Four score! Enrique Ayala’s hat trick-plus-1 leads Morton past Downers Grove South

BERWYN – Morton senior forward Enrique Ayala played so well Saturday his coach instituted a new rule.

“I said from now on, anyone that scores four in a game, they get a game ball,” Morton coach Jim Bageanis said.

Ayala had scored three goals in a game before, but he topped that by bagging four – including three in the first 11 minutes – to lead the host Mustangs to a shockingly convincing 5-0 victory over Downers Grove South in a key West Suburban Conference Gold Division match.

Morton (10-4-5, 5-0) can win the league championship by beating Leyden in Northlake on Tuesday. Defending champion Leyden (13-1-2, 3-0) can repeat by beating the Mustangs as well as Downers Grove South and Willowbrook.

“We lost last year to Leyden, so we really want to get it back,” Ayala said. “Before last year I think we had won 4-5 years in a row, and when we lost last year we were very upset, and we just want to get it back.”

Ayala came out Saturday with a sense of urgency that Downers South (8-4-3, 3-1) failed to match. He scored on his first two shots of the game, taking a pass from Dario Cisneros and firing home a 10-yard shot just 2:53 into the match.

Three minutes later, Ayala took advantage of a turnover from just outside the box and ripped a 22-yard shot into the upper-left corner for a 2-0 lead.

“I always play with intensity,” Ayala said. “I always play with what I’ve got.

“I felt the need to score. They’re a really good team, but we were able to finish.”

Ayala did it repeatedly. The Mustangs attacked off another giveaway and Angel Rodriguez ripped a shot from the top of the box.

Downers South goalkeeper Eduardo Villa made the save but the rebound went right to a wide-open Ayala, who buried his third goal of the game with 29:07 left in the first half.

“The first 10 minutes, we shot ourselves in the foot with three turnovers that were capitalized, and that’s what is important,” Downers South coach Chris Hernandez said. “Playing in a tight game against a good team, they’re going to punish you when you make mistakes.

“They had three goals off of four shots in the first half. You can’t go into a competitive game and turn the ball over at the top of your box and not expect to give up goals.”

The Mustangs were more competitive with the wind at their backs at the outset of the second half but could not find the back of the net.

But Ayala did so with 24:47 left with his career-high fourth goal. Senior midfielder David Perez swerved a 24-yard free kick from the right wing across the goal mouth to the onrushing Ayala, who had a step on his defender and smashed the ball into the net with his shoulder.

“The plan was to (pass it) to Alfredo (Campos),” Perez said. “He was supposed to run, and I was supposed to pass to him.

“But I saw Enrique make a great run, so I passed it to him, and he scored it with his shoulder, like a Brazilian. He’s always making those runs, and every time I see him, I know he’s going to be there.”

Adrian Adame also scored for the Mustangs, who are 7-3-1 in their last 11 games. Ayala, not coincidentally, leads the team in scoring and has done much of his damage during that stretch.

“With his energy level, he covers a lot of ground for us, so we’ve got to give him little breaks here and there,” Bageanis said. “But we’re a different team with him up top when he’s pressuring high.”