Undermanned DGS almost stings Morton
Plays to 0-0 tie after 100 minutes, but falls in PKs
By Matt Le Cren
BERWYN – One spectator described Downers Grove South’s defense Friday night as being “like a swarm of bees.”
Morton’s players can attest to that.
The host Mustangs pulled out every move from their large bag of tricks yet could not solve the back line of Peter Carr, Anthony Masello, Griffin Overbeck and Ryan Strelau and goalkeeper Sam Dumford.
Despite competing without two of its best players, no. 14 Downers Grove South became just the second team to shut out third-ranked Morton.
Yet it wasn’t enough to stop the heavily favored Mustangs (25-2-0) from eking out a victory due to a 4-3 advantage in penalty kicks at the Class 3A Morton Sectional final.
It is the first sectional title for Morton since 2012, the year the Mustangs won the state title.
Downers Grove South (15-5-3), which attempted to win its first sectional crown since it won the 2004 state title, saw its 11-game unbeaten streak snapped and a better-than-expected season halted.
“I can’t say enough about these boys,” Downers Grove South coach Jon Stapleton said. “The tough part is with the effort they put in, you’d like to see the reward.
“They can certainly walk out of here with their heads held high. I’m just extremely proud.”
Downers Grove South had to play without two of its most talented players, junior forward Nick Rohl and senior midfielder Peter Becht, who were serving one-game suspensions after being ejected from Tuesday’s 4-2 semifinal win over Reavis.
Juniors Ian Wisniewski and Garrett Stears replaced them in the starting lineup and they and their cohorts went about trying to prove the pundits, most of whom predicted a one-sided game after Morton’s 6-1 demolition of Lyons in the semifinals, wrong.
“We just attacked hard on defense,” Masello said. “If someone had a ball, we just had to be fundamentally sound.
“We couldn’t dive in and let them cut back, because they like to do that a lot. They’re a really skillful team, but our defense, I don’t know what was going on. It was just really good, I guess.”
That was an understatement. Downers Grove South did not get on shot on frame until the first overtime and Morton dominated play in the first half.
But the hosts weren’t especially dangerous, creating only seven shots before halftime. Dumford, who stopped eight shots, including a penalty, to earn Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors, faced only two tough chances before the break.
It was a different story after intermission, when Downers Grove South surprisingly started stringing some passes together and getting down in Morton’s end.
That also opened up the back for Morton to attack and the hosts barely missed on a pair of shots in the box.
Morton had its best scoring chance when Leo Delgado was dumped in the penalty area with 18:06 left in regulation. Mendoza drilled the ensuing penalty kick toward the upper left corner, but Dumford fully extended to parry it past the post.
“PKs are really just a coin toss,” Dumford said. “You try to read it; they try to fake you out. I guessed right.”
There was no guessing a minute later when Morton’s crafty sophomore playmaking wizard, Baltazar Duran, sprung Delgado into the top of box. Dumford saw it coming, charged off his line and knocked the shot away near the top of the box.
It was one of the few open looks the Mustangs got against Downers Grove South’s hard-working defenders.
“I thought we defended exceptionally well 1-v.-1, and we emphasized that in training, knowing that they are creative players on the ball,” Stapleton said. “I thought everything we put into play tonight showed up.”
The victors agreed.
“We knew they were missing a couple guys but we knew they would pack it in back there,” Morton coach Mike Caruso said. “They were almost playing with a double sweeper back there most of the time, so it was hard to get through.
“We had a couple, I thought, great chances the first 15 minutes of the second half that we poked just wide before the PK that we needed to get in.”
That’s because the Mustangs knew it would not be easy to score against a bunkered-in squad with a history of playing Morton tough.
“We’ve always beaten them over the last few years but defensively they’re tough to crack,” Caruso said. “It’s either a one-goal game or two-goal game, but they’re great goals that you have to score on them.
“They usually have got a great keeper like they did today, and their defense is always strong. You’re going to earn it if you score on them.
“To their credit, they played the full 100 minutes. PKs anything can happen, and it’s just fortunate for it to go our way this time.”
Morton defeated Downers South 2-0 during the regular season. Downers South was at full strength in the first game, so why was the rematch so much harder?
“I felt some of our players came out a little bit overconfident,” Morton goalkeeper Billy Castro said. “We were overconfident and then as the game progressed, we realized they were really trying.
“They outhustled us to every ball. I give them great credit being two men down. They came out with a lot of heart.”
Castro did not have to make a save until the second overtime, when he made a diving stop on Wisniewski and a routine save on a long-range roller from Stears.
Earlier this year, Morton lost in a shootout loss to Hinsdale Central.
But while the advantage seemed to have swung Downers Grove South’s way going into the shootout, Castro had a different theory.
“In the back of my head I had the idea of the earlier game we had against Hinsdale Central that went to penalties,” Castro said. “We couldn’t come out with that one.
“But I also thought that as I wasn’t tested as much, I was still more fresh than the other keeper. I was more light on my legs. I had a little bit more effort (to give). I just tried harder.”
Castro made the only save of the shootout and it clinched the game. Needing to score to keep Downers Grove South alive, Strelau stutter-stepped as he approached the ball but it didn’t fool Castro, who smothered Strelau’s attempt to score up the middle.
“No, because I don’t focus on the stutter step,” Castro said. “I mainly focus on right before they hit, their physical position. That kind of gives me an idea, but in the end it’s still a 50-50 ball.”
Shootouts are inherently a 50-50 proposition, sometimes coming down to a matter of inches.
Morton made sure its fans would do the celebrating as Duran, Delgado, Jose Gonzalez and Adan Carriedo all boomed their kicks past Dumford.
Peter Fish converted the first penalty for Downers Grove South, but Garrett Burns lined his try off the crossbar. Overbeck made his attempt but the damage had been done.
“We missed the PK in regulation, and we win in PKs,” Caruso marveled. “Most of the time we’re pretty good with our shooters. Our shooters were like ice out there, and they hit four great PKs.”
And the unheralded Castro clinched it with the stop on Strelau.
“That was a big weight off my shoulders,” Castro said. “I’d say the majority of the game we were on them. We had the penalty we couldn’t finish, but we had shot after shot.
“They kept trying to get us on the counterattack. They kept scaring me a little bit. I had to pull in a couple saves, but knowing that you win the penalty shootout, a great weight just comes off your shoulders.”
While his teammates ran onto the field in glee, Castro was feeling a mixture of relief and happiness.
“It’s always a great time,” Castro said. “A huge fan base came out to watch us, like a lot of friends, family and then especially this is my first time winning sectionals.
“I’ve only been on varsity for 1½ years, especially living up to a name like Ian Chacon, you have to come up with something big.”
Caruso was suitably impressed.
“My assistant coach (Jim) Bageanis coached him up on PKs the whole season and the last couple weeks for sure,” Caruso said. “We ask for one (stop from) him most of the time. He did his job back there.”
So did the Morton shooters, who knocked out a emboldened Downers Grove South team that thought it had a good chance of pulling the upset.
“It felt like we had some momentum going,” Masello said. “Our defense, that’s where we wanted to put our team in a situation to win, and I think that was our best situation to win.
“They just hit perfect shots. Nothing that Sam could have done about that. They buried them.”
How to explain that it took so long to eliminate an undermanned and outgunned team?
“It’s kind of how the team is,” Dumford said. “One person goes down, and there’s another person right there immediately.
“We knew we were the underdogs and that it wasn’t going to come easy.”
Few people thought Downers Grove South was capable of making a run to the sectional final when the season began.
“I would have believed we could have done it, knowing the people (we have), but I don’t know how likely it was going to be,” Dumford said. “Then as the season progressed, we had the potential.
“We took this to double OT and PKs. I think we could have gone to state.
“Missing Peter and Nick sure hurt the team, but I’m so proud of what we did here. It’s been a 30-person team all season.”
For one of those 30, at least, the season ended in memorable fashion.
“It was probably one of the best ways, besides winning the whole thing, to end my senior year,” Masello said. “I just love playing with these guys. It’s just fun.”
Starting lineups
Downers Grove South
G Sam Dumford
D Griffin Overbeck
D Peter Carr
D Ryan Strelau
D Anthony Masello
M Garrett Stears
M Peter Fish
M Andrew Pierropoulos
F Garrett Burns
F Dylan Mobley
F Ian Wisniewski
Morton
G Billy Castro
D Juan Salas
D Jose Gonzalez
D Diego Lopez
M Baltazar Duran
M Giovanni Ortiz
M Danny Sanchez
M Adan Carriedo
M Rigo Lozano
M Leo Delgado
F Malik Jones
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Sam Dumford, GK, Downers Grove South.
Plays to 0-0 tie after 100 minutes, but falls in PKs
By Matt Le Cren
BERWYN – One spectator described Downers Grove South’s defense Friday night as being “like a swarm of bees.”
Morton’s players can attest to that.
The host Mustangs pulled out every move from their large bag of tricks yet could not solve the back line of Peter Carr, Anthony Masello, Griffin Overbeck and Ryan Strelau and goalkeeper Sam Dumford.
Despite competing without two of its best players, no. 14 Downers Grove South became just the second team to shut out third-ranked Morton.
Yet it wasn’t enough to stop the heavily favored Mustangs (25-2-0) from eking out a victory due to a 4-3 advantage in penalty kicks at the Class 3A Morton Sectional final.
It is the first sectional title for Morton since 2012, the year the Mustangs won the state title.
Downers Grove South (15-5-3), which attempted to win its first sectional crown since it won the 2004 state title, saw its 11-game unbeaten streak snapped and a better-than-expected season halted.
“I can’t say enough about these boys,” Downers Grove South coach Jon Stapleton said. “The tough part is with the effort they put in, you’d like to see the reward.
“They can certainly walk out of here with their heads held high. I’m just extremely proud.”
Downers Grove South had to play without two of its most talented players, junior forward Nick Rohl and senior midfielder Peter Becht, who were serving one-game suspensions after being ejected from Tuesday’s 4-2 semifinal win over Reavis.
Juniors Ian Wisniewski and Garrett Stears replaced them in the starting lineup and they and their cohorts went about trying to prove the pundits, most of whom predicted a one-sided game after Morton’s 6-1 demolition of Lyons in the semifinals, wrong.
“We just attacked hard on defense,” Masello said. “If someone had a ball, we just had to be fundamentally sound.
“We couldn’t dive in and let them cut back, because they like to do that a lot. They’re a really skillful team, but our defense, I don’t know what was going on. It was just really good, I guess.”
That was an understatement. Downers Grove South did not get on shot on frame until the first overtime and Morton dominated play in the first half.
But the hosts weren’t especially dangerous, creating only seven shots before halftime. Dumford, who stopped eight shots, including a penalty, to earn Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors, faced only two tough chances before the break.
It was a different story after intermission, when Downers Grove South surprisingly started stringing some passes together and getting down in Morton’s end.
That also opened up the back for Morton to attack and the hosts barely missed on a pair of shots in the box.
Morton had its best scoring chance when Leo Delgado was dumped in the penalty area with 18:06 left in regulation. Mendoza drilled the ensuing penalty kick toward the upper left corner, but Dumford fully extended to parry it past the post.
“PKs are really just a coin toss,” Dumford said. “You try to read it; they try to fake you out. I guessed right.”
There was no guessing a minute later when Morton’s crafty sophomore playmaking wizard, Baltazar Duran, sprung Delgado into the top of box. Dumford saw it coming, charged off his line and knocked the shot away near the top of the box.
It was one of the few open looks the Mustangs got against Downers Grove South’s hard-working defenders.
“I thought we defended exceptionally well 1-v.-1, and we emphasized that in training, knowing that they are creative players on the ball,” Stapleton said. “I thought everything we put into play tonight showed up.”
The victors agreed.
“We knew they were missing a couple guys but we knew they would pack it in back there,” Morton coach Mike Caruso said. “They were almost playing with a double sweeper back there most of the time, so it was hard to get through.
“We had a couple, I thought, great chances the first 15 minutes of the second half that we poked just wide before the PK that we needed to get in.”
That’s because the Mustangs knew it would not be easy to score against a bunkered-in squad with a history of playing Morton tough.
“We’ve always beaten them over the last few years but defensively they’re tough to crack,” Caruso said. “It’s either a one-goal game or two-goal game, but they’re great goals that you have to score on them.
“They usually have got a great keeper like they did today, and their defense is always strong. You’re going to earn it if you score on them.
“To their credit, they played the full 100 minutes. PKs anything can happen, and it’s just fortunate for it to go our way this time.”
Morton defeated Downers South 2-0 during the regular season. Downers South was at full strength in the first game, so why was the rematch so much harder?
“I felt some of our players came out a little bit overconfident,” Morton goalkeeper Billy Castro said. “We were overconfident and then as the game progressed, we realized they were really trying.
“They outhustled us to every ball. I give them great credit being two men down. They came out with a lot of heart.”
Castro did not have to make a save until the second overtime, when he made a diving stop on Wisniewski and a routine save on a long-range roller from Stears.
Earlier this year, Morton lost in a shootout loss to Hinsdale Central.
But while the advantage seemed to have swung Downers Grove South’s way going into the shootout, Castro had a different theory.
“In the back of my head I had the idea of the earlier game we had against Hinsdale Central that went to penalties,” Castro said. “We couldn’t come out with that one.
“But I also thought that as I wasn’t tested as much, I was still more fresh than the other keeper. I was more light on my legs. I had a little bit more effort (to give). I just tried harder.”
Castro made the only save of the shootout and it clinched the game. Needing to score to keep Downers Grove South alive, Strelau stutter-stepped as he approached the ball but it didn’t fool Castro, who smothered Strelau’s attempt to score up the middle.
“No, because I don’t focus on the stutter step,” Castro said. “I mainly focus on right before they hit, their physical position. That kind of gives me an idea, but in the end it’s still a 50-50 ball.”
Shootouts are inherently a 50-50 proposition, sometimes coming down to a matter of inches.
Morton made sure its fans would do the celebrating as Duran, Delgado, Jose Gonzalez and Adan Carriedo all boomed their kicks past Dumford.
Peter Fish converted the first penalty for Downers Grove South, but Garrett Burns lined his try off the crossbar. Overbeck made his attempt but the damage had been done.
“We missed the PK in regulation, and we win in PKs,” Caruso marveled. “Most of the time we’re pretty good with our shooters. Our shooters were like ice out there, and they hit four great PKs.”
And the unheralded Castro clinched it with the stop on Strelau.
“That was a big weight off my shoulders,” Castro said. “I’d say the majority of the game we were on them. We had the penalty we couldn’t finish, but we had shot after shot.
“They kept trying to get us on the counterattack. They kept scaring me a little bit. I had to pull in a couple saves, but knowing that you win the penalty shootout, a great weight just comes off your shoulders.”
While his teammates ran onto the field in glee, Castro was feeling a mixture of relief and happiness.
“It’s always a great time,” Castro said. “A huge fan base came out to watch us, like a lot of friends, family and then especially this is my first time winning sectionals.
“I’ve only been on varsity for 1½ years, especially living up to a name like Ian Chacon, you have to come up with something big.”
Caruso was suitably impressed.
“My assistant coach (Jim) Bageanis coached him up on PKs the whole season and the last couple weeks for sure,” Caruso said. “We ask for one (stop from) him most of the time. He did his job back there.”
So did the Morton shooters, who knocked out a emboldened Downers Grove South team that thought it had a good chance of pulling the upset.
“It felt like we had some momentum going,” Masello said. “Our defense, that’s where we wanted to put our team in a situation to win, and I think that was our best situation to win.
“They just hit perfect shots. Nothing that Sam could have done about that. They buried them.”
How to explain that it took so long to eliminate an undermanned and outgunned team?
“It’s kind of how the team is,” Dumford said. “One person goes down, and there’s another person right there immediately.
“We knew we were the underdogs and that it wasn’t going to come easy.”
Few people thought Downers Grove South was capable of making a run to the sectional final when the season began.
“I would have believed we could have done it, knowing the people (we have), but I don’t know how likely it was going to be,” Dumford said. “Then as the season progressed, we had the potential.
“We took this to double OT and PKs. I think we could have gone to state.
“Missing Peter and Nick sure hurt the team, but I’m so proud of what we did here. It’s been a 30-person team all season.”
For one of those 30, at least, the season ended in memorable fashion.
“It was probably one of the best ways, besides winning the whole thing, to end my senior year,” Masello said. “I just love playing with these guys. It’s just fun.”
Starting lineups
Downers Grove South
G Sam Dumford
D Griffin Overbeck
D Peter Carr
D Ryan Strelau
D Anthony Masello
M Garrett Stears
M Peter Fish
M Andrew Pierropoulos
F Garrett Burns
F Dylan Mobley
F Ian Wisniewski
Morton
G Billy Castro
D Juan Salas
D Jose Gonzalez
D Diego Lopez
M Baltazar Duran
M Giovanni Ortiz
M Danny Sanchez
M Adan Carriedo
M Rigo Lozano
M Leo Delgado
F Malik Jones
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Sam Dumford, GK, Downers Grove South.
