COLUMBIA CITY - Warsaw coach Corey Rose wasn't quite as happy with the 0-0 halftime score on Wednesday as he was against Carroll in the sectional championship. After all, against Carroll, the Warsaw Tigers were the underdog and had been beaten by the Chargers in the sectional in each of the last three years.

Against Angola, Warsaw was the favorite, and the Tigers had just outshot the Hornets over the first 40 minutes 16-1. Yet, only the time had changed on the scoreboard since the beginning of the game.

The second half was equally as frustrating for the Tigers, but they got the job done in a shootout and prevailed 4-2 to capture the school's first soccer regional championship.

In the second half, Warsaw outshot Angola, this time by an 11-1 count. The Warsaw players understood that one bad bounce could mean upset. The frustration could be seen on the faces of the Tigers.

Shot after shot had come and gone. Many quality opportunities had sailed wide or high or into the goalies' hands and had yet to find the net. Many opportunities had been swallowed up by the Hornets' packed-in defense. If any mascot could properly sum up Angola's style of play, it was the Hornet. Angola buzzed around on defense, swarming any would-be shots.

Two yellow cards on Warsaw players in the final 10 minutes of regulation were giveaways that the frustration had set in. Yet the Tigers continued to pound away, moving over the 30-shot plateau in the first overtime period, but still no goals. In the second overtime period, Warsaw moved past 35 shots, but Kody Buell, Angola's sophomore keeper, continued to keep the Tigers out of the goal.

"I'm very unhappy about (the yellow cards)," Rose said. "But I put the guys back in and told them that they had to get focused. You could see in the game our frustration.

"My forwards would take a shot and then throw their hands in the air from frustration," he said. "Because they had about 10 guys inside the 18 (yards) whenever we were shooting the ball. We had problems with composure early in the season when we started 0-5-1. I stressed the point that we needed to focus on our game and stick to our game plan."

Finally, time ran out in the overtime period and Angola head coach Larry Clemens had accomplished what he hoped to do - put his team in position to win. Rose knew that the shootout was like playing a game of Russian roulette - you're gambling with your team's life. And since Warsaw goaltender Matt Brown had not done much more than be a spectator for the first 95 minutes, the chances of him being rusty in the cold temperatures were good.

Angola shot first and Wyatt Weaver scored, but Dan Ropte came back with a goal to tie the score at 1-1. Jeremy McHenry's shot sailed high and Brown didn't even have to stop the ball. David Gehrke burned Buell on the lower right corner and Rose could finally breath a bit easier as the Tigers went ahead 2-1.

Angola and Warsaw both scored on the next shot as the Tigers stayed ahead 3-2, but Angola's Justin Skelton sailed another shot high and Warsaw was in winning position. Brad Waggoner put the finishing touches on the regional championship when his shot to the lower left corner found the back of the net.

"They tested my nerve for an hour or two," Rose said. "I have to give credit to that team. They had a game plan and they came and worked that game plan. When it gets down to penalty kicks any team can win it. I give credit to them and their coach for frustrating us the way that they did. I can see now how they came away with their sectional wins. My guys weathered it. We've been working day in and day out on those penalty kicks and it payed off for us."

Officially, the win goes down as a 1-0 overtime victory. Warsaw (8-7-4) will next head to South Bend on Saturday to meet Fort Wayne Canterbury, a 4-0 winner over Fort Wayne Concordia. They will play at noon. The championship will follow at 7 p.m. against either Argos, a 4-0 winner over South Bend St. Joe, or Marion, a 4-3 overtime winner over Norwell. [[In-content Ad]]