Morton rallies past Lions in Pepsi Showdown semifinals

By Curt Herron

Lyons Township's players really wanted the chance to get to Toyota Park to play again in the championship match of the Pepsi Showdown.

And throughout most of Saturday's semifinal match with Morton at West Field, it looked like the Lions very likely would get their wish.

But while LT dominated the play throughout and had plenty of scoring opportunities, they had little to show for it as time wound down.

A goal by Elliot Borge with 25:29 left looked like it might be sufficient to get the job done to advance LT to next Sunday's finals.

But the pesky Mustangs had other ideas and made the most of a few breaks that came their way during the final stages of the match.

Xavier Corona tied things up with 3:52 remaining in regulation and then Jose Montes connected with 1:55 left in the first overtime.

That combination helped Morton to rally for a 2-1 victory over the Lions and move on to meet Libertyville, which won 4-1 over Larkin.

The come-from-behind victory by the Mustangs (11-1) also snapped a 25-match unbeaten streak for LT (8-1-2) dating back to last season.

While disappointed to see his team fall in the late going, LT coach Paul Labbato was quick to give credit to Morton for its resiliency.

And the Lions coach believes that his squad will learn from their experiences on Saturday and become a better team as a result of it.

Click to hear coach Paul Labbato interview

LT fired off the first salvo of what proved to be a wild final half when Horacio Sanchez was wide of the net about three minutes in.

Less than 10 minutes later, Morton had one of its best chances when Joel Salmeron and LT keeper Max Hadley went after a loose ball.

Salmeron came up with it and lined a shot toward the net but Hadley retreated back to the net in time to stop the potential score.

The Lions capitalized on their next opportunity when Borge took a pass from Peter Kralovec-Kirchherr and headed it in with 25:29 left.

Click to hear Elliot Borge interview

LT kept up the pressure a few minutes later as Brett Heimerdinger had a short attempt deflected away, which resulted in a corner kick.

With just under 16 minutes left, LT had another flurry of activity following a close-range try from David Ellis that led to a corner.

Kyle Kurfirst directed the corner kick in front of the net, where Borge then headed it directly to Mustangs keeper Kenny Kuzinski.

With about 11 minutes left, Hadley stopped an attempt from the side by Corona, who a short while later was just wide on a header.

Morton continued its pressure with just over four minutes remaining as Ivan Chavez had a shot try deflected away for a corner kick.

In the action that followed the subsequent corner, Corona sent in a grounder that found its way into the net with 3:52 remaining.

That's how regulation play ended, but there was plenty of more drama that would unfold during the eight-plus minutes of extra play.

Kurfirst forced a corner and then sent in an attempt that Kuzinski punched away toward Pete Gabrek, who set up another corner kick.

Salmeron headed that try away and on the subsequent throw-in from Kralovec-Kirchherr, Gabrek's header wound up going over the net.

A short time later, Borge flicked a pass toward Gabrek, who lined another attempt just wide and then Ellis forced another corner.

But despite all of LT's good chances that ended as mere close calls, Morton caught a break and capitalized on it to finish things.

The LT keeper came out of the net to clear a ball, which wound up going to Montes, who fired in a long shot with 1:55 remaining.

Beside the tournament implications, coach Mike Caruso's Mustangs are early favorites to earn the top seed in the Argo Sectional.

Click to hear coach Mike Caruso interview

LT was also knocking on the door throughout the initial 40 minutes of play but had really nothing to show for it at the break.

After one Kurfirst corner kick was cleared by Montes, his follow-up corner effort was pushed away by Kuzinski about 12 minutes in.

Morton had one of its few good first-half chances a short time later when Montes lined a long free kick directly at LT's keeper.

The Lions dominated after that, beginning with Kralovec-Kirchherr's long free kick to Sanchez, who headed a shot toward Kuzinski.

With about 14 minutes left in the half, Borge had a free kick just outside of the box, which led to a deflected header by Gabrek.

Borge was in a similar situation with about six minutes remaining when another free kick was deflected away for a corner kick try.

Morton had one last chance to try to break the deadlock in the opening half but Montes' liner was denied in the final half minute.

LT returns to West Suburban Conference Silver Division action on Thursday when it plays hosts to Glenbard West at West Field.

Then two days later, the Lions travel to Milwaukee for a match with the last team to defeat them, Marquette University High.