Tigers Advance To Soccer Sectional Final
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
After Warsaw's 3-0 boys soccer win over Argos and Plymouth's 2-0 conquest of Manchester in Thursday's opening-round at Argos High School, the two Northern Lakes Conference teams will meet in the 7 p.m. championship match Saturday.[[In-content Ad]]Between 2004 and 2006, the Tigers never allowed a goal in three wins over the Rockies, but Plymouth did jump up with a first-round win last year, 2-1 in penalty kicks.
On Aug. 28, Warsaw left Plymouth with a 3-0 win, letting Rockies coach Josh Martin know who the team to beat was in the area.
"The last five years, we've always seen them," Martin said. "Whether it's in the first round or whether it's in the championship game of sectional. Tonight (before the Manchester match), I asked, 'Who are we playing?' Our kids said, 'Warsaw.' The bottom line is, not that we're looking forward to the next game, but we always want to play like we're playing the best team in the area. Warsaw is 12th in the state right now, so that's one of the teams to beat in this area. So, we're always thinking we're playing a team with those skills, that tough and that strong and athletic."
Prior to anyone playing in the finals, the two squads first had to get past their first-round opponents, with Warsaw and Argos getting the action started.
Warsaw 3, Argos 0
Having just defeated Argos 7-1 on Sept. 27 in Warsaw, the Tigers may have had a psychological advantage on the field, but added to that with two quick goals.
"We told the guys that it's obviously important to score first and make Argos unbelievers - thinking they can't hang with us," Warsaw coach Scott Bauer said.
Warsaw's two early goals came within two-and-a-half minutes of each other as senior Jesse Sharp converted a penalty kick shorty after sophomore Noah Price made a heads-up goal when Argos goalkeeper Dylan Colburn let a ball get out of his grasp.
Following Sharp's penalty kick at the 30:27 mark, Warsaw didn't get its next score until Sharp converted on an assist from senior Ryan Price with only 1:31 remaining.
"I'm not very happy with the way we closed this thing out," Bauer said. "I know we got the third goal, but it was a bit too late to really affect the game. I hope we can do better the next time we step on the pitch."
Against the 12th-ranked Tigers, Dragons coach Todd VanDerWeele had hoped to make Warsaw really work for its goals, but the first two were very preventable.
"We have a tendency for giving up easy goals," he said. "Against a team like Warsaw, it's going to take every ounce of energy we've got (to win). So when that happens, it's such a morale killer. My guys put the effort forward, it just wasn't our night."
The goals may have been morale killers for the Dragons, but they may have also given the Tigers the illusion they could score from anywhere on the field. Going out of their normal attack, Warsaw began taking some longer shots, allowing Argos to hang around.
"The two goals gave us some padding, and I think we lost our rhythm a little bit," Bauer said. "We didn't feel the pressure that we had felt earlier. I'd like to think we played better when we felt some pressure early on. It makes us do some things better."
One Tiger that felt constant pressure was Sharp, who was once again followed everywhere he went, this time by Argos senior Bryant Kuchel.
"We marked up on Jesse Sharp and Micah Price," VanDerWeele said. "I was hoping that if the game went on, the guys would kind of feel out what would work. I stuck with that for a while, but the goals kind of put that on the back burner."
Warsaw senior Micah Price was also marked for a while, but even while being shadowed, Sharp still scored two goals in the opening-round win.
"It's get frustrating for Jesse, getting man-marked, but he held his composure really well," Bauer said. "I just have a feeling that anyone that plays us, they'd be silly not to man-mark him. He's just going to have to learn to deal with that and take his opportunities when they come and trust his mates that they're going to pick up the slack and score."
PLYMOUTH 2, MANCHESTER 0
In the nightcap Thursday, the Manchester Squires struggled to get any kind of offense going in a 2-0 loss to Plymouth.
Attempting just one shot on goal, Manchester just couldn't break through with any serious threats against the Rockies.
"They have a good, tough defense," Manchester coach David McKee said. "Our one-touch passing was just not there tonight. Every now and then, we'd get a good run, but their defense shut down our offense."
The Squires' offense may have struggled a bit because McKee had to pay a little extra attention to Plymouth's forwards, such as juniors Todd Vervynckt and Sean McClellan.
"We just tried to put the stack on," McKee said. "We played more defenders than we usually do, and we've been working on that for the past couple of weeks. We held them to two goals. Not bad. Plymouth is a good team."
The Squires' defense also played up in an attempt to offset the Rockies' quick forwards, which did work to draw numerous offside penalties.
"This is the second or third game where teams have been playing up high and running some offside-traps on us," Martin said.
"We got some really good runs from Thomas Gorski out there and Clayton Bright to build some runs out there," he added. "We just got unlucky with some offside penalties."
While they may have gotten unlucky on a couple of runs, the Rockies did get a goal when a slowly hit ball by sophomore Darwin Galeano crossed the goal line just out of the reach of Manchester senior keeper Josh Bailey at the 32:12 mark in the first half.
Up just 1-0 at the half, the Rockies all but put the match away with a one-on-one goal by McClellan with 34:08 left in the match.
"We showed up, played hard and never gave up, no matter who was in," McKee said. "The bottom line is, I hate to see it end for the seniors. They played hard."
The 11-7 Rockies now prepare for the 13-2-3 Tigers, who may put a little more pressure on their defense.
"Just a super, quality side," Martin said of Warsaw. "They play in a lot of similar patterns, that we want to try to play. Their defense is really tough. They have some really big kids and some really fast kids back there.
"We're going to have to be on our 'A' game on defense to be able to keep Sharp on a leash," he added. "A couple of their midfield forwards also have tremendous speed."
WARSAW 3, ARGOS 0
W - Noah Price 8th min.
W - Jesse Sharp (penalty kick) 10th min.
W - Sharp (Ryan Price) 79th min.
Shots on Goal - Warsaw 8, Argos 4; Saves - Warsaw (Will Brown) 3, Argos (Mackenzie Williams) 5; Corner Kicks - Warsaw 7, Argos 2; Fouls (Yellow Card) - Warsaw 16 (bench), Argos 8 (Bryant Kuchel)
Records: Warsaw 13-2-3, Argos 8-8
PLYMOUTH 2, MANCHESTER 0
P - Darwin Galeano 8th min.
P - Sean McClellan 46th min.
Shots on Goal - Plymouth 10, Manchester 1; Saves - Plymouth (Lucas Hill) 1, Manchester (Josh Bailey) 9; Corner Kicks - Plymouth 5, Manchester 0; Fouls (Yellow Card) - Plymouth 9 (Milton Castellano), Manchester 10
Records: Plymouth 11-7, Manchester 8-7-2
After Warsaw's 3-0 boys soccer win over Argos and Plymouth's 2-0 conquest of Manchester in Thursday's opening-round at Argos High School, the two Northern Lakes Conference teams will meet in the 7 p.m. championship match Saturday.[[In-content Ad]]Between 2004 and 2006, the Tigers never allowed a goal in three wins over the Rockies, but Plymouth did jump up with a first-round win last year, 2-1 in penalty kicks.
On Aug. 28, Warsaw left Plymouth with a 3-0 win, letting Rockies coach Josh Martin know who the team to beat was in the area.
"The last five years, we've always seen them," Martin said. "Whether it's in the first round or whether it's in the championship game of sectional. Tonight (before the Manchester match), I asked, 'Who are we playing?' Our kids said, 'Warsaw.' The bottom line is, not that we're looking forward to the next game, but we always want to play like we're playing the best team in the area. Warsaw is 12th in the state right now, so that's one of the teams to beat in this area. So, we're always thinking we're playing a team with those skills, that tough and that strong and athletic."
Prior to anyone playing in the finals, the two squads first had to get past their first-round opponents, with Warsaw and Argos getting the action started.
Warsaw 3, Argos 0
Having just defeated Argos 7-1 on Sept. 27 in Warsaw, the Tigers may have had a psychological advantage on the field, but added to that with two quick goals.
"We told the guys that it's obviously important to score first and make Argos unbelievers - thinking they can't hang with us," Warsaw coach Scott Bauer said.
Warsaw's two early goals came within two-and-a-half minutes of each other as senior Jesse Sharp converted a penalty kick shorty after sophomore Noah Price made a heads-up goal when Argos goalkeeper Dylan Colburn let a ball get out of his grasp.
Following Sharp's penalty kick at the 30:27 mark, Warsaw didn't get its next score until Sharp converted on an assist from senior Ryan Price with only 1:31 remaining.
"I'm not very happy with the way we closed this thing out," Bauer said. "I know we got the third goal, but it was a bit too late to really affect the game. I hope we can do better the next time we step on the pitch."
Against the 12th-ranked Tigers, Dragons coach Todd VanDerWeele had hoped to make Warsaw really work for its goals, but the first two were very preventable.
"We have a tendency for giving up easy goals," he said. "Against a team like Warsaw, it's going to take every ounce of energy we've got (to win). So when that happens, it's such a morale killer. My guys put the effort forward, it just wasn't our night."
The goals may have been morale killers for the Dragons, but they may have also given the Tigers the illusion they could score from anywhere on the field. Going out of their normal attack, Warsaw began taking some longer shots, allowing Argos to hang around.
"The two goals gave us some padding, and I think we lost our rhythm a little bit," Bauer said. "We didn't feel the pressure that we had felt earlier. I'd like to think we played better when we felt some pressure early on. It makes us do some things better."
One Tiger that felt constant pressure was Sharp, who was once again followed everywhere he went, this time by Argos senior Bryant Kuchel.
"We marked up on Jesse Sharp and Micah Price," VanDerWeele said. "I was hoping that if the game went on, the guys would kind of feel out what would work. I stuck with that for a while, but the goals kind of put that on the back burner."
Warsaw senior Micah Price was also marked for a while, but even while being shadowed, Sharp still scored two goals in the opening-round win.
"It's get frustrating for Jesse, getting man-marked, but he held his composure really well," Bauer said. "I just have a feeling that anyone that plays us, they'd be silly not to man-mark him. He's just going to have to learn to deal with that and take his opportunities when they come and trust his mates that they're going to pick up the slack and score."
PLYMOUTH 2, MANCHESTER 0
In the nightcap Thursday, the Manchester Squires struggled to get any kind of offense going in a 2-0 loss to Plymouth.
Attempting just one shot on goal, Manchester just couldn't break through with any serious threats against the Rockies.
"They have a good, tough defense," Manchester coach David McKee said. "Our one-touch passing was just not there tonight. Every now and then, we'd get a good run, but their defense shut down our offense."
The Squires' offense may have struggled a bit because McKee had to pay a little extra attention to Plymouth's forwards, such as juniors Todd Vervynckt and Sean McClellan.
"We just tried to put the stack on," McKee said. "We played more defenders than we usually do, and we've been working on that for the past couple of weeks. We held them to two goals. Not bad. Plymouth is a good team."
The Squires' defense also played up in an attempt to offset the Rockies' quick forwards, which did work to draw numerous offside penalties.
"This is the second or third game where teams have been playing up high and running some offside-traps on us," Martin said.
"We got some really good runs from Thomas Gorski out there and Clayton Bright to build some runs out there," he added. "We just got unlucky with some offside penalties."
While they may have gotten unlucky on a couple of runs, the Rockies did get a goal when a slowly hit ball by sophomore Darwin Galeano crossed the goal line just out of the reach of Manchester senior keeper Josh Bailey at the 32:12 mark in the first half.
Up just 1-0 at the half, the Rockies all but put the match away with a one-on-one goal by McClellan with 34:08 left in the match.
"We showed up, played hard and never gave up, no matter who was in," McKee said. "The bottom line is, I hate to see it end for the seniors. They played hard."
The 11-7 Rockies now prepare for the 13-2-3 Tigers, who may put a little more pressure on their defense.
"Just a super, quality side," Martin said of Warsaw. "They play in a lot of similar patterns, that we want to try to play. Their defense is really tough. They have some really big kids and some really fast kids back there.
"We're going to have to be on our 'A' game on defense to be able to keep Sharp on a leash," he added. "A couple of their midfield forwards also have tremendous speed."
WARSAW 3, ARGOS 0
W - Noah Price 8th min.
W - Jesse Sharp (penalty kick) 10th min.
W - Sharp (Ryan Price) 79th min.
Shots on Goal - Warsaw 8, Argos 4; Saves - Warsaw (Will Brown) 3, Argos (Mackenzie Williams) 5; Corner Kicks - Warsaw 7, Argos 2; Fouls (Yellow Card) - Warsaw 16 (bench), Argos 8 (Bryant Kuchel)
Records: Warsaw 13-2-3, Argos 8-8
PLYMOUTH 2, MANCHESTER 0
P - Darwin Galeano 8th min.
P - Sean McClellan 46th min.
Shots on Goal - Plymouth 10, Manchester 1; Saves - Plymouth (Lucas Hill) 1, Manchester (Josh Bailey) 9; Corner Kicks - Plymouth 5, Manchester 0; Fouls (Yellow Card) - Plymouth 9 (Milton Castellano), Manchester 10
Records: Plymouth 11-7, Manchester 8-7-2
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