Morton had not given up more than one goal in a game all season.

So the Mustangs’ 1-0 halftime lead in Friday’s Class 3A St. Ignatius Sectional championship might have seemed insurmountable to some.

Hinsdale Central did not fall into that category. The Red Devils overcame Morton’s remarkable trend with a pair of second-half goals to win 2-1 in Chicago and advance to their second straight supersectional.

 “At halftime we just addressed the fact that it’s 40 minutes,” said Hinsdale Central coach Mike Wiggins. “Leave it all out on the field and don’t have any regrets when you’re done.”

The Red Devils quickly turned the halftime discussion into action as Cameron Legan notched the equalizer just over a minute after the break.

Less than 10 minutes later, Alex Scott made the most of difficult situation when he beat his defender in the corner and scored the eventual game-winner.

“I didn’t really think I had anything when I got the ball initially,” Scott said. “I just tried to take the person on and then after the final touch I didn’t really have a good setup for the shot. So, I just tried to boot it in and make the best of it. Fortunately it went in.”

The Mustangs, who defeated Hinsdale Central 5-0 earlier in the season, went up 1-0 with 5:21 remaining in the first half on a Joel Salmeron goal.

“That was the first time in 28 games we’ve given up more than a goal,” said Morton coach Mike Caruso. “Unfortunately, it was just the wrong game to give up the goal and we couldn’t get a second goal.”

The Red Devils take on the winner of Downers South and Neuqua Valley in Tuesday’s 7 p.m. supersectional at Benedictine University in Lisle.

Sectional semifinal
Hinsdale Central truly has become the thorn in Lyons Township’s side.

The Red Devils have posted a 3-0 mark in the teams’ last three meetings. In a 2007 sectional final, the Red Devils won 1-0. During the 2008 regular season, they edged LT 1-0 in West Suburban Silver play.

On Wednesday at the St. Ignatius sectional semifinal, the Red Devils once again posted a 1-0 victory to propel itself to Friday’s championship match.

“We’re real familiar with each other,” said Hinsdale goalie Sean Donovan (12 saves) of the rivalry with the Lions. “It’s the biggest game of the year for both of us I think.”

Robert LaRocque provided all the offense Hinsdale Central would need when he nodded in the game-winner off a free kick from Cameron Legan.

Dartmouth-bound Donovan and the Hinsdale Central defense earned the shutout.

“I think they just match up very well with what we do,” LT coach Paul Labbato said of Hinsdale Central. “They’re bigger than us and faster in a lot of positions and I think that just comes into play. When they go hard to the ball and strong to the ball they end up getting it on our side (of the field) a little more.”