Addison Trail set to take
on Gold standard Morton
By Matt Le Cren
Like the rest of his coaching brethren, Addison Trail coach Ryan Dini knows that the road to the West Suburban Conference Gold Division championship goes through Morton.
That’s about as sure a thing there is in high school soccer.
Morton has won the last seven Gold titles, all without losing a match. The Mustangs have won 48-consecutive league games since 2011, when Leyden beat them en route to winning the league title.
“Everyone in the conference knows that they are the team to beat,” Dini said. “If you want to win conference, there is no other way around it – you have to beat Morton. Their consistency has been remarkable year after year.
“They are a very well-coached team, have lots of players who can score and are very smart defensively. With that being said, Addison Trail and Leyden have had some very close games with them in the past five years. Last year, we were up 1-0 at halftime and ended up losing 2-1 in a very close game.”
Dini and the Blazers will get another crack at the Mustangs when they travel to Berwyn on Thursday. Sole possession of first place will be on the line in the 7 p.m. tilt at Morton Stadium, with the winner clinching at least a share of the league crown.
Morton coach Jim Bageanis, whose team is coming off a 7-0 rout of Proviso East on Tuesday, is looking forward to it.
“I think it will be a great high school game and atmosphere,” Bageanis said.
“It will be a really intense game. It will be an up-and-down, track meet-type game, so I think you’re going to see all the different styles of play out there: guys battling 1-on-1; possession; some real physical challenges.”
The Mustangs (12-2-2, 4-0) are unbeaten against Illinois opponents. Their only losses were one-goal decisions to teams from Wisconsin and Kansas at the Go 4 the Goal Fall Classic in Iowa last weekend.
Addison Trail (11-3-2, 4-0) rolled past Downers Grove South 6-2 on Tuesday and is one of the few teams that can match Morton’s speed and offensive firepower. Both coaches expect a close game.
“The team that capitalizes on their chances is going to win,” Bageanis said. “Last year was a great game, and we just finished a little better in that game than they did. It could have gone either way.”
Which way will this one go? Morton rates a slight favorite playing at home and because no one in the state has proven they can be beaten. But don’t count out the Blazers.
“Our team will come into that game with an excellent record and confidence,” Dini said. “We have won at Wheaton Academy this season and beat a very good Dundee-Crown team 3-1 in the PepsiCo. We have not played our best game of the season yet so I am hoping that everything comes together soon before the playoffs.”
An upset of Morton would boost Addison Trail’s confidence even more and mark the Blazers as a team capable of making a deep postseason run. But it will take tremendous effort to beat the Mustangs.
“Morton is very good at possessing the soccer ball and making creative runs on offense,” Dini noted. “They are also very deep so they tend to wear teams down with substitutions and possession.
“We also play a lot of players so we are as fresh as possible in the final 30 minutes of the game. Our mindset in this game is to play free and challenge every 50/50 ball.
“We need to play a defensive game and have good clears in the final third of the field. On offense, we have to finish our opportunities and put pressure on their defenders. We have a lot of team speed as well, but we have to know when to push up and when to hold our shape.”
Addison Trail’s defense figures to be under a lot of pressure and will likely need to pitch a shutout because the Blazers don’t have as many dynamic scoring weapons as Morton.
“We have many key players for us that need to be special on Thursday night,” Dini said. “Our returning all-conference senior centerback, Martin Murillo, needs to keep our defense organized and clean up any mistakes in the back. He is a difference-maker in the back for us.
“Our senior goalie Ernesto Padua also needs to have a huge game. He has four shutouts on the season and a 1.2 GAA this season. He is going to have to come up with some big saves for us and command the box.
“As for offense, we are going to need multiple players to step up and give us quality scoring chances in the final third. We have 11 different players who have scored for us this season so one of the strengths of our team is that we have lots of players who can put the ball in the net.”
Pablo Duran has been Addison Trail’s top offensive player in recent games, scoring five times in the last three matches. Dini also praised the consistency of senior midfielder Jason Mejia.
Morton has true star power in senior captain Edwin Zizumbo, senior forward Cristian Perez and junior midfielder Jesus Perez. All three are dynamic and fun to watch.
Zizumbo had a team-leading 18 goals heading into Tuesday’s game. Cristian Perez had bagged nine goals, and Jesus Perez five goals while leading the team in assists prior to the Proviso East win.
“Edwin Zizumbo has been coming up with some big goals for us,” Bageanis said. “He plays midfield for us, but he can play up-top.
“He’s versatile so we can move him around as needed depending on the opponent.”
One unheralded player for Morton is senior goalkeeper Andres Calderon. The first-year starter stopped two penalty kicks against Crystal Lake South and has been a pleasant surprise.
“He’s been having a solid year for us,” Bageanis said. “We were a little nervous about how we were going to be back there this year after we had two senior goalies last year.
“But he’s filled the role pretty good so far, and we’re hoping he continues that type of play.”
The Mustangs know they are in the driver’s seat and control their own destiny in the Gold race but Bageanis also knows nothing is guaranteed. Addison Trail can win the league title outright if it wins its final two games and Morton loses to Leyden next week.
“(The players) are looking forward to (Thursday),” Bageanis said. “They’re even looking forward to Leyden the following week.
“We’ve still got probably the two toughest teams in the conference to deal with in the last two games. We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves.”
Neither do the Blazers, who figure to be playing with less pressure.
“Nobody expects us to beat Morton so being the underdog is something that can drive us to pull off an upset,” Dini said. “We haven't been the underdog very much this season so we will see how we will respond.
“For us, beating Morton would be a program-changing moment for our players, community and school.”
on Gold standard Morton
By Matt Le Cren
Like the rest of his coaching brethren, Addison Trail coach Ryan Dini knows that the road to the West Suburban Conference Gold Division championship goes through Morton.
That’s about as sure a thing there is in high school soccer.
Morton has won the last seven Gold titles, all without losing a match. The Mustangs have won 48-consecutive league games since 2011, when Leyden beat them en route to winning the league title.
“Everyone in the conference knows that they are the team to beat,” Dini said. “If you want to win conference, there is no other way around it – you have to beat Morton. Their consistency has been remarkable year after year.
“They are a very well-coached team, have lots of players who can score and are very smart defensively. With that being said, Addison Trail and Leyden have had some very close games with them in the past five years. Last year, we were up 1-0 at halftime and ended up losing 2-1 in a very close game.”
Dini and the Blazers will get another crack at the Mustangs when they travel to Berwyn on Thursday. Sole possession of first place will be on the line in the 7 p.m. tilt at Morton Stadium, with the winner clinching at least a share of the league crown.
Morton coach Jim Bageanis, whose team is coming off a 7-0 rout of Proviso East on Tuesday, is looking forward to it.
“I think it will be a great high school game and atmosphere,” Bageanis said.
“It will be a really intense game. It will be an up-and-down, track meet-type game, so I think you’re going to see all the different styles of play out there: guys battling 1-on-1; possession; some real physical challenges.”
The Mustangs (12-2-2, 4-0) are unbeaten against Illinois opponents. Their only losses were one-goal decisions to teams from Wisconsin and Kansas at the Go 4 the Goal Fall Classic in Iowa last weekend.
Addison Trail (11-3-2, 4-0) rolled past Downers Grove South 6-2 on Tuesday and is one of the few teams that can match Morton’s speed and offensive firepower. Both coaches expect a close game.
“The team that capitalizes on their chances is going to win,” Bageanis said. “Last year was a great game, and we just finished a little better in that game than they did. It could have gone either way.”
Which way will this one go? Morton rates a slight favorite playing at home and because no one in the state has proven they can be beaten. But don’t count out the Blazers.
“Our team will come into that game with an excellent record and confidence,” Dini said. “We have won at Wheaton Academy this season and beat a very good Dundee-Crown team 3-1 in the PepsiCo. We have not played our best game of the season yet so I am hoping that everything comes together soon before the playoffs.”
An upset of Morton would boost Addison Trail’s confidence even more and mark the Blazers as a team capable of making a deep postseason run. But it will take tremendous effort to beat the Mustangs.
“Morton is very good at possessing the soccer ball and making creative runs on offense,” Dini noted. “They are also very deep so they tend to wear teams down with substitutions and possession.
“We also play a lot of players so we are as fresh as possible in the final 30 minutes of the game. Our mindset in this game is to play free and challenge every 50/50 ball.
“We need to play a defensive game and have good clears in the final third of the field. On offense, we have to finish our opportunities and put pressure on their defenders. We have a lot of team speed as well, but we have to know when to push up and when to hold our shape.”
Addison Trail’s defense figures to be under a lot of pressure and will likely need to pitch a shutout because the Blazers don’t have as many dynamic scoring weapons as Morton.
“We have many key players for us that need to be special on Thursday night,” Dini said. “Our returning all-conference senior centerback, Martin Murillo, needs to keep our defense organized and clean up any mistakes in the back. He is a difference-maker in the back for us.
“Our senior goalie Ernesto Padua also needs to have a huge game. He has four shutouts on the season and a 1.2 GAA this season. He is going to have to come up with some big saves for us and command the box.
“As for offense, we are going to need multiple players to step up and give us quality scoring chances in the final third. We have 11 different players who have scored for us this season so one of the strengths of our team is that we have lots of players who can put the ball in the net.”
Pablo Duran has been Addison Trail’s top offensive player in recent games, scoring five times in the last three matches. Dini also praised the consistency of senior midfielder Jason Mejia.
Morton has true star power in senior captain Edwin Zizumbo, senior forward Cristian Perez and junior midfielder Jesus Perez. All three are dynamic and fun to watch.
Zizumbo had a team-leading 18 goals heading into Tuesday’s game. Cristian Perez had bagged nine goals, and Jesus Perez five goals while leading the team in assists prior to the Proviso East win.
“Edwin Zizumbo has been coming up with some big goals for us,” Bageanis said. “He plays midfield for us, but he can play up-top.
“He’s versatile so we can move him around as needed depending on the opponent.”
One unheralded player for Morton is senior goalkeeper Andres Calderon. The first-year starter stopped two penalty kicks against Crystal Lake South and has been a pleasant surprise.
“He’s been having a solid year for us,” Bageanis said. “We were a little nervous about how we were going to be back there this year after we had two senior goalies last year.
“But he’s filled the role pretty good so far, and we’re hoping he continues that type of play.”
The Mustangs know they are in the driver’s seat and control their own destiny in the Gold race but Bageanis also knows nothing is guaranteed. Addison Trail can win the league title outright if it wins its final two games and Morton loses to Leyden next week.
“(The players) are looking forward to (Thursday),” Bageanis said. “They’re even looking forward to Leyden the following week.
“We’ve still got probably the two toughest teams in the conference to deal with in the last two games. We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves.”
Neither do the Blazers, who figure to be playing with less pressure.
“Nobody expects us to beat Morton so being the underdog is something that can drive us to pull off an upset,” Dini said. “We haven't been the underdog very much this season so we will see how we will respond.
“For us, beating Morton would be a program-changing moment for our players, community and school.”