Kingsmen Oust Wawasee Kickers
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
After losing to Mishawaka Marian 5-0 in last year's semistate opening round, the Wawasee Warriors were back at it Saturday in Crown Point, this time against the Penn Kingsmen.[[In-content Ad]]After standing toe-to-toe with the 18-2 Kingsmen for 69 minutes, a late Penn goal proved to be enough to end the Warriors' season at 15-5-1 with a 2-1 defeat.
"We knew coming in that it was going to be a very tough game - a game unlike any we had seen during our regular season," Wawasee coach Dodd Cunningham said. "But the girls were up to the challenge. They played really hard in the first half."
In the first half, the Warriors and Kingsmen had a feeling out period, until Wawasee junior Kylee Ort hit a header past Penn goalkeeper Emily Johnson off an assist from senior Francisca Hoffmann with 4:05 remaining.
During their previous four postseason matches, the Warriors had allowed only one goal, that coming in the opening round to Bethany Christian. So up 1-0, Wawasee had to be feeling pretty confident, but also cautious facing a dangerous team.
"We got one to go in, it would have been nice to get two, because we had chances," Cunningham said of his halftime lead.
During that first half, Penn also had plenty have chances, taking six shots and five corner kicks, so coach Mike Luber had the job of just settling his girls down.
"We had those chances really early on in the game, that we didn't take care of," Luber said. "I think they were just a little bit too tight in the first half. We'd get a ball at the 6, with just the us and the keeper, and our whole sideline would yell, 'Shoot it!'" So the message at halftime was to just calm down."
Making it tougher for the Kingsmen to calm down was a rowdy Wawasee fan base.
"Obviously that was a great following from the Wawasee group," Luber said of the fans who made the trek from Syracuse to northwest Indiana. "Their team was really energized with that in the first half of the game. Any time they knocked the ball on that side of the field, everybody in the stands stood up, their flags were waving and that kind of stuff."
With the message to calm down sent, Penn took little time to show their coach they had listened to his instruction.
Just over a minute into the second half, Penn perfectly executed a play which ended with Alyssa Johnston scoring off an assist from Ashley Sill, sucking the previous exuberation out of the Warriors.
"They were hoping to hold on, hold (Penn) scoreless," Cunningham said of his girls. "But I think that goal may have drained them a little bit, took their focus off the game for a little while."
Through the second half, Penn appeared to be quicker to loose balls and pushed the issue a little bit more.
"We came out a little flat in the second half, at first," Cunningham said. "We kind of picked it up towards the end."
During Penn's offensive push, Wawasee freshman goalkeeper Amy Walker had to rise to the occasion, making two jumping saves, while another Penn shot from Sarah Blaase barely missed, ricocheting off the crossbar.
"It was a freshman goalkeeper, so we didn't know how she'd react," Luber said of Walker. "Even though their group was here last year, it's a whole new ballgame with a freshman goalkeeper. Early on, she gave away a couple corner kicks and that kind of stuff, so we knew she was frazzled a little bit."
After a slow start, Walker calmed herself down, making things tough on the Kingsmen.
"It's been a little nerve-racking for her throughout the year," Cunningham said of his young goalkeeper. "She's been in a position where she may not have thought she'd be there. We do have a junior goalkeeper (Kylee Ort), who's a very good goalkeeper, but it also a great field player. So we felt she could step in and take that position and play goal, allowing us to put (Ort) in the field.
"We're proud of her," he added. "She's worked hard, she's done a good job and she held her own."
After recording four saves on the day, Penn's 13th shot eluded Walker after Allison Scholtes booted one into the goal after settling a previous missed shot among a mess of players with just 11:36 to play.
The goal put Penn in front 2-1, and even with the Wawasee offense picking up in the final stages, a goal against the experienced Kingsmen wasn't meant to be.
"We knew they were going to be a quick team, very technical," Cunningham said of Penn. "Most of their kids are travel players, year-round players, and we knew it was going to be a game our girls were going to have to be to the effort to pull off."
Following their win over Wawasee, Penn defeated Lake Central in the championship match 2-1, sending them to the state finals, where they'll face defending state champion Fort Wayne Dwenger Saturday at noon. So with a loss to a final four team, Cunningham and his girls can't hang their heads for too long.
"They worked really hard to get back to this point," Cunningham said of his team. "They didn't have such a good showing here last year. This year, they came back here to prove they belong."
And only losing five girls from this year's team, and starting three freshman in the semistate match, Wawasee may belong at this stage for a few years.
"Next year should still be a good season - maybe not quite the same as this year," Cunningham said. "We are graduating our three center midfielders (Francisca Hoffmann, Kaitlin Cunningham and Kristin Lemaitre) which is pretty tough. But other that that, the team is pretty whole.
"It looks postive for at least the next few years," he added.
PENN 2, WAWASEE 1
(Crown Point Semistate)
W - Kylee Ort (Francisca Hoffmann assist) 36th min.
P - Alyssa Johnston (Ashley Sill assist) 42nd min.
P - Allison Scholtes (unassisted) 69th min.
Shots - Penn 13, Wawasee 7
Saves - Penn (Emily Johnson) 3, Wawasee (Amy Walker) 4
Corner Kicks - Penn 11, Wawasee 1
Fouls - Penn 12, Wawasee 9
Records - Penn 19-2, Wawasee 15-5-1
After losing to Mishawaka Marian 5-0 in last year's semistate opening round, the Wawasee Warriors were back at it Saturday in Crown Point, this time against the Penn Kingsmen.[[In-content Ad]]After standing toe-to-toe with the 18-2 Kingsmen for 69 minutes, a late Penn goal proved to be enough to end the Warriors' season at 15-5-1 with a 2-1 defeat.
"We knew coming in that it was going to be a very tough game - a game unlike any we had seen during our regular season," Wawasee coach Dodd Cunningham said. "But the girls were up to the challenge. They played really hard in the first half."
In the first half, the Warriors and Kingsmen had a feeling out period, until Wawasee junior Kylee Ort hit a header past Penn goalkeeper Emily Johnson off an assist from senior Francisca Hoffmann with 4:05 remaining.
During their previous four postseason matches, the Warriors had allowed only one goal, that coming in the opening round to Bethany Christian. So up 1-0, Wawasee had to be feeling pretty confident, but also cautious facing a dangerous team.
"We got one to go in, it would have been nice to get two, because we had chances," Cunningham said of his halftime lead.
During that first half, Penn also had plenty have chances, taking six shots and five corner kicks, so coach Mike Luber had the job of just settling his girls down.
"We had those chances really early on in the game, that we didn't take care of," Luber said. "I think they were just a little bit too tight in the first half. We'd get a ball at the 6, with just the us and the keeper, and our whole sideline would yell, 'Shoot it!'" So the message at halftime was to just calm down."
Making it tougher for the Kingsmen to calm down was a rowdy Wawasee fan base.
"Obviously that was a great following from the Wawasee group," Luber said of the fans who made the trek from Syracuse to northwest Indiana. "Their team was really energized with that in the first half of the game. Any time they knocked the ball on that side of the field, everybody in the stands stood up, their flags were waving and that kind of stuff."
With the message to calm down sent, Penn took little time to show their coach they had listened to his instruction.
Just over a minute into the second half, Penn perfectly executed a play which ended with Alyssa Johnston scoring off an assist from Ashley Sill, sucking the previous exuberation out of the Warriors.
"They were hoping to hold on, hold (Penn) scoreless," Cunningham said of his girls. "But I think that goal may have drained them a little bit, took their focus off the game for a little while."
Through the second half, Penn appeared to be quicker to loose balls and pushed the issue a little bit more.
"We came out a little flat in the second half, at first," Cunningham said. "We kind of picked it up towards the end."
During Penn's offensive push, Wawasee freshman goalkeeper Amy Walker had to rise to the occasion, making two jumping saves, while another Penn shot from Sarah Blaase barely missed, ricocheting off the crossbar.
"It was a freshman goalkeeper, so we didn't know how she'd react," Luber said of Walker. "Even though their group was here last year, it's a whole new ballgame with a freshman goalkeeper. Early on, she gave away a couple corner kicks and that kind of stuff, so we knew she was frazzled a little bit."
After a slow start, Walker calmed herself down, making things tough on the Kingsmen.
"It's been a little nerve-racking for her throughout the year," Cunningham said of his young goalkeeper. "She's been in a position where she may not have thought she'd be there. We do have a junior goalkeeper (Kylee Ort), who's a very good goalkeeper, but it also a great field player. So we felt she could step in and take that position and play goal, allowing us to put (Ort) in the field.
"We're proud of her," he added. "She's worked hard, she's done a good job and she held her own."
After recording four saves on the day, Penn's 13th shot eluded Walker after Allison Scholtes booted one into the goal after settling a previous missed shot among a mess of players with just 11:36 to play.
The goal put Penn in front 2-1, and even with the Wawasee offense picking up in the final stages, a goal against the experienced Kingsmen wasn't meant to be.
"We knew they were going to be a quick team, very technical," Cunningham said of Penn. "Most of their kids are travel players, year-round players, and we knew it was going to be a game our girls were going to have to be to the effort to pull off."
Following their win over Wawasee, Penn defeated Lake Central in the championship match 2-1, sending them to the state finals, where they'll face defending state champion Fort Wayne Dwenger Saturday at noon. So with a loss to a final four team, Cunningham and his girls can't hang their heads for too long.
"They worked really hard to get back to this point," Cunningham said of his team. "They didn't have such a good showing here last year. This year, they came back here to prove they belong."
And only losing five girls from this year's team, and starting three freshman in the semistate match, Wawasee may belong at this stage for a few years.
"Next year should still be a good season - maybe not quite the same as this year," Cunningham said. "We are graduating our three center midfielders (Francisca Hoffmann, Kaitlin Cunningham and Kristin Lemaitre) which is pretty tough. But other that that, the team is pretty whole.
"It looks postive for at least the next few years," he added.
PENN 2, WAWASEE 1
(Crown Point Semistate)
W - Kylee Ort (Francisca Hoffmann assist) 36th min.
P - Alyssa Johnston (Ashley Sill assist) 42nd min.
P - Allison Scholtes (unassisted) 69th min.
Shots - Penn 13, Wawasee 7
Saves - Penn (Emily Johnson) 3, Wawasee (Amy Walker) 4
Corner Kicks - Penn 11, Wawasee 1
Fouls - Penn 12, Wawasee 9
Records - Penn 19-2, Wawasee 15-5-1
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