Defense is often believed to be the key for any team to be successful.

For the Warsaw Tigers, there's no difference. David Gehrke, Aaron Sawyer, Brad Waggoner, Matt Burgher, Jason Johnston, Jacob Silveus and Brett Dickerson are the defensive catalysts for the South Bend Adams Semistate-bound boys soccer team. When an opponent rarely gets a shot, as Angola did in the regional, these are the players most often responsible. They act as a buffer zone to keep an opposing forward from getting to goalie Matt Brown.

Warsaw head coach Corey Rose described his defensive style of play that has allowed just a single goal in three tournament games.

"We try to play man-to-man," Rose said. "It's their responsibility to keep the guy from getting the ball or preventing him from turning with the ball and facing the defender. We try to keep them to the outside and prevent them from cutting the ball back. Mainly, it's just a tough "man-to-man, arm-in-the-back" type of defense. We let the offender know we're there and don't give them any time."

One of the most important positions on the team is the center midfielder slot, played by Dickerson, a senior tri-captain. Not only must he help out on defense, but he also has to be a part of the offense. He scored one of the four shootout goals against Angola, his first goal of the season.

"He's got to do both parts," Rose said. "He has to start the offense and hustle back on defense. If he's not doing his job, that will hurt the defense because someone has to come off and pick up his man and that leaves another guy free for the sweeper, who doesn't have a mark, to pick up. Everyone has a defensive role and if everybody doesn't play it, that's when goals are scored."

Waggoner plays that sweeper position that Rose talked about. The sweeper position is a support position. If an offensive player breaks through the defense, Waggoner is one of the last men to beat.

"He brings a calm, consistent sweeper position," Rose said. "He's got a nose for the ball. He knows when to go out on the wing. If it's sent too far, he knows when to go and attack the ball. He's got good skills, and he knows where to put the ball in starting the offense back up again and getting it to the right person."

Being in a position to see the entire field, Waggoner has another job different than most of the other defensive players.

"I direct the defense," Waggoner said. "I tell people who to mark and basically control everything in the backfield."

Gehrke, Sawyer and Burgher are the other defensive starters. They each bring something a little bit different to the defense.

"David is probably one of the best marking backs we have, if not the best," Rose said. "He's not afraid. He does well in the air, and he anticipates the ball pretty well. He's the stopper in the middle of the field. I usually put him on the strongest offender and hopefully he can get the job done."

Sawyer is one of the fastest backs on the team. He will play a key role against Fort Wayne Canterbury in the first game of the semistate because he knows a lot of the players from travel soccer and other leagues.

"If there's a guy who's pretty fast and a pretty big offensive threat, we'll probably put (Sawyer) on him," Rose said. "He knows some of the guys that we're playing against. (Canterbury) has a lot of players that we're familiar with, and that we've played against in travel. I think that will help out some of the guys."

Burgher is the enforcer on defense. He's not the finesse player that most of the rest of the defenders are, but his role is important.

"He brings frustration to the other team," Rose said. "He probably isn't the most finesse type of person. He just frustrates the heck out of people because he's always hitting you from behind and making you think twice. He's got decent foot speed, but he's a banger and a frustrater."

Johnston comes off of the bench to give the other guys a rest when someone needs it. Silveus is a junior varsity player who only played one varsity game this year, but is gaining valuable experience.

"Johnston started a few games for us," Rose said. "He's a banger, good in the air, a big kid. I'm not afraid whatsoever to put him in there when someone needs a break. Silveus didn't get a lot of playing time last year, but he came back and worked hard over the offseason and he started every game for the junior varsity at sweeper. He's a good marking back and he's an up and coming kid."

The defense understands what it is up against in Canterbury. The Cavaliers knocked off Fort Wayne Concordia 4-0 to win the regional championship despite having four first half goals called back because of offsides violations.

"Canterbury is a real strong team, top five in the state," Waggoner said. "The offense is going to be really good, so our defense is going to have to step it up to keep the ball out of their hands."

"I think we'll play a really big role," Burgher said. "If we can shut them down and give our offense a chance to score, I think we might have a chance."

"Everybody's going to have to step up," Dickerson said. "The forwards are going to have to score goals, the midfield's going to have to control the midfield on both defense and offense, and the defense is going to have to really play hard."

Canterbury is 15-2-2, while Warsaw is 8-7-4. However, since Warsaw started 0-5-1, the Tigers have gone 8-2-3 and have knocked off teams such as South Bend St. Joe and Carroll in the sectional championship.

Warsaw will try to put another notch in its belt on Saturday at School Field in South Bend. The match starts at noon and, if the Tigers win, they will play at 7 p.m. in the championship game. [[In-content Ad]]