Hornets can't slow down Morton in Red Devil Cup final

By Curt Herron

Saturday figured to be a day that the Hinsdale South program would look back upon with some satisfaction.

After all, the Hornets had earned themselves the right of playing for the championship of Hinsdale Central's Red Devil Cup.

And they would get to meet talented Morton at Centennial Field, the site of their big win over the Red Devils on Tuesday.

But things started out badly for South as it opened the day with a 4-1 defeat at Oswego East in its final pool match in the event.

And then they struggled for 60 minutes in the finals against the Mustangs but still only found themselves trailing by a 1-0 score.

However, matters got worse, indeed much worse, after Morton scored five goals during a 15:24-span to help it claim a 6-0 victory.

While the day wasn't a complete downer for Hornets coach James VanDenburgh, it will be easy to forget about it and just move on.

Click to hear coach James VanDenburgh interview

The good news for South (2-3-1) is that it bounced back from a disappointing start by hanging tough against Mike Caruso's squad.

But in the end, the Mustangs had too much quickness on offense and eventually were able the find net often during the late going.

The tone was set just over two minutes into the title match when the Mustangs (4-0-1) were able to connect for the first time.

That's when Joel Salmeron, a member of the Chicago Fire Academy team that won the U-15/16 national title, initially connected.

Just 2:07 into the match, the Mustang forward lined an attempt from the side that found its way into the opposite side of the net.

Although Morton was knocking on the door often during the match, that was its lone score until just over 18 minutes remained.

Much of the credit for that goes to Hornets keeper Paras Patel, who did all that he could to keep Morton off of the scoreboard.

That certainly wasn't easy, considering that the Mustangs had plenty of chances during both halves as they dominated in chances.

Hector Ibarra was stopped on a header following a free kick and later Ivan Chavez lined an attempt that just went over the net.

Two of the few first half highlights for the Hornets were supplied by Nick Henry, who scored the lone goal against Oswego East.

With just over 14 minutes left in the half, Henry sent in a long free kick that was briefly loose but no Hornet could get a shot.

A short time later, Morton's Martin Vargas placed a free kick from just outside the box that was deflected away by Adam Garcia.

Vargas' subsequent corner kick was grounded right to Patel, as was a similar effort from Chavez just over a minute later.

South had one more good chance in the final two minutes but Henry's close-range free kick sailed across the front of the net.

Click to hear coach Mike Caruso interview

Henry threatened again about two minutes into the second half when he lined a corner kick to Mustangs keeper Kenny Kuzinski.

Then it was more from Salmeron as Patel had to make stops on a short attempt, a line drive and a chip right in front of him.

Morton's defense did a good job of preventing Hornets forward T.J. Kubiesa from adding to his team-high offensive production.

His best chance came shortly before the midpoint of the final half when he got free but Pedro Barrera deflected the ball away.

But Morton was right back at it as Chavez sent a pass in front to Salmeron, who got off a quick attempt which Patel stopped.

There wasn't much the Hornets keeper could do on Morton's next threat and that score with 18:07 left finally ended the drought.

Brian Tapia's short try was blocked by Dan Pocica but he got the rebound back and put a shot into the other side of the net.

Salmeron connected again just 16 seconds later to give the Mustangs a 3-0, effectively dashing South's slim comeback hopes.

Kubiesa, who assisted Henry on his score in the morning match, finally put a shot on goal with just over 12 minutes remaining.

In the final 10 minutes, the Mustangs received a score from Octavio Garcia and two goals from Marcos Romo to close things out.

The Hornets have a pair of matches this week, featuring a Thursday trip to York and a Saturday home match with Glenbard West.