Take a semistate team. Get rid of four of the team's six defensive and midfield players, its goalie and a handful of its top scorers. Stripped to the bare minimum, how much could be expected from a team like that? Another trip to the the semistate?

Warsaw Community High School boys soccer coach Corey Rose, in his fifth season at the helm, sees the possibility of another regional championship on the horizon for his squad.

"I thought this was going to be a rebuilding year," Rose said. "But we've had some surprises. We're going to be right back there again."

With the graduation of Matt Brown, Brett Dickerson, David Gehrke, Phil Hood, Dan Ropte, Matt Burgher and more, not many would be surprised if this Tiger team bowed out early in the sectional after a less than sterling regular season. Rose would be surprised, though.

"I expected us to be around .500," Rose said. "But now, I think we'll be well above that. We've got a tough sectional with Carroll. They always come out of that sectional, except for last year. But I look to have the same type of season as last year."

Those feelings come from a trio of seniors who will carry the load for the team. Brad Waggoner is a three-year starter who will play the midfield position. Aaron Sawyer will be a stopper, and Andy Grubbs will play in the sweeper position. A junior, Gabe Koser, will be looked towards for scoring punch.

Throw in sophomores Ben Minnick and Rafael Valencia, along with senior Juan Garcia, and Rose can hope for the best.

Behind all those players will be Rudy Ramirez, who will try to fill Brown's spot as the goaltender. That won't be easy as Rose considered Brown one of the top goalies in the state last year and had the numbers to prove it.

"Rudy has a lot of natural ability," Rose said. "He had a year under Brown and picked up quite a bit from him."

Even though the Tigers got to the semistate last year, they only ended the season with an 8-8-4 record. That was mostly because of an 0-5-1 start with five of those six matches on the road. Can the Tigers improve on that start?

"I don't know if we can," Rose said. "The attitudes on this team are great, and that will be a key to those first six games. If we can be right around .500 in the first six games, we'll have a good season."

And this year, five out of those six are at home, making the road a bit less rocky.

If those six games aren't important enough, the early season is even more important in the Carroll Jamboree. Although the results don't count toward the record, the live scouting of the Chargers could be a key for the Tigers to prepare for the sectional two months later.

Prep Soccer Jamboree Schedule

Saturday

Warsaw boys at Carroll Jamboree, 7:30 p.m.

Warsaw girls at Carroll Jamboree, 5 p.m.

NorthWood boys at Nappanee Elementary in NorthWood Jamboree, 10 a.m.

Wawasee boys at Westview Jamboree, 6 p.m.

Wawasee girls at Plymouth Jamboree, 5 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]