Tigers Season Ends In OT Thriller
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
The second-ranked Homestead Spartans earned a trip to Saturday's state finals with a 1-0 overtime victory over the No. 16 Warsaw Tigers Tuesday at Hefner Field at Fort Wayne's Plex.
"I told the guys they should be disappointed," Warsaw coach Scott Bauer said. "If there's anything worth having, you should be disappointed when you don't get it. However, they played their hearts out. They are the strongest team to ever come out of Warsaw, in my opinion. I just couldn't be prouder, in particular of my seniors."
After 80 minutes of play, the two squads entered overtime, which consists of two, seven-minute periods.
In the opening minute of the first overtime period, Homestead senior Tom Gallmeyer received a pass from junior Kegan Harkenrider inside the 18, scoring the match's lone goal.
"Homestead plays with three central midfielders," Bauer said of the 21-0-2 Spartans. "They move the ball quickly, and get the possession early. We just had real difficulty doing what we wanted to do. We wanted to get the ball out wide to relieve pressure, but we kept playing it up the middle more than I would have liked."
One of the reasons for Warsaw's fondness for the middle may have been a first-half injury to sophomore forward Noah Price, who pulled a hamstring.
"That hurt us as far as our rotation," Bauer said. "Then (senior defender) Trevor Ballinger cramped up, which cost us a little bit."
Facing a Homestead team that only mishandled a couple of balls, possession was key in the semistate match.
Through the entire first half, it was Homestead that controlled possession, and had its best scoring opportunity when a Gallmeyer shot hit Warsaw goalkeeper Will Brown right in the gut on a one-on-one opportunity.
Brown stayed active in the box, posting fives saves, while making numerous other diving grabs on crosses.
Warsaw also had its scoring looks in the opening half, with its most promising being a straight-on shot by senior Micah Price. Shooting from just inside the 18, Price's shot went for the top part of the goal, but Homestead junior keeper Justin Hanford made a jumping save, which he actually had to punch twice to get out of the frame.
In the second half, Warsaw put more sustained pressure on, but still had trouble converting scoring chances.
"In the second half, when we put Micah Price out on the outside, the flankers became more dangerous and got more possession," Bauer said. "We just didn't do enough of that. We didn't get the ball wide enough."
The Spartans' ability to control possession was something new to the Tigers, a team that had been dominating its postseason opponents.
"Hats off to Homestead," Bauer said. "They're a great team. They're the best team we've faced this year."
Warsaw actually faced Homestead twice this year, having lost to them 2-1 in penalty kicks back on Sept. 6 at the Fort Wayne Carroll Tournament.
"It's hard to beat a team twice in a season," Homestead coach Paco Castillo said. "Warsaw's been playing well. They've had a good year. That's one thing we told our guys, that we had to stay focused."
That focus helped the Spartans shutout a team that had outscored its postseason opponents 23-2 coming in.
"Defensively, we don't like to change anything," Castillo said. "Our defense has been solid most of the year. We don't want to change anything. We want to dictate our game. I thought, pretty much, we did."
Even by dictating their game, it appeared that semistate may actually go into penalty kicks.
With just four-and-a-half minutes remaining in the second overtime, Warsaw senior Jesse Sharp got the ball into the back of the net, inciting the Warsaw fans into a frenzy. However, shortly after the party started, it abruptly ended with an offsides penalty, nullifying the match-tying score.
"I saw the flag go up right away," Bauer said of the penalty. "I think Jesse was stoked, but I saw the flag pretty quickly. That kind of sucked the air out a little bit."
Castillo was seated next to the side judge with the call, helping his heart stay at a healthy beat.
"It wasn't too scary, because I was standing right next to (the side judge)," he said. "I saw the flag. Our defense has really been playing smart. I saw them step when they saw the pass was going to get through. He was probably just a few steps (offsides)."
The loss ends the Warsaw season at 15-6-2, with three of those losses coming from a forfeit for an ineligible player.
The showing in the Elite Eight was the best for a Tigers team that will say good-bye to 10 seniors.
"I told them, 'You guys needs to remember how these guys led. The chemistry, the way they treated each other, the way they treated you. Pass that on class to class,'," Bauer said of his seniors. "You can't get this far without quality kids that are seniors."
Those seniors include the school's all-time leader in goals, assists and points in Sharp, as well as three of Bauer's four defensemen, including last year's MVP, Trenton Porter.
"We're going to miss the scoring and the defensiveness of the back four - Trenton, (Thomas Fitzpatrick), Ryan Price and Trevor Ballinger. We'll miss them all. We'll go on. When the disappointment fades a little bit, I think they'll say to themselves, 'This was a heck of a season,'."
HOMESTEAD 1, WARSAW 0 (OT)
H - Tom Gallmeyer (Kegan Harkenrider) 81st min.
Shots on Goal - Homestead 6, Warsaw 2; Saves - Homestead (Justin Hanford) 2; Warsaw (Will Brown) 5; Fouls - Homestead 9, Warsaw 7; Offsides - Homestead 1, Warsaw 3; Corner Kicks - Homestead 7, Warsaw 5; Records - Homestead 21-0-2, Warsaw 15-6-2[[In-content Ad]]
The second-ranked Homestead Spartans earned a trip to Saturday's state finals with a 1-0 overtime victory over the No. 16 Warsaw Tigers Tuesday at Hefner Field at Fort Wayne's Plex.
"I told the guys they should be disappointed," Warsaw coach Scott Bauer said. "If there's anything worth having, you should be disappointed when you don't get it. However, they played their hearts out. They are the strongest team to ever come out of Warsaw, in my opinion. I just couldn't be prouder, in particular of my seniors."
After 80 minutes of play, the two squads entered overtime, which consists of two, seven-minute periods.
In the opening minute of the first overtime period, Homestead senior Tom Gallmeyer received a pass from junior Kegan Harkenrider inside the 18, scoring the match's lone goal.
"Homestead plays with three central midfielders," Bauer said of the 21-0-2 Spartans. "They move the ball quickly, and get the possession early. We just had real difficulty doing what we wanted to do. We wanted to get the ball out wide to relieve pressure, but we kept playing it up the middle more than I would have liked."
One of the reasons for Warsaw's fondness for the middle may have been a first-half injury to sophomore forward Noah Price, who pulled a hamstring.
"That hurt us as far as our rotation," Bauer said. "Then (senior defender) Trevor Ballinger cramped up, which cost us a little bit."
Facing a Homestead team that only mishandled a couple of balls, possession was key in the semistate match.
Through the entire first half, it was Homestead that controlled possession, and had its best scoring opportunity when a Gallmeyer shot hit Warsaw goalkeeper Will Brown right in the gut on a one-on-one opportunity.
Brown stayed active in the box, posting fives saves, while making numerous other diving grabs on crosses.
Warsaw also had its scoring looks in the opening half, with its most promising being a straight-on shot by senior Micah Price. Shooting from just inside the 18, Price's shot went for the top part of the goal, but Homestead junior keeper Justin Hanford made a jumping save, which he actually had to punch twice to get out of the frame.
In the second half, Warsaw put more sustained pressure on, but still had trouble converting scoring chances.
"In the second half, when we put Micah Price out on the outside, the flankers became more dangerous and got more possession," Bauer said. "We just didn't do enough of that. We didn't get the ball wide enough."
The Spartans' ability to control possession was something new to the Tigers, a team that had been dominating its postseason opponents.
"Hats off to Homestead," Bauer said. "They're a great team. They're the best team we've faced this year."
Warsaw actually faced Homestead twice this year, having lost to them 2-1 in penalty kicks back on Sept. 6 at the Fort Wayne Carroll Tournament.
"It's hard to beat a team twice in a season," Homestead coach Paco Castillo said. "Warsaw's been playing well. They've had a good year. That's one thing we told our guys, that we had to stay focused."
That focus helped the Spartans shutout a team that had outscored its postseason opponents 23-2 coming in.
"Defensively, we don't like to change anything," Castillo said. "Our defense has been solid most of the year. We don't want to change anything. We want to dictate our game. I thought, pretty much, we did."
Even by dictating their game, it appeared that semistate may actually go into penalty kicks.
With just four-and-a-half minutes remaining in the second overtime, Warsaw senior Jesse Sharp got the ball into the back of the net, inciting the Warsaw fans into a frenzy. However, shortly after the party started, it abruptly ended with an offsides penalty, nullifying the match-tying score.
"I saw the flag go up right away," Bauer said of the penalty. "I think Jesse was stoked, but I saw the flag pretty quickly. That kind of sucked the air out a little bit."
Castillo was seated next to the side judge with the call, helping his heart stay at a healthy beat.
"It wasn't too scary, because I was standing right next to (the side judge)," he said. "I saw the flag. Our defense has really been playing smart. I saw them step when they saw the pass was going to get through. He was probably just a few steps (offsides)."
The loss ends the Warsaw season at 15-6-2, with three of those losses coming from a forfeit for an ineligible player.
The showing in the Elite Eight was the best for a Tigers team that will say good-bye to 10 seniors.
"I told them, 'You guys needs to remember how these guys led. The chemistry, the way they treated each other, the way they treated you. Pass that on class to class,'," Bauer said of his seniors. "You can't get this far without quality kids that are seniors."
Those seniors include the school's all-time leader in goals, assists and points in Sharp, as well as three of Bauer's four defensemen, including last year's MVP, Trenton Porter.
"We're going to miss the scoring and the defensiveness of the back four - Trenton, (Thomas Fitzpatrick), Ryan Price and Trevor Ballinger. We'll miss them all. We'll go on. When the disappointment fades a little bit, I think they'll say to themselves, 'This was a heck of a season,'."
HOMESTEAD 1, WARSAW 0 (OT)
H - Tom Gallmeyer (Kegan Harkenrider) 81st min.
Shots on Goal - Homestead 6, Warsaw 2; Saves - Homestead (Justin Hanford) 2; Warsaw (Will Brown) 5; Fouls - Homestead 9, Warsaw 7; Offsides - Homestead 1, Warsaw 3; Corner Kicks - Homestead 7, Warsaw 5; Records - Homestead 21-0-2, Warsaw 15-6-2[[In-content Ad]]
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