2nd half surge pushes
Lincoln-Way East past Morton
Griffins strike twice, hold on to win Windy City quarterfinal
By Steve Millar
FRANKFORT -- Although her team suffered its first loss of the season Saturday, Morton senior midfielder Esmeralda Bautista left the field feeling encouraged about the way her team is playing.
“This was a big game,” Bautista said. “We won Tuesday, we won again Thursday and (Saturday) was a really good game, too.
“Our first game, we were really nervous, because it was our first time playing together, but we did good. The second game, we played good again and communicated more and more. This game, I think we played even better. I think these next games up, we’ll keep getting better as a team.”
The Mustangs missed some early chances and host Lincoln-Way East scored a pair of second half goals to earn a 2-1 win over Morton in the Windy City Ram Classic quarterfinal.
The Griffins (3-0-0) advanced to take on Andrew in the semifinals of the 32-team tournament, set for Tuesday at Reavis.
“We made a couple changes at halftime,” Lincoln-Way East coach Mike Murphy said. “We needed our forwards to check back to the ball, connect some passes and then we were able to get behind them.
“We were a much better team in the second half.”
Morton coach Jim Bageanis gave the Griffins credit for applying pressure on his back line in the second half.
“We knew they were a good team coming in,” Bageanis said. “They’re a very fundamentally sound team. We hung on in the first half, and we actually had a few good chances. In the second half, we were a little more gassed. We were just trying to keep up with them.”
After a scoreless first half in which both teams came up empty on a few good chances, Lincoln-Way East struck in the first minute of the second half.
Freshman midfielder Kara Waishwell, Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match, scored her first high school goal.
Defender Mia Hedrick tracked the ball down along the sidelines 30 yards from goal and chipped a well-placed pass into the box. Waishwell was there and ripped home a high shot from 10 yards inside the left post.
“Mia Hedrick had a great cross in, and I just looked for where was open. I shot it into the corner,” Waishwell said. “It was nice to score my first goal. Everyone comes up to you cheering so it feels good, and it’s a great team moment.
“All of us are friends so everyone supports you and brings you up.”
Waishwell has fit in well as a freshman who’s cracked the varsity starting lineup right away.
“It’s been really fun because everyone is so nice and supportive,” she said. “There’s a lot of team bonding. We all kind of connect. It was just really easy for us to play together.”
Waishwell nearly had her second goal later in the half, finding the net on a header, but it was waved off on an offsides call.
“Kara’s electric,” Murphy said. “She scored a beautiful goal. She has a lot of speed on the outside. She wants to learn and get better.”
The Griffins made it 2-0 with 20 minutes, 13 seconds left in the game by converting off a corner kick.
Thea Gerfen took the corner kick and her cross found Shae Eggert in the box. Eggert ripped a shot that was blocked, but Bre Herlihy was there to score on the rebound from five yards.
Morton did not go away, though.
The Mustangs had a quality chance in the 58th minute, drawing a foul to set up a free kick from 30 yards. Andrea Aguirre fired just high.
Then, in the 66th minute of the 70-minute game, Lincoln-Way East was called for a handball in the box. Bautista converted with a shot inside the left post to make it 2-1 with 4:35 to go.
“I was really scared,” Bautista said. “I’m not going to lie. Me and the goalie were looking right at each other’s eyes. I heard my teammates saying, ‘Just calm down; , calm down.’ I just focused on the game and did what I had to do.”
Morton did not generate any more scoring chances in the final four minutes and could not find the equalizer, but Bageanis was proud of the way his team kept fighting.
“We gave up that goal right at the beginning of the half, but we didn’t quit,” Bageanis said. “We were playing hard the whole time. We got lucky to get that PK at the end and that made it interesting.”
In the end, though, Morton lamented the opportunities it squandered early.
With sophomore forward Carisma Rosales using her speed to give Lincoln-Way East problems and senior Mayte Gongora generating offense out of the field, the Mustangs put four shots on goal in the first half.
Lincoln-Way East goalkeeper Lindsay Fortier stopped them all.
“The first half we played really good,” Bautista said. “It was 0-0; it was a really good game. Our defense was going good and our forwards and middles too. We were communicating really well.”
Morton did not hesitate to fire shots from far out in the first half as Aguirre put one on goal from 35 yards and later tested Fortier from 40 yards.
Rosales just missed on a couple of good chances. She fired wide on a shot from 25 yards in the ninth minute. In the 21st minute, she broke free down the middle of the field but shot wide from 20 yards.
“We’ve got to take our chances as gold, because we don’t get them very often like that,” Bageanis said. “Carisma had a couple times where she got in, but unfortunately we didn’t put any away. We’ve got to put those on net.
“We played good, though. We’ve been moving the ball. Even though, we lost this game, I think we moved the ball better than we did the first two games.”
Senior goalkeeper Fernanda Sanchez Duran made five saves for Morton. The highlight-reel stop came in the 26th minute.
Lincoln-Way East’s Ellie Feigl sent a long pass ahead to Cami Butler, who split two defenders down the middle of the field and got in alone on Sanchez Duran, who made a diving save.
Morton, which started the season with a pair of 4-0 wins over Joliet West and Tinley Park to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal, will now look to bounce back in a fifth place bracket game against Hinsdale South. It is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Glenbard East.
Bageanis is encouraged by what he has seen so far.
“I like that we’re being creative with the ball,” he said. “We’re able to hold it and create. We’re not just kicking it up forward or just playing long ball. We’re creating our own chances. Defensively, I think we’re getting better every game. We just have to keep improving from week to week.”
Starting lineups
Morton
GK – Fernanda Sanchez Duran
D – Stephanie Quevedo
D – Leslie Jimenez
D – Mya Hernandez
D – Brianna Avalos
MF – Stephanie Salmeron
MF – Andrea Aguirre
MF – Mayte Gongora
MF – Esmeralda Bautista
F – Carisma Rosales
F – Aaliyah Leanos
Lincoln-Way East
GK – Lindsay Fortier
D – Maggie Haverstock
D – Olivia Desjardins
D – Mia Hedrick
D – Brianna Meehan
MF – Kara Waishwell
MF – Brooklyn Mortell
MF – Shae Eggert
MF – Bre Herlihy
F – Cami Butler
F – Madison Dziedzic
Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match: Kara Waishwell, fr., MF, Lincoln-Way East
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Lincoln-Way East: Waishwell (Hedrick), 36th minute
Lincoln-Way East: Herlihy (Eggert), 50th minute
Morton: Bautista (penalty kick), 66th minute
Lincoln-Way East past Morton
Griffins strike twice, hold on to win Windy City quarterfinal
By Steve Millar
FRANKFORT -- Although her team suffered its first loss of the season Saturday, Morton senior midfielder Esmeralda Bautista left the field feeling encouraged about the way her team is playing.
“This was a big game,” Bautista said. “We won Tuesday, we won again Thursday and (Saturday) was a really good game, too.
“Our first game, we were really nervous, because it was our first time playing together, but we did good. The second game, we played good again and communicated more and more. This game, I think we played even better. I think these next games up, we’ll keep getting better as a team.”
The Mustangs missed some early chances and host Lincoln-Way East scored a pair of second half goals to earn a 2-1 win over Morton in the Windy City Ram Classic quarterfinal.
The Griffins (3-0-0) advanced to take on Andrew in the semifinals of the 32-team tournament, set for Tuesday at Reavis.
“We made a couple changes at halftime,” Lincoln-Way East coach Mike Murphy said. “We needed our forwards to check back to the ball, connect some passes and then we were able to get behind them.
“We were a much better team in the second half.”
Morton coach Jim Bageanis gave the Griffins credit for applying pressure on his back line in the second half.
“We knew they were a good team coming in,” Bageanis said. “They’re a very fundamentally sound team. We hung on in the first half, and we actually had a few good chances. In the second half, we were a little more gassed. We were just trying to keep up with them.”
After a scoreless first half in which both teams came up empty on a few good chances, Lincoln-Way East struck in the first minute of the second half.
Freshman midfielder Kara Waishwell, Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match, scored her first high school goal.
Defender Mia Hedrick tracked the ball down along the sidelines 30 yards from goal and chipped a well-placed pass into the box. Waishwell was there and ripped home a high shot from 10 yards inside the left post.
“Mia Hedrick had a great cross in, and I just looked for where was open. I shot it into the corner,” Waishwell said. “It was nice to score my first goal. Everyone comes up to you cheering so it feels good, and it’s a great team moment.
“All of us are friends so everyone supports you and brings you up.”
Waishwell has fit in well as a freshman who’s cracked the varsity starting lineup right away.
“It’s been really fun because everyone is so nice and supportive,” she said. “There’s a lot of team bonding. We all kind of connect. It was just really easy for us to play together.”
Waishwell nearly had her second goal later in the half, finding the net on a header, but it was waved off on an offsides call.
“Kara’s electric,” Murphy said. “She scored a beautiful goal. She has a lot of speed on the outside. She wants to learn and get better.”
The Griffins made it 2-0 with 20 minutes, 13 seconds left in the game by converting off a corner kick.
Thea Gerfen took the corner kick and her cross found Shae Eggert in the box. Eggert ripped a shot that was blocked, but Bre Herlihy was there to score on the rebound from five yards.
Morton did not go away, though.
The Mustangs had a quality chance in the 58th minute, drawing a foul to set up a free kick from 30 yards. Andrea Aguirre fired just high.
Then, in the 66th minute of the 70-minute game, Lincoln-Way East was called for a handball in the box. Bautista converted with a shot inside the left post to make it 2-1 with 4:35 to go.
“I was really scared,” Bautista said. “I’m not going to lie. Me and the goalie were looking right at each other’s eyes. I heard my teammates saying, ‘Just calm down; , calm down.’ I just focused on the game and did what I had to do.”
Morton did not generate any more scoring chances in the final four minutes and could not find the equalizer, but Bageanis was proud of the way his team kept fighting.
“We gave up that goal right at the beginning of the half, but we didn’t quit,” Bageanis said. “We were playing hard the whole time. We got lucky to get that PK at the end and that made it interesting.”
In the end, though, Morton lamented the opportunities it squandered early.
With sophomore forward Carisma Rosales using her speed to give Lincoln-Way East problems and senior Mayte Gongora generating offense out of the field, the Mustangs put four shots on goal in the first half.
Lincoln-Way East goalkeeper Lindsay Fortier stopped them all.
“The first half we played really good,” Bautista said. “It was 0-0; it was a really good game. Our defense was going good and our forwards and middles too. We were communicating really well.”
Morton did not hesitate to fire shots from far out in the first half as Aguirre put one on goal from 35 yards and later tested Fortier from 40 yards.
Rosales just missed on a couple of good chances. She fired wide on a shot from 25 yards in the ninth minute. In the 21st minute, she broke free down the middle of the field but shot wide from 20 yards.
“We’ve got to take our chances as gold, because we don’t get them very often like that,” Bageanis said. “Carisma had a couple times where she got in, but unfortunately we didn’t put any away. We’ve got to put those on net.
“We played good, though. We’ve been moving the ball. Even though, we lost this game, I think we moved the ball better than we did the first two games.”
Senior goalkeeper Fernanda Sanchez Duran made five saves for Morton. The highlight-reel stop came in the 26th minute.
Lincoln-Way East’s Ellie Feigl sent a long pass ahead to Cami Butler, who split two defenders down the middle of the field and got in alone on Sanchez Duran, who made a diving save.
Morton, which started the season with a pair of 4-0 wins over Joliet West and Tinley Park to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal, will now look to bounce back in a fifth place bracket game against Hinsdale South. It is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Glenbard East.
Bageanis is encouraged by what he has seen so far.
“I like that we’re being creative with the ball,” he said. “We’re able to hold it and create. We’re not just kicking it up forward or just playing long ball. We’re creating our own chances. Defensively, I think we’re getting better every game. We just have to keep improving from week to week.”
Starting lineups
Morton
GK – Fernanda Sanchez Duran
D – Stephanie Quevedo
D – Leslie Jimenez
D – Mya Hernandez
D – Brianna Avalos
MF – Stephanie Salmeron
MF – Andrea Aguirre
MF – Mayte Gongora
MF – Esmeralda Bautista
F – Carisma Rosales
F – Aaliyah Leanos
Lincoln-Way East
GK – Lindsay Fortier
D – Maggie Haverstock
D – Olivia Desjardins
D – Mia Hedrick
D – Brianna Meehan
MF – Kara Waishwell
MF – Brooklyn Mortell
MF – Shae Eggert
MF – Bre Herlihy
F – Cami Butler
F – Madison Dziedzic
Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match: Kara Waishwell, fr., MF, Lincoln-Way East
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Lincoln-Way East: Waishwell (Hedrick), 36th minute
Lincoln-Way East: Herlihy (Eggert), 50th minute
Morton: Bautista (penalty kick), 66th minute