RIVERSIDE — Stephanie Salmeron has an exceptional feel for what is physically possible before the outcome.

Her quick thinking and sharp decision-making are a crucial part of the Morton attack.

Given how quickly the spaces close, her anticipation is a difference-maker.

“I saw their keeper, and I knew the way she was going to play the ball, and the way she was running with the ball, and I just knew that I had to position my body over the defender so the ball didn’t get past me,” she said.

Her interception of a goal kick set up the first of two goals by forward Aaliyah Leanos in the Mustangs’ 3-0 victory at Riverside-Brookfield on Friday night.

Salmeron and Leanos were the offensive stars and shared the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor.

Leanos had the brace, and Salmeron added a goal in her versatile and complete performance.

For an encore on Saturday morning, Morton (15-6-0) closed out a perfect run in the West Suburban Conference Gold Division with at 3-2 home victory over Hinsdale South.

Midfielder Carisma Rosales scored twice, and Salmeron added a goal as the Mustangs extended their winning streak to 11 games.

At Riverside-Brookfield, Salmeron was involved in the two most consequential actions of the first half.

For starters, she set up the Leanos goal in the 32nd minute.

Two minutes later, she was involved in the play that set Riverside-Brookfield down a player for the rest of the match.

Bulldogs centerback Lucy Drenth was issued a red card after fouling Salmeron just outside the box.

Riverside-Brookfield (12-7-2) could only use nine field players over the final 46 minutes.

“It was really tough to lose our centerback like that,” forward Niamh Larson. “We had another yellow right after that, and we lost our cool and the emotions got the best of us.

“At halftime we regrouped and realized we had to chill out and go back to our attack.”

Riverside-Brookfield generated the most dangerous chances through the first 20 minutes of the match.

Larson went just wide right off a free kick at the top of the box in the 13th minute.

In the 20th minute, a dazzling connection with Larson and forward Hazel Hall led to a sharp shot by midfielder Ella Caputo from six yards that forced Morton keeper Yaritza Padilla to made a quick and dynamic kick save.

Padilla had five saves during her 70-minute part of the sixth shutout during the 10-game winning streak.

Melany Zuniga played the final 10 minutes, and made three superb saves of her own.

Riverside-Brookfield showed intricate passing, which exerted pressure and forced the tempo.

“Our biggest thing this year has really been to focus on passing and connecting those passes,” Hall said. “We’re much more of a technical team than a physical team.

“Morton gave us a lot of space to do that in the first 20 minutes, and that was really helpful. We had a lot of opportunities to put the stuff we’ve been practicing into a game.”

Slowly Morton began to assert control, pushing the ball deeper into the Bulldogs’ final third. The pressure increased in frequency and intensity from the deep balls played by Rosales.

A two-minute burst with Salmeron as the instigator appreciably altered the outcome.

After sizing up Bulldogs’ keeper Annabel Krueger, she darted into space and used her body to block the goal kick.

She quickly played the ball to the left wing to the streaking Leanos, who 
hammered a left-footed ball from about 22 yards for the opening tally.

“Steph is always in that middle space, and offensively she just really knows how to handle the ball,” Leanos said.

“She just knows how to put the ball in the right place. I was glad to finally put one away, because we had a stretch there of about five or six minutes where we were shooting nonstop, but we couldn’t put one away or make the runs at the right time.”

Moments later, Salmeron took the foul, which the center official deemed was excessive.

“It was really tough and disheartening to go down a player. I don’t want to say because of a controversial decision but an impactful one,” Hall said. 

“We just tried to stay compact and tough on defense, and not let them have any crazy shots from distance, because they can do that.”

After entering the second half with a 1-0 lead, Morton broke the game open during another critical two-minute stretch.

In the 48th minute, Leanos took a ball from defender Karina Estrada/Vargas and drilled another left-footed score from about 19 yards from the left wing.

Two minutes later, operating from almost the identical location, Salmeron worked beautifully with Rosales, controlling her through-ball and powering a shot from 17 yards.

“Obviously it helped that they were a man down, but we also just connected so well with the balls that we needed to connect with,” Salmeron said.

“This was an important game for us. They beat us last year. The girls just put their hearts out tonight.”

Winning 11 games in a row is the perfect balm. 

Success breeds confidence, and patterns of behavior, consistency and positive results follow.

“I just feel we have definitely come together as a team,” Salmeron said. “The wins help that, but it’s just a great way to end our regular-season.”

Despite the ballooning deficit and being down a player, Riverside-Brookfield showed resilience and toughness.

Larson, Hall, Caputo and forward Andrijana Nikolic created some dangerous moments, underscoring their resolve to play through the difficult moments.

Both teams are playing in the Class 3A sectional at Hinsdale Central.

The seventh-seeded Bulldogs open tournament play with a rare Monday regional semifinal against no. 11-seed Oak Lawn at Lyons.

“Obviously it’s never great to go out of the regular-season with a loss, but this team has been a rock,” Hall said.

“When we have lost this year, we have rebounded and get that fire for the next game, and put the pressure on whatever team we play next. This is going to motivate us for Oak Lawn. This was a tough loss, but we’re going to come back strong.”

The ninth-seeded Mustangs host no. 8-seed Downers Grove South on Tuesday.

Morton beat their conference rival 1-0 on May 2.

Mustangs centerback Emily Orduna said the team is buoyed by its winning streak and ready for it to continue.

“We started winning and that built our confidence, and we just said let’s keep doing this,” Orduna said.

“Everybody’s on the field working together, doing well, playing together and motivating each other to the very end. We’re not giving any team a chance to come back on us.”

Starting lineups

Morton
GK: Yaritza Padilla
D: Romina Lopez
D: Karina Estrada/Vargas
D: Emily Orduna
D: Isabel Sanchez
MF: Brigitte Solano
MF: Stephanie Salmeron
MF: Itzel Almaguer
MF Carisma Rosales
F: Adamary Huitron
F: Aaliyah Leanos

Riverside-Brookfield
GK: Annabel Krueger
D: Abigail Jurkovic
D: Raleigh Jesswein
D: Lucy Drenth
D: Abigail Ford
MF: Ella Caputo
MF: Maddie Bisiules
MF: Kate Newberry
MF: Michelle Panduro
F: Niamh Larson
F:  Hazel Hall

Chicagoland Soccer MVPs of the Match: Stephanie Salmeron, jr., MF, Morton; Aaliyah Leanos, sr., F, Morton

Scoring summary

First half
Morton—Aaliyah Leanos (Stephanie Salmeron), 32’

Second half
Morton—Leanos (Karina Estrada/Vargas), 48’
Morton—Salmeron (Carisma Rosales), 50’