Morton tops Leyden in shootout
The host Leyden Eagles put a major scare into one of the state's top teams Tuesday.
The Eagles stunned the Morton Mustangs (16-2-2, 5-0-0) with 2 goals in the first 10 minutes to thrill a huge crowd that cheered continually for nearly three hours.
But the Mustangs rallied to tie 2-2, then defeated the Eagles 4-3 in a shootout to capture a 3-2 West Suburban Gold victory in Northlake.
The Eagles (11-4-2, 3-1-0), who had gone undefeated in 13 matches, have now lost four straight all by 1 goal.
“We've had a very good season until hitting a few bumps in the road in our last few matches, and although we had that really good record going for us, we needed to get a win against a highly rated team like Morton to prove that we belong with the big boys, said coach Mark Valintis, whose Eagles earned the No. 1 seed at the Glenbard North regional that begins in two weeks.
The Eagles' Arnoldo Reyes delivered a brilliant one-timer from the center of the box after teammates Edwin Sanchez and Enea Pojani helped create the opportunity for the senior at seven minutes.
Just three minutes later, Eagles leading scorer David Wisniewski eluded the solid Mustangs' back line and drilled a shot past keeper Kenny Kucinski for his 18th goal of the season.
The Reyes-Wisniewski duo, which has terrorized opponents all season, were at their best on this goal. Wisniewski delayed his back post long enough to stay onside, while an alert Reyes read his mate's run all the way before providing a through ball down the left side.
“We were playing like we just got off the bus in the first 15 minutes or so, said Morton coach Mike Caruso. “But this team is also pretty resilient, and after we got a handle on (Wisniewski) and started to knock the ball around and find our midfielders and forwards, we were able to get ourselves back into the match.
All-state candidate and Chicago Fire Academy player Joel Salmaron took a run up the right side that created enough space for Brian Tapia to score past keeper Marco Granda to cut the Eagles' lead to 2-1 at 24 minutes.
A foul and subsequent PK allowed Salmaron to convert his spot kick at the half-hour mark to bring the Mustangs even.
The Eagles clearly had the run of play from the hour mark on as they searched for the go-ahead goal. Their best chances in regulation came after a nicely played crossfield serve from Edwin Sanchez just missed Cristian Sanchez which came just before a left-footed blast over the bar by Edwin Sanchez.
In the shootout, the Mustangs held a 4-3 advantage after 4 rounds of kicks. But after Granda charged off his line to pursuade a Xavier Corona attempt to crash off the post, the crowd went silent when Kucinski stopped Wisniewski to give the Mustangs the victory.