Warsaw Boys Knock Off 2A No. 7 Mishawaka Marian
August 28, 2022 at 8:32 p.m.
Warsaw Boys Knock Off 2A No. 7 Mishawaka Marian
By Anthony Anderson-
“To win a game like this usually takes something special from somebody, and Tito Sanchez gave us a really special goal,” Tiger coach Ryan Burgher said of his senior’s 20-yarder from just left of the middle 10 minutes into the second half.
The play began off a Warsaw corner kick with the ball subsequently bouncing around in traffic.
“I saw it go up in the air and I was kind of turning away from it, so I just half-volleyed it, just wanted to get something on goal there, and luckily, it fell in,” Sanchez said of his side-winding, right-footed kick.
The Tigers improved to 6-0-1 while dropping the Knights to 3-1.
Sanchez’s tally was his seventh of the season to tie junior Noah Van Puffelen for the team lead.
It was also the first goal Marian’s allowed all fall, on the heels of 4-0, 3-0 and 7-0 wins.
“We knew they were undefeated, and I knew they hadn’t (allowed a goal),” Sanchez said, “but we also know we’re solid. We know what we got. Our attack is dangerous, and our defense really stepped up this game.”
Warsaw notched its fifth shutout overall and third straight.
“(Marian’s) a really good team and they have a really good top striker in No. 3,” Burgher said of Knight senior Jaxson Hundt, who entered the day at six goals and four assists. “We knew that would be a challenge, but we have a really good defense led by Dennis Hernandez. Then Julian Saldivar in the (midfield) is just a defensive rock for us, and Nehemiah Wright in goal gave us a shutout. It was a full team effort.”
Wright made a pair of full-extension diving stops among his five saves overall and added a perfectly timed challenge well out of the net to break up another threat.
Offensively, the Tigers came mighty close to scoring more than they did.
Van Puffelen aimed a first-half shot that required a diving stop by Marian keeper Noah Balyeat, then struck the crossbar with a second-half try that came less than two minutes before Sanchez finally broke the scoreless deadlock.
Further, Nathan Dailey headed in an apparent goal less than two minutes into the second half for Warsaw, but it was overturned on a push-off call.
“It was a good win,” Burgher said, “but I keep stressing that these are just tests to see where we’re at. They’re not sectional games, they’re not conference games, but I thought our guys did well.”
“We gotta move the ball faster,” Sanchez said of where he thinks his team can get better. “We get countered really quickly, so we need to fix that. We just gotta drop back more, but we’re definitely a good team.”
The Tigers finished at six shots on goal to the Knights’ five. Marian collected seven corner kicks to the visitors’ four. Each side was issued a pair of yellow cards.
Warsaw returns to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday when it hosts Concord in Northern Lakes Conference play.
The Tigers earned a 5-0 win over the Knights in Saturday’s JV contest. Freshman Mydin Burgher scored two goals, with sophomores Tanner Reynolds, Luke Barbosa and Esteban Saldivar adding one apiece.
“To win a game like this usually takes something special from somebody, and Tito Sanchez gave us a really special goal,” Tiger coach Ryan Burgher said of his senior’s 20-yarder from just left of the middle 10 minutes into the second half.
The play began off a Warsaw corner kick with the ball subsequently bouncing around in traffic.
“I saw it go up in the air and I was kind of turning away from it, so I just half-volleyed it, just wanted to get something on goal there, and luckily, it fell in,” Sanchez said of his side-winding, right-footed kick.
The Tigers improved to 6-0-1 while dropping the Knights to 3-1.
Sanchez’s tally was his seventh of the season to tie junior Noah Van Puffelen for the team lead.
It was also the first goal Marian’s allowed all fall, on the heels of 4-0, 3-0 and 7-0 wins.
“We knew they were undefeated, and I knew they hadn’t (allowed a goal),” Sanchez said, “but we also know we’re solid. We know what we got. Our attack is dangerous, and our defense really stepped up this game.”
Warsaw notched its fifth shutout overall and third straight.
“(Marian’s) a really good team and they have a really good top striker in No. 3,” Burgher said of Knight senior Jaxson Hundt, who entered the day at six goals and four assists. “We knew that would be a challenge, but we have a really good defense led by Dennis Hernandez. Then Julian Saldivar in the (midfield) is just a defensive rock for us, and Nehemiah Wright in goal gave us a shutout. It was a full team effort.”
Wright made a pair of full-extension diving stops among his five saves overall and added a perfectly timed challenge well out of the net to break up another threat.
Offensively, the Tigers came mighty close to scoring more than they did.
Van Puffelen aimed a first-half shot that required a diving stop by Marian keeper Noah Balyeat, then struck the crossbar with a second-half try that came less than two minutes before Sanchez finally broke the scoreless deadlock.
Further, Nathan Dailey headed in an apparent goal less than two minutes into the second half for Warsaw, but it was overturned on a push-off call.
“It was a good win,” Burgher said, “but I keep stressing that these are just tests to see where we’re at. They’re not sectional games, they’re not conference games, but I thought our guys did well.”
“We gotta move the ball faster,” Sanchez said of where he thinks his team can get better. “We get countered really quickly, so we need to fix that. We just gotta drop back more, but we’re definitely a good team.”
The Tigers finished at six shots on goal to the Knights’ five. Marian collected seven corner kicks to the visitors’ four. Each side was issued a pair of yellow cards.
Warsaw returns to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday when it hosts Concord in Northern Lakes Conference play.
The Tigers earned a 5-0 win over the Knights in Saturday’s JV contest. Freshman Mydin Burgher scored two goals, with sophomores Tanner Reynolds, Luke Barbosa and Esteban Saldivar adding one apiece.
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