Rookie's first goal lifts Lyons past Mustangs

Lyons' Stefan Luetkehans (12) and Zach Jellish (18) battle with Morton’s Joel Salmeron for the ball.
(Scott Powers/For the Sun-Times News Group)

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Lyons freshman Elliot Borge expected little to no minutes in his first varsity soccer game on Monday.

He even told his family not to bother coming. Taking his advice, everyone went to his sister’s game instead.

Of course as fate would have it, Borge scored his first career goal, which also happened to be the game’s lone goal. It also happened to hand No. 3 Morton its first loss of the season as the Lions won 1-0 at home.

“I have to go home and tell them,” Borge said of his relatives.

Scoreless in the second half, Morton (16-1-1) gave Lyons (7-4-1) its break when a defenseman mis-hit the ball when trying to clear it and ended up providing Lions a corner. Stefan Luetkehans took the corner for the right side and sent a low line drive into the box.

Morton goalkeeper Jason Saucedo flew out at the ball with his hands in the air, but it soared just past his fingertips and to Borge’s head. He placed the ball right between two Morton defenders and into the net in the 58th minute.

“It was a perfect cross,” Borge said. “There was no way I was going to miss from there.

“First game, that’s great. You never know how to describe it.”

While Borge stole the show with his first career goal, it was Lyons’ defense that coach Paul Labbato was most impressed by. Lately, the Lions had allowed too many goals for his taste.

Against the Mustangs, they fixed that. Chris Meingast and Billy McGuinness were especially big for Lyons.

“We’ve been kind of shoddy in the back,” Labbato said. “A lot of it’s been focus. More than the soccer part, it was more, ‘Let’s get it right in the back.’”

From the midfield on back, the Lions halted attack after attack from Morton. The Mustangs didn’t have a true chance at goal until the final 10 minutes when they pushed everyone up. Even then, Lyons confidently held the back together.

Lyons players shouted afterward that the win marked a new season for them.

“We needed this one,” Labbato said.