Huskies come up short against Mustangs in Argo Sectional

OPRF falls to Morton in semifinals for third time in six years

By Curt Herron

One of the most disappointing ways for a team to see its year end is for them to believe that they didn't control their own fate in their finale.

That's pretty much how Oak Park and River Forest coach Paul Wright felt after his squad met Morton in Tuesday's Class 3A Argo Sectional semifinal.

On a day when many sectionals were postponed due to the extreme winds, the Huskies and Mustangs attempted to play soccer, but couldn't do it well.

The gusty winds that roared from the southwest caused havoc to all free kicks, corner kicks, throw ins and just routine passes that were attempted.

Not surprisingly, neither squad was able to put much together in the way of scoring opportunities, whether they had the wind at their backs or not.

Just as inconsistent as the play on the field was the officiating, which was characterized by way too many cards being handed out for the setting.

The low point of the match came early in the final half when a player from each side exited on separate red cards within a span of just 54 seconds.

As both sides bickered over calls and neither could accomplish much in the windy conditions, it looked more like a preseason than postseason match.

Of the few opportunities that actually presented themselves, Morton managed to capitalize on one of them and that turned out to be the difference.

With 6:13 left in the opening half, Joel Salmeron got free and connected from about 15 yards to help Morton capture a 1-0 win over OPRF in Summit.

As a result of their victory, the Mustangs (21-3-3) advance to Friday's sectional finals, where they'll meet Lyons Township (21-1-2) at 4 p.m.

The Lions, who suffered their only loss of the year to Morton, beat Downers Grove North 2-1 in one overtime in Tuesday's second semifinal match.

OPRF (15-5-3), which was attempting to reach its first sectional final since 1996, beat Morton 2-0 on October 8 as the Mustangs rested starters.

The last two times the Huskies won regional titles, in 2008 and 2005, they also lost one-goal decisions to Morton in the sectional semifinals.

It was only the third time this season that OPRF failed to score a goal, with the other two coming against Libertyville and Downers Grove South.

Wright was obviously disappointed in several aspects of Tuesday's match, such as playing an important match so early as well as the officiating.

"The IHSA preaches to 'Do What's Right' as their big campaign slogan," Wright said. "And then we have games at 4:00 where you can barely get fans to and parents have to take a day off of work.

"And then we get really poor officiating on both sides. It's not just because we lost the game. I feel bad for the Morton kid since he's going to miss a really important game for something he didn't deserve a red for.

"Our sophomore player played 47 seconds and gets a red for his first foul and that's bad. When you get to this level of the state tournament, you hope to have some type of quality, not someone there collecting a paycheck."

Although clearly upset with how things unfolded, the Huskies coach tried to put the best possible spin on the situation, under the circumstances.

"I've never seen anything like this," Wright said. "I'm just flabbergasted by the lack of consistency. The game was more about the guy in the center than the two teams and the kids on the field and that's what bothers me.

"So I'll just tell my kids that sometimes in life you're going to run into situations like this. Everything happens for a reason and you just have to battle through it."

Although Morton enjoyed the significant wind advantage during the opening half, the Huskies did a good job of preventing them from doing much.

In fact, there was just one good scoring chance in the opening 29 minutes, which came early on a long free kick by OPRF's Elias El Metennani.

With about 11 minutes left before the break, Salmeron was just wide on a short try after OPRF keeper Sam Euler came out of the net for the stop.

A short time later, Ryan Huettel made a long run downfield before his potential scoring opportunity was finally broken up by Xavier Corona.

Just over a minute before Salmeron put his team ahead for good, Toribio Romo got off a short attempt that Euler just got his fingers onto.

There was one more chaotic moment with just over two minutes remaining in the first half that kind of summed up what an unusual day it was.

Morton was awarded a free kick from about 10 yards out after a dangerous play was called, giving it a golden opportunity to take a 2-0 lead.

As the Huskies lined up into a formidable wall, the Mustangs attempted to get the free kick off, but the wind moved the ball from its spot.

As one player went to retrieve the elusive ball, the referee gave the possession back to the Huskies, ending the threat without an attempt.

OPRF had the wind advantage in the final half, but as was the case in the first 40 minutes, it didn't guarantee any particular dominance.

Shortly after the red card debacle early in the final half, Morton's Jose Montes had a bouncer and Alonso Torres a short try that were denied.

A few minutes later, a pass deflected off OPRF's Stephen Golz that went to keeper Kenny Kuzinski, who then also stopped a grounder by Huettel.

With just over 10 minutes remaining, El Metennani sent a cross that Thomas Lamm headed toward the net, but the Mustang keeper made the stop.

Not long after that, Roman Zwarycz sent a pass from the side toward Lamm, but Kuzinski came out of the net to shut down the scoring chance.

There was more drama for the Huskies during the final five minutes, beginning with Kelly Foran's liner off a defender that went to the keeper.

Then a Huskie throw-in went to Golz, who headed the ball toward Huettel, who saw Kuzinski deflect his short attempt, resulting in a corner.

El Metennani's subsequent corner kick went in front of the net to Foran, who sent a try just wide of the net with about three minutes left.

OPRF had one more good chance a short time later when Euler directed a long free kick toward Foran, who fired a shot that went over the net.

Despite seeing the Huskies' successful year end earlier than he or his team hoped that it would, Wright was proud of what OPRF accomplished.

"This is the first time that we've been consistently ranked all year long and a lot of people are calling us now in order to get games," Wright said.

"I feel that we're on the verge. We're trying to get past Morton and Lyons Township and we're just one goal, one mistake away from being there."