New Cast Of Characters
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
A year ago, the Warsaw Community High School boys soccer team went to the Fort Wayne Snider Semistate with a starting corp of seniors Trevor Ballinger, Will Brown, Ryan Price, Micah Price, Tony Franco, Jesse Sharp, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Trenton Porter, junior Matt Franco and sophomores Scott Smyth and Noah Price.[[In-content Ad]]At Saturday's 10 a.m. semistate match against Muncie Central at The Plex in Fort Wayne, only Price will return to that starting lineup.
"I've had to step into a captain's spot on the team," the junior midfielder said. "(Seniors) Ian Crines and Tony Climaco get a lot of credit too."
And with 10 new starters on the team, head coach Scott Bauer has needed more than Price to elevate their level of play.
"A lot of kids on the team have had to step up and provide leadership," he said. "The guys have really responded well to him."
As the midfielder, Price controls the action on the field for the 20th-ranked Tigers, describing his position as, "Where the offense begins and where the defense begins."
"Being able to possess and orchestrate the attack from the midfield has been very important," Bauer said.
A lot of that action requires Price to be at the center of collisions, and he's shown a keen ability to not only draw fouls, but to agitate the competition as well.
"I like to be able to get my team a free kick on goal," Price said.
And if that requires him getting under the opposition's skin in the process?
"It's just something that comes to me," Price said. "They can get upset, but I make it work."
According to Bauer, Price's ability to draw fouls comes from the way he can get to the ball.
"He does draw more fouls than anyone on the team," Bauer said. "He has a knack for getting the slights of angles on the ball. The other kids are not used to a kid who can get to those angles as quick as Noah does."
His knack for getting to those balls was important last year, but not nearly as important as it will be this time around.
As the only returning starter, Price's leadership and experience will be crucial.
"I've got five guys that were a part of last year's semistate, and three of them played significant minutes," Bauer said. "It's up to them as team leaders to make sure the team understands what an opportunity this is."
The semistate berth is Warsaw's fourth since 1998, and Bauer's third since he took over in 1999.
"They're rare," he said about making it to the round of 16. "This is a wonderful opportunity that they need to take advantage of. I hope they come to play."
In Muncie Central, the 13-4-4 Tigers will face a 15-3 squad that finished 4-3 in the North Central Conference, behind Logansport (7-0) and Marion (5-2). In conference play, Central fell 3-0 to Logansport and 5-2 to Marion.
Giving the Tigers confidence is the fact they defeated Marion 2-1 in the Argos Regional semifinal, then downed Logansport 2-0 in the finals.
However, Bauer is cautious to keep that confidence from growing into overconfidence.
"The fact that Logansport beat Muncie Central doesn't hurt our motivation," he said. "Soccer is a game when, if you don't come to play and win, even if you have more quality, you can end up on the losing side."
In the other half of the bracket, Northridge (16-3-2) and 13th-ranked Homestead (15-4-1) square off, with the winner facing the winner of the Warsaw/Muncie Central match at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Of Warsaw's four losses this year, Northridge has issued two of them, with Homestead delivering another.
"This year, we had a lot of new faces, and they had not really played with each other," Bauer said. "They really had to figure out what everybody's role was."
According to Bauer, it didn't take long for the guys to get it together, with it occurring in their fourth match of the season, a 2-1 win at 18th-ranked Penn on Aug. 29.
"We went into that match without three varsity players, and I brought up players and they found a way to win," Bauer said. "They were finding ways to win. Also, the 1-0 win at Carroll (Sept. 12) was also a big match."
All the big matches throughout the season now culminate into Saturday's semistate.
"I'm really excited about it," Price said. "I'm ready for Muncie Central. It's a great opportunity."
And if Warsaw does defeat Muncie Central, and he has to face a Northridge team the Tigers have lost to twice this year, or a Homestead team that not only beat them this year, but ousted them at last year's semistate final, 1-0?
"I feel we can beat both of those teams," he said.
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A year ago, the Warsaw Community High School boys soccer team went to the Fort Wayne Snider Semistate with a starting corp of seniors Trevor Ballinger, Will Brown, Ryan Price, Micah Price, Tony Franco, Jesse Sharp, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Trenton Porter, junior Matt Franco and sophomores Scott Smyth and Noah Price.[[In-content Ad]]At Saturday's 10 a.m. semistate match against Muncie Central at The Plex in Fort Wayne, only Price will return to that starting lineup.
"I've had to step into a captain's spot on the team," the junior midfielder said. "(Seniors) Ian Crines and Tony Climaco get a lot of credit too."
And with 10 new starters on the team, head coach Scott Bauer has needed more than Price to elevate their level of play.
"A lot of kids on the team have had to step up and provide leadership," he said. "The guys have really responded well to him."
As the midfielder, Price controls the action on the field for the 20th-ranked Tigers, describing his position as, "Where the offense begins and where the defense begins."
"Being able to possess and orchestrate the attack from the midfield has been very important," Bauer said.
A lot of that action requires Price to be at the center of collisions, and he's shown a keen ability to not only draw fouls, but to agitate the competition as well.
"I like to be able to get my team a free kick on goal," Price said.
And if that requires him getting under the opposition's skin in the process?
"It's just something that comes to me," Price said. "They can get upset, but I make it work."
According to Bauer, Price's ability to draw fouls comes from the way he can get to the ball.
"He does draw more fouls than anyone on the team," Bauer said. "He has a knack for getting the slights of angles on the ball. The other kids are not used to a kid who can get to those angles as quick as Noah does."
His knack for getting to those balls was important last year, but not nearly as important as it will be this time around.
As the only returning starter, Price's leadership and experience will be crucial.
"I've got five guys that were a part of last year's semistate, and three of them played significant minutes," Bauer said. "It's up to them as team leaders to make sure the team understands what an opportunity this is."
The semistate berth is Warsaw's fourth since 1998, and Bauer's third since he took over in 1999.
"They're rare," he said about making it to the round of 16. "This is a wonderful opportunity that they need to take advantage of. I hope they come to play."
In Muncie Central, the 13-4-4 Tigers will face a 15-3 squad that finished 4-3 in the North Central Conference, behind Logansport (7-0) and Marion (5-2). In conference play, Central fell 3-0 to Logansport and 5-2 to Marion.
Giving the Tigers confidence is the fact they defeated Marion 2-1 in the Argos Regional semifinal, then downed Logansport 2-0 in the finals.
However, Bauer is cautious to keep that confidence from growing into overconfidence.
"The fact that Logansport beat Muncie Central doesn't hurt our motivation," he said. "Soccer is a game when, if you don't come to play and win, even if you have more quality, you can end up on the losing side."
In the other half of the bracket, Northridge (16-3-2) and 13th-ranked Homestead (15-4-1) square off, with the winner facing the winner of the Warsaw/Muncie Central match at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Of Warsaw's four losses this year, Northridge has issued two of them, with Homestead delivering another.
"This year, we had a lot of new faces, and they had not really played with each other," Bauer said. "They really had to figure out what everybody's role was."
According to Bauer, it didn't take long for the guys to get it together, with it occurring in their fourth match of the season, a 2-1 win at 18th-ranked Penn on Aug. 29.
"We went into that match without three varsity players, and I brought up players and they found a way to win," Bauer said. "They were finding ways to win. Also, the 1-0 win at Carroll (Sept. 12) was also a big match."
All the big matches throughout the season now culminate into Saturday's semistate.
"I'm really excited about it," Price said. "I'm ready for Muncie Central. It's a great opportunity."
And if Warsaw does defeat Muncie Central, and he has to face a Northridge team the Tigers have lost to twice this year, or a Homestead team that not only beat them this year, but ousted them at last year's semistate final, 1-0?
"I feel we can beat both of those teams," he said.
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