West Chicago upends Morton for state title
Late goals give Wildcats 2-0 win, 1st state soccer championship
By Matt Le Cren
HOFFMAN ESTATES – Moises Morfin grasped the state championship trophy in disbelief.
He scanned the crowd estimated at nearly 6,000 people and shook his head in wonder, not only at the sea of fans but at the excitement he and his West Chicago teammates created Saturday night.
Morfin and Jahir Martinez scored goals late in the second half and goalkeeper David Kuehn made seven saves to record the shutout as the Wildcats, ranked eighth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, stunned no. 1 Morton 2-0 to win the Class 3A state title.
It was a monumental achievement for a team that hadn’t posted a winning record since 2012 and had never advanced past the supersectional round before.
“It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” Morfin said. “It’s just something crazy.
“We did it for our town, and we did it for ourselves. We talked about it since Day 1 and look at us now – it’s a state title.”
It was a victory few, if any, outside the team could have predicted after the Wildcats went 8-11-5 in 2018. They did have two players – Martinez and Ben Suddeth – return from club, but that alone can’t explain their rise.
“This group of players has the most team-first mentality of any team I’ve been a part of,” said Kuehn, a junior in his first season on varsity. “The bond between every single player is unbelievably strong, and I feel like that’s what has been the difference that’s carried us to this championship.”
From the opening match of the season, when West Chicago snapped then no. 1 Naperville North’s state-record 45-game winning streak with a 2-2 tie, the Wildcats were confident they could do big things. That confidence continued to grow throughout the season.
It eventually produced a 24-2-3 record, the best in school history, and the wins kept coming even as their reputation grew.
“Everybody had the mentality since Day 1,” Morfin said. “Everybody was ready. Everybody was hungry, and we achieved it.”
They did it as a band of brothers who have known each other since childhood and who are unselfish to a fault. Morfin will forever be known for scoring the game-winning goal in the final, but said that isn’t what matters to him.
“I just dreamed about winning with my team, not scoring,” Morfin said. “It doesn’t matter who scores on our team as long as we win. We got that championship.
“Our team is like a family. We grew up together, and now we’re playing together.”
With that familiarity eventually came a sense of destiny tinged with determination.
“Every game we just wanted to show how good we were,” Martinez said. “Knowing we were a target; we just wanted to win and win and win. That’s how we built our confidence; we started winning games.”
Morfin’s breakthrough came with 12:49 remaining in the second half of a game in which Morton had the better of the run of the play for the first 60 minutes. The Mustangs (23-3-3) seemed to tire down the stretch and gave Morfin and his teammates more room to roam in the midfield.
That proved costly.
“We let (Morfin) get free a couple times,” Morton coach Jim Bageanis said. “He’s a dangerous player.
“We let him get a little free there, and he made us pay for the first goal. After that we were trying to push up and play catch-up.”
Martinez got the assist on Morfin’s goal, dribbling into the space and quickly finding Morfin racing up the right wing.
Morton had two defenders back on that side and appeared to have Morfin contained, but the senior made a couple of nifty hesitation moves to elude both and then sent a 12-yard shot inside the far post.
“Jahir gave me the ball,” Morfin said. “I was out wide.
“I dribbled in and I saw their left back coming at me. I did the bicycle and went to the left and he dove for it.
“The other center back was coming at me. I presented like I was going to shoot, I went back to my left, then back to my right and the goalie was already on the ground, so I knew it was an easy task. And I just went crazy after we scored.”
It was a brilliant individual effort that stunned the Mustangs, who were favored to win their second state title since 2011 after they eliminated three-time defending champion Naperville North on penalty kicks in the supersectional before knocking off St. Patrick 4-2 in Friday’s semifinals.
And it wasn’t the last such play. Martinez delivered the backbreaker at the 8:03 mark when he took a short pass from Diego Cortes and ripped a 15-yard shot into the upper right corner of the net for a 2-0 lead.
“That first half we were a little bit sloppy and we couldn’t actually find our 10,” Martinez said. “After the first half was over, we talked about it, and they decided to put me at the 10.
“The game changed because (assistant) coach Dorian (Carrasco) was telling me to shelter the ball and to support. That’s how we demolished them.”
Indeed, the dreams of a Morton team that featured creative talents like Edwin Zizumbo, Cristian Perez and Jesus Perez, defensive stalwart Saul Juarez and a solid keeper in Andres Calderon came crashing down.
“They came out of nowhere, basically,” Calderon said of West Chicago’s goals. “We tried holding them off as much as we could and at the end we let up.
That relegated the Mustangs to lifting the second place trophy. It is the program’s fifth state trophy and second runner-up finish, joining the 1973 Morton East squad that lost to Harrison in the final.
“Second place is not bad at all,” Calderon said. “But we would have wanted to come out on top.”
The Mustangs might have prevailed had they finished their scoring chances earlier in the game, but Kuehn was outstanding.
In the first half, he dove to knock a bullet from Julian Vargas around the right post at the 25:30 mark and made two other easier saves. Morton also missed several long shots, including a one-timer by Adrian Salto that skittered wide of the left post with 17 minutes left.
“We needed to finish in the first half,” Bageanis said. “If we had got a first goal there it might have been different.
“I thought we had four or five quality chances and if you don’t come through on those in these types of game, they will make you pay.”
The chances continued early in the second half but Kuehn again rose to the challenge. Zizumbo got around the left side of the defense and fired from close range, but Kuehn deflected the ball off the left post.
That led to a scramble in the 6 and Jesus Perez’s rebound shot was smothered by the West Chicago keeper.
“The most important thing for me was just to do what I could, do everything in my power to keep my team in the game,” Kuehn said. “At the end of the day, I was able to come up with some saves that definitely kept us in it and eventually Moises and Jahir came up with a big goal and Jahir followed it up.
“I’m very proud of our team, and I’d just like to thank our fans because obviously none of us could have done it without them.”
Indeed, both teams credited their fans with contributing to a tremendous atmosphere. The stands on both sides of the stadium were filled and fans stood three deep around the fence.
The start of the game was delayed about 15 minutes to accommodate all the people waiting in line.
“Unbelievable,” Kuehn said. “I want to reach out to the community and say ‘Thank you, we never would have gotten this far without you. The way West Chicago has rallied around us has been unbelievable, and we are unbelievably proud to be able to bring this championship to celebrate with you guys.’”
Even the defeated team was amazed by playing in front of such a large crowd.
“It’s an unbelievable experience,” Calderon said. “It was great.
“Man, a lot of people, a lot of cheers, a lot of people supporting and a lot of people against you, but it’s great.”
As much as Morton is known for being a soccer powerhouse that plays with great style and skill, West Chicago was a sentimental favorite of many. The school is not known for its athletics.
This title was just the school's second in any sport. The other came in football in 1974, the first year of the state football playoffs. The only other time West Chicago team even advanced to state in a team sport was 2001, when the boys volleyball team finished fourth.
“It feels good to make history in our town,” Martinez said. “It’s an amazing feeling.”
The memory will last a lifetime.
“I’m so unbelievably happy to be able to accomplish this with my varsity teammates,” Kuehn said. “They’re going to be brothers for life now, and that’s something we’ll be able to cherish forever.
“All these guys are my family, and we couldn’t have gotten this far without this team bond.”
That bond extended to the coaching staff. Five of the six West Chicago coaches are West Chicago graduates, including head man Jose Villa, a 2006 alum who just completed his eighth season at the helm.
“It’s hard to put into words,” Villa said. “I think when the game was over there were some tears and some yelling and screaming and excitement and then (we wanted to) go hug our boys and celebrate with the family.
“Coaching here means a lot to all of us. It’s where we wore this jersey. You get a little more invested in it knowing what it was like playing for this school and growing up in the community.
“All the way around, it’s awesome having grown up there and being able to work there and live there. I’m proud of being from West Chicago and to still be there. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Villa made a point to extend kudos to Morton.
"High fives to the Morton players, who were amazing today, too,” he said.
Bageanis agreed.
“The kids played their hearts out,” Bageanis said. “They have nothing to be ashamed of.
“We did almost everything we had to do. A tough loss at the end of the year to end it on, but overall it was a very successful season.”
Starting lineups
Morton
G- Andres Calderon
D- Juan Hernandez
D- Saul Juarez
D- Juan Ramirez
MF- Adrian Salto
M- Uriel Sotelo
M- Edwin Zizumbo
M- Cristian Perez
M- Jesus Perez
F- Giovanni Alvarez
F- Julian Vargas
West Chicago
G- David Kuehn
D- Alejandro Cadena
D- Lukas Stary
D- Ben Suddeth
D- Alexis Arroyo
M- Tristan Alfaro
M- Jahir Martinez
M- Brayam Barrios
M-Jessie Hernandez
F- Moises Morfin
F- Brian Nieves
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Moises Morfin, sr., F, West Chicago
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
West Chicago – Moises Morfin (Jahir Martinez) 12:49
West Chicago – Martinez (Diego Cortes) 8:03
Late goals give Wildcats 2-0 win, 1st state soccer championship
By Matt Le Cren
HOFFMAN ESTATES – Moises Morfin grasped the state championship trophy in disbelief.
He scanned the crowd estimated at nearly 6,000 people and shook his head in wonder, not only at the sea of fans but at the excitement he and his West Chicago teammates created Saturday night.
Morfin and Jahir Martinez scored goals late in the second half and goalkeeper David Kuehn made seven saves to record the shutout as the Wildcats, ranked eighth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, stunned no. 1 Morton 2-0 to win the Class 3A state title.
It was a monumental achievement for a team that hadn’t posted a winning record since 2012 and had never advanced past the supersectional round before.
“It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” Morfin said. “It’s just something crazy.
“We did it for our town, and we did it for ourselves. We talked about it since Day 1 and look at us now – it’s a state title.”
It was a victory few, if any, outside the team could have predicted after the Wildcats went 8-11-5 in 2018. They did have two players – Martinez and Ben Suddeth – return from club, but that alone can’t explain their rise.
“This group of players has the most team-first mentality of any team I’ve been a part of,” said Kuehn, a junior in his first season on varsity. “The bond between every single player is unbelievably strong, and I feel like that’s what has been the difference that’s carried us to this championship.”
From the opening match of the season, when West Chicago snapped then no. 1 Naperville North’s state-record 45-game winning streak with a 2-2 tie, the Wildcats were confident they could do big things. That confidence continued to grow throughout the season.
It eventually produced a 24-2-3 record, the best in school history, and the wins kept coming even as their reputation grew.
“Everybody had the mentality since Day 1,” Morfin said. “Everybody was ready. Everybody was hungry, and we achieved it.”
They did it as a band of brothers who have known each other since childhood and who are unselfish to a fault. Morfin will forever be known for scoring the game-winning goal in the final, but said that isn’t what matters to him.
“I just dreamed about winning with my team, not scoring,” Morfin said. “It doesn’t matter who scores on our team as long as we win. We got that championship.
“Our team is like a family. We grew up together, and now we’re playing together.”
With that familiarity eventually came a sense of destiny tinged with determination.
“Every game we just wanted to show how good we were,” Martinez said. “Knowing we were a target; we just wanted to win and win and win. That’s how we built our confidence; we started winning games.”
Morfin’s breakthrough came with 12:49 remaining in the second half of a game in which Morton had the better of the run of the play for the first 60 minutes. The Mustangs (23-3-3) seemed to tire down the stretch and gave Morfin and his teammates more room to roam in the midfield.
That proved costly.
“We let (Morfin) get free a couple times,” Morton coach Jim Bageanis said. “He’s a dangerous player.
“We let him get a little free there, and he made us pay for the first goal. After that we were trying to push up and play catch-up.”
Martinez got the assist on Morfin’s goal, dribbling into the space and quickly finding Morfin racing up the right wing.
Morton had two defenders back on that side and appeared to have Morfin contained, but the senior made a couple of nifty hesitation moves to elude both and then sent a 12-yard shot inside the far post.
“Jahir gave me the ball,” Morfin said. “I was out wide.
“I dribbled in and I saw their left back coming at me. I did the bicycle and went to the left and he dove for it.
“The other center back was coming at me. I presented like I was going to shoot, I went back to my left, then back to my right and the goalie was already on the ground, so I knew it was an easy task. And I just went crazy after we scored.”
It was a brilliant individual effort that stunned the Mustangs, who were favored to win their second state title since 2011 after they eliminated three-time defending champion Naperville North on penalty kicks in the supersectional before knocking off St. Patrick 4-2 in Friday’s semifinals.
And it wasn’t the last such play. Martinez delivered the backbreaker at the 8:03 mark when he took a short pass from Diego Cortes and ripped a 15-yard shot into the upper right corner of the net for a 2-0 lead.
“That first half we were a little bit sloppy and we couldn’t actually find our 10,” Martinez said. “After the first half was over, we talked about it, and they decided to put me at the 10.
“The game changed because (assistant) coach Dorian (Carrasco) was telling me to shelter the ball and to support. That’s how we demolished them.”
Indeed, the dreams of a Morton team that featured creative talents like Edwin Zizumbo, Cristian Perez and Jesus Perez, defensive stalwart Saul Juarez and a solid keeper in Andres Calderon came crashing down.
“They came out of nowhere, basically,” Calderon said of West Chicago’s goals. “We tried holding them off as much as we could and at the end we let up.
That relegated the Mustangs to lifting the second place trophy. It is the program’s fifth state trophy and second runner-up finish, joining the 1973 Morton East squad that lost to Harrison in the final.
“Second place is not bad at all,” Calderon said. “But we would have wanted to come out on top.”
The Mustangs might have prevailed had they finished their scoring chances earlier in the game, but Kuehn was outstanding.
In the first half, he dove to knock a bullet from Julian Vargas around the right post at the 25:30 mark and made two other easier saves. Morton also missed several long shots, including a one-timer by Adrian Salto that skittered wide of the left post with 17 minutes left.
“We needed to finish in the first half,” Bageanis said. “If we had got a first goal there it might have been different.
“I thought we had four or five quality chances and if you don’t come through on those in these types of game, they will make you pay.”
The chances continued early in the second half but Kuehn again rose to the challenge. Zizumbo got around the left side of the defense and fired from close range, but Kuehn deflected the ball off the left post.
That led to a scramble in the 6 and Jesus Perez’s rebound shot was smothered by the West Chicago keeper.
“The most important thing for me was just to do what I could, do everything in my power to keep my team in the game,” Kuehn said. “At the end of the day, I was able to come up with some saves that definitely kept us in it and eventually Moises and Jahir came up with a big goal and Jahir followed it up.
“I’m very proud of our team, and I’d just like to thank our fans because obviously none of us could have done it without them.”
Indeed, both teams credited their fans with contributing to a tremendous atmosphere. The stands on both sides of the stadium were filled and fans stood three deep around the fence.
The start of the game was delayed about 15 minutes to accommodate all the people waiting in line.
“Unbelievable,” Kuehn said. “I want to reach out to the community and say ‘Thank you, we never would have gotten this far without you. The way West Chicago has rallied around us has been unbelievable, and we are unbelievably proud to be able to bring this championship to celebrate with you guys.’”
Even the defeated team was amazed by playing in front of such a large crowd.
“It’s an unbelievable experience,” Calderon said. “It was great.
“Man, a lot of people, a lot of cheers, a lot of people supporting and a lot of people against you, but it’s great.”
As much as Morton is known for being a soccer powerhouse that plays with great style and skill, West Chicago was a sentimental favorite of many. The school is not known for its athletics.
This title was just the school's second in any sport. The other came in football in 1974, the first year of the state football playoffs. The only other time West Chicago team even advanced to state in a team sport was 2001, when the boys volleyball team finished fourth.
“It feels good to make history in our town,” Martinez said. “It’s an amazing feeling.”
The memory will last a lifetime.
“I’m so unbelievably happy to be able to accomplish this with my varsity teammates,” Kuehn said. “They’re going to be brothers for life now, and that’s something we’ll be able to cherish forever.
“All these guys are my family, and we couldn’t have gotten this far without this team bond.”
That bond extended to the coaching staff. Five of the six West Chicago coaches are West Chicago graduates, including head man Jose Villa, a 2006 alum who just completed his eighth season at the helm.
“It’s hard to put into words,” Villa said. “I think when the game was over there were some tears and some yelling and screaming and excitement and then (we wanted to) go hug our boys and celebrate with the family.
“Coaching here means a lot to all of us. It’s where we wore this jersey. You get a little more invested in it knowing what it was like playing for this school and growing up in the community.
“All the way around, it’s awesome having grown up there and being able to work there and live there. I’m proud of being from West Chicago and to still be there. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Villa made a point to extend kudos to Morton.
"High fives to the Morton players, who were amazing today, too,” he said.
Bageanis agreed.
“The kids played their hearts out,” Bageanis said. “They have nothing to be ashamed of.
“We did almost everything we had to do. A tough loss at the end of the year to end it on, but overall it was a very successful season.”
Starting lineups
Morton
G- Andres Calderon
D- Juan Hernandez
D- Saul Juarez
D- Juan Ramirez
MF- Adrian Salto
M- Uriel Sotelo
M- Edwin Zizumbo
M- Cristian Perez
M- Jesus Perez
F- Giovanni Alvarez
F- Julian Vargas
West Chicago
G- David Kuehn
D- Alejandro Cadena
D- Lukas Stary
D- Ben Suddeth
D- Alexis Arroyo
M- Tristan Alfaro
M- Jahir Martinez
M- Brayam Barrios
M-Jessie Hernandez
F- Moises Morfin
F- Brian Nieves
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Moises Morfin, sr., F, West Chicago
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
West Chicago – Moises Morfin (Jahir Martinez) 12:49
West Chicago – Martinez (Diego Cortes) 8:03