CICERO – As the final seconds slowly started to tick down in Wednesday’s Class 3A Morton Regional semifinal game, Morton senior forward Carisma Rosales was rendered powerless to change in the final outcome.

The Marquette recruit spent the final 65 seconds of regulation in a pensive mood, standing with her hands on her hips for the first 25 seconds at the 48-yard line on Downers Grove South’s side of the field. At the 45-second mark, Rosales took a few steps back to cross over to Morton’s side. Watching the ball being kicked around nearly 40 yards from her, Rosales stared downfield, then stared at the bench.

With 28 seconds left and the clock temporarily stopped, Rosales locked her arms together waiting for the clock to restart. When the ball squirted out of bounds, Rosales spent the final 18 seconds of her illustrious career walking toward the sidelines, unable to aid her team with a game-tying goal as the final buzzer sounded.

Downers Grove South used a goal from freshman Hannah Hake in the 33rd minute for a 1-0 victory over host and West Suburban Conference Gold Division regular-season winner Morton. Eighth-seeded Downers Grove South (10-7-2, 5-1-x) avenged a 1-0 conference defeat to ninth-seeded Morton (15-7-0, 6-0-x) on May 2 to advance to Friday’s regional title game against top-seed York at 6 p.m.

Hake, the co-Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match along with teammate Micah Olson, said she was shocked to score the lone goal. Teammates Yessi Lopez fed Hake for an open look on the left side, right near the benches. Hake blasted a shot from 20-plus yards high inside the far post. It was her first goal in the run of play of the season. She scored on a penalty kick earlier in the year.

“I saw the ball coming right through the middle and saw no one was there, so I was looking to be the back side of that,” Hake said of her goal. “I was just praying it went it. I’m really proud of our team, and Jesse played me a great ball on the goal.”

Rosales, a Marquette recruit, has been the face of Morton’s program for the last three seasons. She said the defeat on her home turf, especially so early in the playoffs, stung.

“We started off good, to get to this point,” Rosales said, while doing her best to hold back the tears. “I’m glad I had a chance to play with these girls, and we put a lot of effort in.

“It’s been an amazing experience overall. For all four years. I met so many people on and off the field. I met some incredible girls and learned different ways of playing. We showed great communication on and off the field.

“Thanks to our coach and all the girls. It shows a lot. I’ll always remember the girls and when I have a chance, I’ll come back to support the girls.”

Rosales, who had 23 goals and 12 assist last season, had her share of chances to score against the visitors. Downers Grove South played a physical game, often using its size and strength against Morton’s smaller players, particularly the diminutive Rosales.

Her best chance to tie the game arrived in the 45th minute. She snared a loose ball and dribbled more than 45 yards. With two defenders to her inside, including Olson, Rosales decided not to make a hard cut into the middle and stayed on the right side. She made a slight cut outside and fired a shot that Downers Grove South goalie Megan Ganschow easily saved.

“I wound up just sticking to the right side,” Rosales said. “I was going to cut back but their player tucked in, so I stayed to the outside. (Olson) is an excellent player. We couldn’t outrun them on the wings. (Olson) holds it down, and is a brick wall and a great player. We had multiple chances and good play overall. We could’ve gone all up and exploded on the net for more (chances).”

Ganschow is a tall and imposing presence in the net, so she wasn’t going to be intimidated by Morton’s all-state duo of Rosales and senior forward Aaliyah Leanos, a Roosevelt commit. Ganschow said Rosales is a special talent and gave her backline a lot of credit. The keeper finished with four saves to earn the clean-sheet.

“I saw my teammates behind her and knew they were going to get there,” Ganschow said. “I knew they were going to block her on that play. I just tried to always be ready for (Rosales) to shoot during the game. I knew she could shoot from far out, so I had to read the ball well. The backline stopped almost all the shots that got to me and played their hearts out.”

On Rosales’ key play, Olson said she stuck to her game-long principles.

“We all know she’s a really good player and going to Marquette, so that’s something we all have in the back of our heads,” Olson said. “Coming into this game, like Megan said, we knew she shoots from far. My goal was to get touch-tight on her and make sure she doesn’t get around me. We talked really well to make sure her and Leanos were covered at all times.”

Olson said the backline came with a tough attitude and wanted to dictate play and make the host team work for every shot.

“In the beginning, we were trying to play a bit more physical and to make sure we won those tackles,” Olson said. “We had a better mindset going into this game than our loss to them at home. We wanted our revenge. This could’ve been our last game for our seniors, so we wanted to win this game. It’s a great feeling, especially since this is my last year.”

Morton failed to score a goal but managed to attack and possess for many lengthy stages of the game. Morton closed out the opening half with two opportunities to even the score, including a free kick from Rosales, but it was easily saved.

After Rosales missed on a scoring attempt in the 45th minute, she drilled a free kick that sailed between the football uprights in the 47th minute. Teammate Karina Estrada missed far right on a shot in the 64th minute.

A key sequence for Morton looked like it set them up for a penalty kick with 12:32 left in regulation.

Ganschow charged at full speed to the top of the box to make a play and crashed into Morton players Rosales, Adamary Huitron and Stephanie Salmeron. After the collision, all three spent several minutes lying on the field turf in pain.

Rosales excited the field for a few seconds before returning following the foul. 

Morton hoped for a PK, but instead got a free kick just outside the box. Leanos took the Mustangs final scoring chance, but her shot smacked off Downers Grove South’s wall of defenders.

Morton coach Jim Bagenis lamented scoring play that led to the defeat.

“We got caught sleeping on the outside and their girl made a nice play to the ball and a had a nice angle and took the shot,” Bageanis said. “It just seemed we were having trouble winning that first ball, losing the 50/50 balls for the majority of the game. That messed up with our tempo and the way we like to play. Downers Grove South did a great job, and they were prepared for us.

“I was hoping we got that PK. … I think that could’ve made a difference. It wasn’t meant to be.”

Morton junior defender Romina Lopez, a multi-year varsity player, said the visitors took advantage of a few lapses to pull out the win.

“I saw a lot of effort from the girls. We had a great season and won conference, which was amazing,” Lopez said. “We had a lot of love and effort out on the field. We were making the runs, but it just wasn’t our day today. We weren’t able to get it out. We can learn from this.

“Having to mark our girls is always tough when they outrun us. We did a good job of defending after their goal and not allowing them to score again.”

Lopez said next season will be a new team without the high-scoring and dynamic play of Rosales and Leanos.

“I know that there’s a lot of girls coming in who will be essential to our team,” Lopez said. “I want my senior year to be great, and with Emily and Stephanie, we will have a good team next year.”

Morton junior defender Emily Orduna, a first-year starter, said she’s gained a lot of experience this season that she hopes will translate into a special senior campaign.

“Right now, I have mixed feelings, because we played good as a team, but we just didn’t make it happen,” she said. “Overall, it was a good game, and we can look forward to next year. We can for sure be better next year.

“I learned a lot this year, especially to work together. We had a good year. We finished first in the division. It was exciting for me. Being in the field taught me and showed me a lot.”

Standing a few feet away from Rosales in the belly of Morton’s stadium, Orduna glanced over at her and credited her for pushing the entire team to strive for excellence.

“(Carisma) is someone to look up to,” Orduna said. “She has the skills and everything and the confidence. Confidence is a big key to playing soccer. I know a lot of girls look up to her, because she’s a great person and an amazing player.”

Bageanis kept his spirits positive in the postgame. He received applause from the parents and families of the players when he exited the stadium.

The coach said his team gave maximum effort, but just came up short against a vastly improved Downers Grove South team. 

He praised his group of seniors.

“Carisma gave us four years where some kids wouldn’t even have played high school soccer,” he said. “You can’t put a price tag on what she gave us. Aaliyah gave us four years as well. All the seniors put in the time, but losing Carisma and Aaliyah is going to hurt. 

“Hopefully, someone will step up. We have a couple of young players, like Karina Estrada, who will come in and fill the shoes. Stephanie will be senior leader. We’re hoping to rebuild a bit. Our entire defense will be back, so we have to find little more goal-scoring and offense. We had a great season and won conference, which was one of our main goals.”

Downers Grove South coach Chris Hernandez said one of the big differences between the regular-season game and the playoff game was the return of Sienna Thurston.

“Sienna is a difference-maker for us in the midfield,” he said. “Having her around is great. She does a great job defensively and is a threat on set pieces because of her size and ability to win a ball in the air. 

“Whenever you play Morton, you have to be ready for a little bit of anything, like in transition and set pieces. We were definitely prepared. Today, we got pressure in the first half and got it done and were able to sit back and rely a bit more on transition and we opened them up. We were trying to set up a second or third (goal).”

Olson said she was proud that her team knocked off the divisional champs. The junior and her teammates now take aim at the championship team from the opposite division in York (16-1-1, 6-0-x) at 6 p.m. Friday.

“York is a very talented team,” said Hernandez. “We’ve grown since we played last played them (a 3-0 loss March 21). This is a team that starts one senior in Olson, three sophomores and a freshman. We had three freshmen in the field today. We’re a young team in transition. The future is bright.”
 
 
Starting lineups
 
Downers Grove South
GK: Megan Ganschow
D: Megan Pogorelec
D: Mallory Crowley
D: Micah Olson
D: Ashley Molinari
MF: Hannah Hake
MF: Sienna Thurston
MF: Isa Okuku
MF: Skylar Swanson
MF: Hannah Galvan
F: Emily Petring
 
Morton
GK: Yaritza Padilla
D: Emily Orduna
D: Romina Lopez
D: Isabel Sanchez
D: Karina Estrada
MF: Adamary Huitron
MF: Stephanie Salmeron
MF: Mayrin Sanchez
MF: Brigette Solano
F: Carisma Rosales
F: Aaliyah Leanos
 
Chicagoland Soccer MVPs of the Match: Hannah Hake, fr., MF, Downers Grove South; Micah Olson, sr., D, Downers Grove South.

 
Scoring summary

First half
Downers Grove South: Hake (Lopez), 33’
 
Second half
No scoring