Quick Naperville C. goal
not enough against Morton
Duran goal, assist power no. 5 Mustangs
to impressive win over no. 15 Redhawks
By Patrick Z. McGavin
BERWYN -- Morton's Baltazar Duran is one of the best high school soccer players in the country. As a freshman, the midfielder earned the prestigious Sueño MLS prize, a national talent search for the best amateur Hispanic player in the country.
He converts his passion into a kind of poetry.
“When you love soccer, you just want to show people why you love it and why you spend every free moment playing,” Duran said.
But even with the best player on the pitch, the Mustangs were stunned at the start of the match by a brilliant Naperville Central goal by star midfielder Nate Zain off a counter in the second minute. Morton denied Naperville Central the psychological advantage of the quick goal and dialed up its own pressure.
In the team’s first game under new coach Jim Bageanis, Morton showcased its breathtaking precision attack, passing and unselfish play as Duran led the Morton rally with a goal and an assist as the no. 5 Mustangs defeated the no. 15 Redhawks 4-1 on Monday night.
Former Morton coach Mike Caruso went 295-41-18 in 13 years at the helm of the Mustangs’ program, highlighted by the 1-0 overtime victory over the Redhawks in the Class 3A state championship in 2011. Caruso relinquished his coaching duties to spend more time with his young son.
Bageanis and Caruso alternated roles with the boys and girls programs. Caruso coached the boys, with Bageanis assisting, and Bageanis directed the girls with Caruso assisting.
So the Mustangs have a new head coach, but the same awesome roster of players.
“I can’t say anything bad about them,” Naperville Central defender Rokas Stadalninkas said. “They are a great team.”
The Redhawks (0-1-0) saw the game as a test of their own abilities and an early gauge of their own skill level, talent and abilities.
“Morton is a very talented team, and that is why we schedule them, early like this, to find out where we are,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. “I think if you look around the state, good teams are scheduling against strong teams early to challenge you, push you and find out where you are.”
The Redhawks realized the Mustangs’ aggressive style made the hosts susceptible to the counter. Morton generated early pressure and Naperville Central capitalized by redirecting a ball from the back that senior forward Ryan Coleman wove into the Mustangs’ interior before slotting a ball to an advancing Zain on the right wing.
Zain delivered a beautiful one-touch from about 12 yards out for an opening goal just 1:21 into the season.
“Early on we saw that they typically kept three guys back and the rest of the guys they pushed forward,” Stadalninkas said. “We knew if we could get the ball quickly from the back and have everybody turn upfield they only had three guys back and we are playing a two forward [formation], and we could get an advantage and work into that.
“The game turned around really fast.”
Morton's Duran is just 5-foot-6, but he is liquid quick and able to get through multiple defenders. The Mustangs (1-0-0) move the ball sharply from side to side. Dazed by the opening goal, Morton quickly recovered. The strength of the Mustangs’ attack is its center, where they deploy four midfielders. Duran is the orchestrator. He puts extraordinary pressure against a defense.
Naperville Central senior keeper Ron Marchionna played extraordinarily well through the opening 20 minutes. He made seven standout saves in the first half, denying a breakaway by Duran with a brilliant foot save and leaping for a spectacular diving stop of Jaime Gaytan in the 18th minute.
After the Redhawks’ goal, Morton monopolized possession and quality time. They generated seven first half corner kick opportunities. Naperville Central had only one corner kick in the 67th minute.
“It is the first game of the season, and there are always new players and teams,” Duran said. “That is how it is with high school. You never have the same team every year. The first game of the year, we expected something like that. We never put our head down. As soon as that happened we knew we had the whole game to come back.”
In the 19th minute, Duran finally broke through weaving through the Naperville Central backline as he smashed a left-footed ball from the right wing from about 13 yards.
Duran earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his play.
“We have to be better defensively with our work rate, and we have to be better with our communication,” Adams said. “We have to be better with one-on-one defending. Everything bad that happened was one of those three issues. Against good teams you are going to get exposed if you keep making the same mistakes we made.
Morton seized control with three goals in the first 35 minutes of the game. Under constant assault, Marchionna blocked a short volley by Morton midfielder Isaac Carnalla but was unable to get the clearance and freshman forward Jesus Perez broke in for the rebound ball in the 25th minute.
Marchionna had success early leaving the box to challenge Morton’s shooters. But in the 35th minute, Duran worked the ball on the right edge and slotted a pass to senior forward Droyvin Lara. This time, Lara made a quick sideway move that forced Marchionna out of position, and he drilled home a short ball for the commanding 3-1 lead at the break.
“Seeing them score in the second minute like they did made us work harder and try to get the win,” Lara said. “That move I made there, with the keeper, I used to do that a lot in games and the opportunity was there. We have amazing coaches who know how to manage a team and know how to control it. They know what they are doing.”
Adams anticipated his defense was a team strength. The Morton game marked an aberration in that regard.
“It’s hard, you have the summer, but not everybody is there,” he said. “You have tryouts, and then you have basically a week and two days to get ready for the first game. You are never ready. It has always been a work in progress. We have a lot of guys back, but not always in the spots they were in. There is a lot of work to be done.”
Naperville Central showed grit and a competitive desire. The Redhawks had an apparent second goal on a free kick just outside the box by Zack Kokes in the 38th minute that was stopped by a superb diving play by Morton keeper Andres Zamora.
The Redhawks had some other sharp moments. Defender Jimmy Kalkofen was terrific in pushing the ball from the back to start the offense, connecting especially well with Coleman. Zain and Kokes are special talents, especially in space.
“Honestly it is a real learning experience from here on,” Stadalninkas said. “Our coach told us it’s not a positive result, but the things we can learn from this game could take us in a positive direction. That is really all we are hoping for until the next game.”
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK: Ron Marchionna
D: Jimmy Kalkofen
D: Tanner Greenhagen
D: Rokas Stadalninkas
D: Cameron Stranng
MF: Nico Couropmitree
MF: Owen Jarrell
MF: Nate Zain
MF: Rohan Bhargava
F: Ryan Coleman
F: Zack Kokes
Morton
GK: Andres Zamora
D: Israel Carranza
D: Jose Arrellano
D: Adrian Barrera
D: Jonathan Perez
MF: Jaime Gaytan
MF: Martin Lamas
MF: Droyvin Lara
MF: Baltazar Duran
F: Isaac Carnalla
F: German Tinoco
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Baltazar Duran, Morton, MF, senior
Scoring summary
First half
2nd minute, Naperville Central: Nate Zain (Ryan Coleman assist) 1-0
19th minute, Morton: Baltazar Duran unassisted 1-1
25th minute, Morton: Jesus Perez rebound finish 1-2
35th minute, Morton: Droyvin Lara (Duran) 1-3
Second half
45th minute, Morton: Isaac Carnalla free kick 1-4
not enough against Morton
Duran goal, assist power no. 5 Mustangs
to impressive win over no. 15 Redhawks
By Patrick Z. McGavin
BERWYN -- Morton's Baltazar Duran is one of the best high school soccer players in the country. As a freshman, the midfielder earned the prestigious Sueño MLS prize, a national talent search for the best amateur Hispanic player in the country.
He converts his passion into a kind of poetry.
“When you love soccer, you just want to show people why you love it and why you spend every free moment playing,” Duran said.
But even with the best player on the pitch, the Mustangs were stunned at the start of the match by a brilliant Naperville Central goal by star midfielder Nate Zain off a counter in the second minute. Morton denied Naperville Central the psychological advantage of the quick goal and dialed up its own pressure.
In the team’s first game under new coach Jim Bageanis, Morton showcased its breathtaking precision attack, passing and unselfish play as Duran led the Morton rally with a goal and an assist as the no. 5 Mustangs defeated the no. 15 Redhawks 4-1 on Monday night.
Former Morton coach Mike Caruso went 295-41-18 in 13 years at the helm of the Mustangs’ program, highlighted by the 1-0 overtime victory over the Redhawks in the Class 3A state championship in 2011. Caruso relinquished his coaching duties to spend more time with his young son.
Bageanis and Caruso alternated roles with the boys and girls programs. Caruso coached the boys, with Bageanis assisting, and Bageanis directed the girls with Caruso assisting.
So the Mustangs have a new head coach, but the same awesome roster of players.
“I can’t say anything bad about them,” Naperville Central defender Rokas Stadalninkas said. “They are a great team.”
The Redhawks (0-1-0) saw the game as a test of their own abilities and an early gauge of their own skill level, talent and abilities.
“Morton is a very talented team, and that is why we schedule them, early like this, to find out where we are,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. “I think if you look around the state, good teams are scheduling against strong teams early to challenge you, push you and find out where you are.”
The Redhawks realized the Mustangs’ aggressive style made the hosts susceptible to the counter. Morton generated early pressure and Naperville Central capitalized by redirecting a ball from the back that senior forward Ryan Coleman wove into the Mustangs’ interior before slotting a ball to an advancing Zain on the right wing.
Zain delivered a beautiful one-touch from about 12 yards out for an opening goal just 1:21 into the season.
“Early on we saw that they typically kept three guys back and the rest of the guys they pushed forward,” Stadalninkas said. “We knew if we could get the ball quickly from the back and have everybody turn upfield they only had three guys back and we are playing a two forward [formation], and we could get an advantage and work into that.
“The game turned around really fast.”
Morton's Duran is just 5-foot-6, but he is liquid quick and able to get through multiple defenders. The Mustangs (1-0-0) move the ball sharply from side to side. Dazed by the opening goal, Morton quickly recovered. The strength of the Mustangs’ attack is its center, where they deploy four midfielders. Duran is the orchestrator. He puts extraordinary pressure against a defense.
Naperville Central senior keeper Ron Marchionna played extraordinarily well through the opening 20 minutes. He made seven standout saves in the first half, denying a breakaway by Duran with a brilliant foot save and leaping for a spectacular diving stop of Jaime Gaytan in the 18th minute.
After the Redhawks’ goal, Morton monopolized possession and quality time. They generated seven first half corner kick opportunities. Naperville Central had only one corner kick in the 67th minute.
“It is the first game of the season, and there are always new players and teams,” Duran said. “That is how it is with high school. You never have the same team every year. The first game of the year, we expected something like that. We never put our head down. As soon as that happened we knew we had the whole game to come back.”
In the 19th minute, Duran finally broke through weaving through the Naperville Central backline as he smashed a left-footed ball from the right wing from about 13 yards.
Duran earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his play.
“We have to be better defensively with our work rate, and we have to be better with our communication,” Adams said. “We have to be better with one-on-one defending. Everything bad that happened was one of those three issues. Against good teams you are going to get exposed if you keep making the same mistakes we made.
Morton seized control with three goals in the first 35 minutes of the game. Under constant assault, Marchionna blocked a short volley by Morton midfielder Isaac Carnalla but was unable to get the clearance and freshman forward Jesus Perez broke in for the rebound ball in the 25th minute.
Marchionna had success early leaving the box to challenge Morton’s shooters. But in the 35th minute, Duran worked the ball on the right edge and slotted a pass to senior forward Droyvin Lara. This time, Lara made a quick sideway move that forced Marchionna out of position, and he drilled home a short ball for the commanding 3-1 lead at the break.
“Seeing them score in the second minute like they did made us work harder and try to get the win,” Lara said. “That move I made there, with the keeper, I used to do that a lot in games and the opportunity was there. We have amazing coaches who know how to manage a team and know how to control it. They know what they are doing.”
Adams anticipated his defense was a team strength. The Morton game marked an aberration in that regard.
“It’s hard, you have the summer, but not everybody is there,” he said. “You have tryouts, and then you have basically a week and two days to get ready for the first game. You are never ready. It has always been a work in progress. We have a lot of guys back, but not always in the spots they were in. There is a lot of work to be done.”
Naperville Central showed grit and a competitive desire. The Redhawks had an apparent second goal on a free kick just outside the box by Zack Kokes in the 38th minute that was stopped by a superb diving play by Morton keeper Andres Zamora.
The Redhawks had some other sharp moments. Defender Jimmy Kalkofen was terrific in pushing the ball from the back to start the offense, connecting especially well with Coleman. Zain and Kokes are special talents, especially in space.
“Honestly it is a real learning experience from here on,” Stadalninkas said. “Our coach told us it’s not a positive result, but the things we can learn from this game could take us in a positive direction. That is really all we are hoping for until the next game.”
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK: Ron Marchionna
D: Jimmy Kalkofen
D: Tanner Greenhagen
D: Rokas Stadalninkas
D: Cameron Stranng
MF: Nico Couropmitree
MF: Owen Jarrell
MF: Nate Zain
MF: Rohan Bhargava
F: Ryan Coleman
F: Zack Kokes
Morton
GK: Andres Zamora
D: Israel Carranza
D: Jose Arrellano
D: Adrian Barrera
D: Jonathan Perez
MF: Jaime Gaytan
MF: Martin Lamas
MF: Droyvin Lara
MF: Baltazar Duran
F: Isaac Carnalla
F: German Tinoco
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Baltazar Duran, Morton, MF, senior
Scoring summary
First half
2nd minute, Naperville Central: Nate Zain (Ryan Coleman assist) 1-0
19th minute, Morton: Baltazar Duran unassisted 1-1
25th minute, Morton: Jesus Perez rebound finish 1-2
35th minute, Morton: Droyvin Lara (Duran) 1-3
Second half
45th minute, Morton: Isaac Carnalla free kick 1-4