Morton snaps Naperville North’s
47-game unbeaten streak
Perez, Iniguez score; Mustangs hand Huskies 1st loss since 2017
By Matt Le Cren
BERWYN – Naperville North’s amazing unbeaten streak had to end sometime.
What better time, Romario Iniguez thought, than now?
Iniguez scored on a rebound with 13:13 remaining to lift host Morton (1-0-2) to a 2-1 nonconference victory on a picture-perfect Saturday afternoon, ending the three-time defending state champions’ 47-game unbeaten streak.
It was Naperville North’s first loss since September 9, 2017, when the Huskies fell 1-0 to Naperville Central. The Huskies (0-1-2) had gone 45-0-2 since then.
“It was amazing,” Iniguez said. “We worked as a team, and we played hard.
“We were talking to each other in the second half more. We were touching the ball more.
“We were opening spaces, and we were taking more shots. That’s what opened the opportunity for me.”
Cristian Perez, who scored Morton’s first goal, took most of the dangerous shots, which forced Naperville North goalie Jason Barba to make four outstanding saves.
That included a diving effort to his left to knock away a 25-yard drive from Perez in the 67th minute.
Barba’s effort wasn’t quite enough because Iniguez pounced on the rebound before a defender could clear it. The senior forward poked a short shot off the glove of the diving Barba and inside the far post for his first goal of the season.
“It was a nice hustle play,” Morton coach Jim Bageanis said. “That’s one thing we’ve been stressing this week.
“We have a little more skill than most teams, but in both of our first two games we were outhustled and out-toughed. So today our focus was trying to get a little more hustle in the game. We knew the skill would be there if we put ourselves in the right position.”
Both supremely talented squads came into their annual early-season clash in identical positions. The Mustangs tied Naperville Central 1-1 and Mount Carmel 2-2 in their first two games, both at home, while the Huskies drew 2-2 on the road in West Chicago and 1-1 at home with visiting Lyons.
The initial lack of success added an extra sense of urgency to the match between the tradition powers.
“It’s one of the best games to play,” Perez said. “We look forward to this game every season, and we prepare for it.”
But Perez, a junior midfielder, had never beaten the Huskies, who had gone 3-0-1 against Morton, including supersectional wins in 2016 and 2017, since the Mustangs’ last win early in the 2016 season.
“(The win) means everything,” Perez said. “We fought for the game.
“We prepared for this game at every practice. We put our hearts on the field, and we got the score we wanted.”
Perez played a big role in that. He gave the Mustangs a 1-0 lead midway through the first half when he beat the lunging Barba with a well-struck volley into the lower left corner of the net.
The goal came moments after Barba fully extended to his left to knock away a Perez drive. The Huskies failed to clear, and Perez soon had another chance.
“(Barba) had a good game today,” Naperville North coach Jim Konrad said. “He made a couple big saves.
“We let him down both times with the second chances. It’s not fair to him. He makes a good save; we (don’t) clear it, and then they hit a shot on which we should have been tighter marking.
“And then (in the second half) he makes a good first save and then the second (shot) finds the back of the net.”
Finding the back of the net has proved to be a difficult task for the Huskies. They have recorded four goals in their first three games; two of them have been penalty kicks and one was an own goal.
Senior forward Patrick Koenig, who has the only goal through the run of play, suffered an ankle injury in the season opener and is expected to miss several weeks. Ohio State-bound Ty Konrad got the only tally against Morton from the penalty spot, converting with 26:23 remaining in the second half after being knocked down in the box.
But that was one of just three shots on frame for Naperville North, which generated some dangerous throw-ins but only one corner kick. Ty Konrad had one shot off a Christian Romano throw late in the first half, but Morton goalie Andres Calderon made an easy save.
“We’re finding our way,” Jim Konrad said. “I have no doubt the boys will learn from this.
“They’ve done a good job of listening and making adjustments. I though the second half was better than the first half, but when you’re playing the best teams you just try to learn and grow from it.
“That’s why we play Morton. We have so much respect for them, well-coached, incredible players.”
The feeling is mutual.
“They’re a great team,” Bageanis said. “We’ll take any win against them any year if we can get one.
“It’s a great rivalry. Both teams played clean. That’s the one nice thing about it -- it’s a soccer game; it’s not a street fight.”
The Huskies, though, know they are going to take everyone’s best shot regardless of what their record is or how well they are playing. That’s why Barba took the loss in stride, noting that even though Naperville North has eight returning starters, two of the ones who graduated were 6-foot-8 goalie Tom Welch and 6-5 center back Colin Iverson, who was last year’s leading scorer. Both earned Chicagoland Soccer Player of the Year honors.
“This first week is always difficult,” Barba said. “Every year, each team is different.
“This year this team is especially different because we lost two big parts of our team, literally and figuratively. So we’ve been trying to figure it out, because obviously everything that worked last year is not going to work this year. And it’s not something we’re going to figure out right away, especially when you’re playing against three really good teams to start off the week.
“But it’s good for us. It’s a wakeup call for us. It shows that we can’t just cruise and hope that everything is going to work out. We’re going to have to work to figure it out ourselves.”
Even though the Huskies have surrendered as many goals, five, as they did all last season, Barba has been a bright spot between the pipes. The senior is a four-year varsity player but served as Welch’s backup until this season.
“At first (riding the bench) was kind of tough, because for the past five or six years on my club team I’ve played every minute of every game and I play on the Galaxy team with these guys,” Barba said. “I’ve had my moments, and I’ve always been ready.
“I’ve understood (my role). Tom is a great guy. I can’t imagine anyone else you’d want to start over you, because he’s extremely talented.”
Now Barba, who was the goalie on the Galaxy team that won a club national championship in 2018, gets to showcase the skills that would have made him the starter at least two years ago on most other teams.
“I’m super excited to be able to start for this team, this program,” Barba said. “Obviously there is a lot of pressure that goes with it, but it’s something that I’m just embracing.
“It’s always fun every day to be out here having a target on our backs and everyone trying to score on you.”
While Barba is several inches shorter than Welch, who is now playing basketball at Loyola, he’s more than capable of leading the Huskies to another title.
“He’s been great,” Jim Konrad said. “He’s been an excellent teammate all three years waiting for his time, and now he’s doing a good job.
“He’s played goalkeeper his whole life. He plays at a high level year-round.
“He takes his craft seriously. He does a good job of being vocal and directing the backline so I’m really proud of him. He’s definitely earned his chance to play for us.”
Starting lineups
Naperville North
GK Jason Barba
D Evan Thompson
D Alex Barger
D Christian Romano
D Myles Barry
M Nata Rojas
M Zach Smith
M Ali Khorfan
M Cesar Recendez
F Tyson Amoo-Mensah
F Ty Konrad
Morton
GK Andres Calderon
D Juan Hernandez
D Saul Juarez
D Julian Yanez
D Adrian Salto
M Uriel Sotelo
M Adrian Sanchez
M Cristian Perez
F Jesus Perez
F Edwin Zizumbo
F Romario Iniguez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Romario Iniguez, sr., F, Morton
Scoring summary
First half
Morton – Cristian Perez 19:50
Second half
Naperville North – Ty Konrad (PK) 26:23
Morton – Romario Iniguez 13:13
47-game unbeaten streak
Perez, Iniguez score; Mustangs hand Huskies 1st loss since 2017
By Matt Le Cren
BERWYN – Naperville North’s amazing unbeaten streak had to end sometime.
What better time, Romario Iniguez thought, than now?
Iniguez scored on a rebound with 13:13 remaining to lift host Morton (1-0-2) to a 2-1 nonconference victory on a picture-perfect Saturday afternoon, ending the three-time defending state champions’ 47-game unbeaten streak.
It was Naperville North’s first loss since September 9, 2017, when the Huskies fell 1-0 to Naperville Central. The Huskies (0-1-2) had gone 45-0-2 since then.
“It was amazing,” Iniguez said. “We worked as a team, and we played hard.
“We were talking to each other in the second half more. We were touching the ball more.
“We were opening spaces, and we were taking more shots. That’s what opened the opportunity for me.”
Cristian Perez, who scored Morton’s first goal, took most of the dangerous shots, which forced Naperville North goalie Jason Barba to make four outstanding saves.
That included a diving effort to his left to knock away a 25-yard drive from Perez in the 67th minute.
Barba’s effort wasn’t quite enough because Iniguez pounced on the rebound before a defender could clear it. The senior forward poked a short shot off the glove of the diving Barba and inside the far post for his first goal of the season.
“It was a nice hustle play,” Morton coach Jim Bageanis said. “That’s one thing we’ve been stressing this week.
“We have a little more skill than most teams, but in both of our first two games we were outhustled and out-toughed. So today our focus was trying to get a little more hustle in the game. We knew the skill would be there if we put ourselves in the right position.”
Both supremely talented squads came into their annual early-season clash in identical positions. The Mustangs tied Naperville Central 1-1 and Mount Carmel 2-2 in their first two games, both at home, while the Huskies drew 2-2 on the road in West Chicago and 1-1 at home with visiting Lyons.
The initial lack of success added an extra sense of urgency to the match between the tradition powers.
“It’s one of the best games to play,” Perez said. “We look forward to this game every season, and we prepare for it.”
But Perez, a junior midfielder, had never beaten the Huskies, who had gone 3-0-1 against Morton, including supersectional wins in 2016 and 2017, since the Mustangs’ last win early in the 2016 season.
“(The win) means everything,” Perez said. “We fought for the game.
“We prepared for this game at every practice. We put our hearts on the field, and we got the score we wanted.”
Perez played a big role in that. He gave the Mustangs a 1-0 lead midway through the first half when he beat the lunging Barba with a well-struck volley into the lower left corner of the net.
The goal came moments after Barba fully extended to his left to knock away a Perez drive. The Huskies failed to clear, and Perez soon had another chance.
“(Barba) had a good game today,” Naperville North coach Jim Konrad said. “He made a couple big saves.
“We let him down both times with the second chances. It’s not fair to him. He makes a good save; we (don’t) clear it, and then they hit a shot on which we should have been tighter marking.
“And then (in the second half) he makes a good first save and then the second (shot) finds the back of the net.”
Finding the back of the net has proved to be a difficult task for the Huskies. They have recorded four goals in their first three games; two of them have been penalty kicks and one was an own goal.
Senior forward Patrick Koenig, who has the only goal through the run of play, suffered an ankle injury in the season opener and is expected to miss several weeks. Ohio State-bound Ty Konrad got the only tally against Morton from the penalty spot, converting with 26:23 remaining in the second half after being knocked down in the box.
But that was one of just three shots on frame for Naperville North, which generated some dangerous throw-ins but only one corner kick. Ty Konrad had one shot off a Christian Romano throw late in the first half, but Morton goalie Andres Calderon made an easy save.
“We’re finding our way,” Jim Konrad said. “I have no doubt the boys will learn from this.
“They’ve done a good job of listening and making adjustments. I though the second half was better than the first half, but when you’re playing the best teams you just try to learn and grow from it.
“That’s why we play Morton. We have so much respect for them, well-coached, incredible players.”
The feeling is mutual.
“They’re a great team,” Bageanis said. “We’ll take any win against them any year if we can get one.
“It’s a great rivalry. Both teams played clean. That’s the one nice thing about it -- it’s a soccer game; it’s not a street fight.”
The Huskies, though, know they are going to take everyone’s best shot regardless of what their record is or how well they are playing. That’s why Barba took the loss in stride, noting that even though Naperville North has eight returning starters, two of the ones who graduated were 6-foot-8 goalie Tom Welch and 6-5 center back Colin Iverson, who was last year’s leading scorer. Both earned Chicagoland Soccer Player of the Year honors.
“This first week is always difficult,” Barba said. “Every year, each team is different.
“This year this team is especially different because we lost two big parts of our team, literally and figuratively. So we’ve been trying to figure it out, because obviously everything that worked last year is not going to work this year. And it’s not something we’re going to figure out right away, especially when you’re playing against three really good teams to start off the week.
“But it’s good for us. It’s a wakeup call for us. It shows that we can’t just cruise and hope that everything is going to work out. We’re going to have to work to figure it out ourselves.”
Even though the Huskies have surrendered as many goals, five, as they did all last season, Barba has been a bright spot between the pipes. The senior is a four-year varsity player but served as Welch’s backup until this season.
“At first (riding the bench) was kind of tough, because for the past five or six years on my club team I’ve played every minute of every game and I play on the Galaxy team with these guys,” Barba said. “I’ve had my moments, and I’ve always been ready.
“I’ve understood (my role). Tom is a great guy. I can’t imagine anyone else you’d want to start over you, because he’s extremely talented.”
Now Barba, who was the goalie on the Galaxy team that won a club national championship in 2018, gets to showcase the skills that would have made him the starter at least two years ago on most other teams.
“I’m super excited to be able to start for this team, this program,” Barba said. “Obviously there is a lot of pressure that goes with it, but it’s something that I’m just embracing.
“It’s always fun every day to be out here having a target on our backs and everyone trying to score on you.”
While Barba is several inches shorter than Welch, who is now playing basketball at Loyola, he’s more than capable of leading the Huskies to another title.
“He’s been great,” Jim Konrad said. “He’s been an excellent teammate all three years waiting for his time, and now he’s doing a good job.
“He’s played goalkeeper his whole life. He plays at a high level year-round.
“He takes his craft seriously. He does a good job of being vocal and directing the backline so I’m really proud of him. He’s definitely earned his chance to play for us.”
Starting lineups
Naperville North
GK Jason Barba
D Evan Thompson
D Alex Barger
D Christian Romano
D Myles Barry
M Nata Rojas
M Zach Smith
M Ali Khorfan
M Cesar Recendez
F Tyson Amoo-Mensah
F Ty Konrad
Morton
GK Andres Calderon
D Juan Hernandez
D Saul Juarez
D Julian Yanez
D Adrian Salto
M Uriel Sotelo
M Adrian Sanchez
M Cristian Perez
F Jesus Perez
F Edwin Zizumbo
F Romario Iniguez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Romario Iniguez, sr., F, Morton
Scoring summary
First half
Morton – Cristian Perez 19:50
Second half
Naperville North – Ty Konrad (PK) 26:23
Morton – Romario Iniguez 13:13