of my goalies played well. None of the goals we gave up were their fault, and they probably kept out another three or four goals.”
Bageanis left Leyden’s home field pleased with his side’s play.
“Overall, we played quick. We weren’t holding the ball too much; we were moving the ball and trying to get a flow going,” Bageanis said. “I was happy with that part of our game today.
“We had some guys that had to step up in some positions and I thought we played really well. Ramario came off the bench and scored two goals, Jesus Perez had another solid game for us, and Jairo Samudio played a good game on the outside today.”
Bageanis wants to see more consistent marking up in back “but we’ve been getting better as we’ve been going along,” he said, “so I’ve got to give them that. I thought
Saul Juarez did a good job for us in back today in his first game at sweeper for us.”
Juarez played solidly throughout the win, and he’s enjoying his time anchoring the backline.
“I was coming in anywhere in the back four,” Juarez said. “I like playing sweeper. It’s more of a challenge, and I get to cover my teammates. We have a great team. I think every one of our players are quality.”
Starting lineups
Leyden
GK David Duwal
D Jesus Recendez
D Matt Espinoza
D Max Haruk
D Dennis Arreaza
M German Hernandez
M Alan Vazquez
M Jakub Dabek
M Pablo Mancha
F Lalo Hernandez
F Polo Lopez
Morton
GK Andres Zamora
D Saul Juarez
D Juan Hernandez
D Anarbol Barajas
D Andre Olvera
M Uriel Sotelo
M Christian Perez
M Miguel Castro
M Jesus Perez
F German Tinoco
F Edwin Zizumbo
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Christian Perez, so., MF, Morton
Scoring summary
First half
Morton: Perez (PK) 15 minutes
Morton: Iniguez (Samudio) 22 minutes
Second Half
Morton: Olvera (FK) 44 minutes
Morton: Iniguez (UA) 46 minutes
Leyden: Hernandez (UA) 53 minutes
Morton: Tinoco (UA) 62 minutes
Leyden: Hernandez (PK) 63 minutes