Warsaw Boys Win Soccer Regional
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Defeating the previously undefeated Logansport Berries 2-0 Saturday in the Argos Regional championship, the Tigers are in familiar territory, but this year's squad is nothing like last year's.[[In-content Ad]]"Last year was a veteran team," Warsaw head coach Scott Bauer said. "We were senior laden, and they'd been together a while. They were strong, but this team has a lot of heart."
The 2008 edition of the Tigers featured 10 seniors, eight of which started, while this year's team has three seniors, two that start.
On top of losing the seniors from last year, Bauer also lost starters Matt Franco and Scott Smyth, who are playing football this year.
"It's really different," Warsaw senior Tony Climaco said about this year's title. "It's a really different environment."
The only starter not different from last year is junior Noah Price, who actually gave Warsaw its lead off a free-kick cross from his sophomore cousin Lake Price 14 minutes into the game.
Berries senior Jairo Rodriguez came into the game leading Logansport (18-1) with 26 goals on the season, but the Tigers (13-4-4) defense was focused on him.
"His speed was the worst thing," Climaco said about defending Rodriguez. "Personally, I'm slow, so I had to rely on my team to help with that."
And the rest of the back line, including Lake Price and senior Ian Crines, did help out, keeping him out of the scoring column.
"At the beginning of the season, we had a real concern about what we'd defensively be able to put together, and what kind of system we'd be able to use to be successful," Bauer said. "We've just had guys step up. Tony Climaco's been incredible in the middle. He's got such composure as the central defender, and he's so strong in the air."
Another player with composure was sophomore goalkeeper David Johnson, who had five saves, including a leaping stop nine minutes into the contest, and a diving stop in the second half that left Logansport senior Edgar Islas landing on top of him.
"He's a sophomore keeper, but he's so great at anticipating," Bauer said of Johnson. "He sold out on the one shot, taking a full-body shot. He's just a kid who sells out for his mates."
Late in the game, the pressure on Johnson let up a bit when sophomore José Rodriguez dribbled to the left side of the Berries' goal, crossing the ball over to sophomore Corey Lopez for a header, putting Warsaw on top 2-0 with 14:50 to play.
"That goal was so beautiful, because we had been sending with some passion and trying to break out occasionally," Bauer said. "Just to have José make that kind of run and Corey setting up like he did. Corey is incredible in the air. He's had a number of goals in the air. He's a very dangerous player with his head.
"I felt like that put the game away for us," he added.
The goal was Lopez's 20th of the season, tying him with Jake Rogers' 2003 single-season record.
The score also tied Jesse Sharp's 2008 mark of 48 points in a season, showcasing the Tigers ability to fill in the holes vacated from last year's team.
"The teams are similar, in that we can score," Bauer said. "We've got people that can attack on this team and last year, we had that as well. It's nice to be able to count on some guys to put the ball in the back of the net."
When the game was officially put away, Bauer and his guys hustled to get their trophy and got on the bus to get out of the cold.
"I'm proud of the way these guys took on the conditions," Bauer said. "They've been struggling with sickness, and not feeling well."
The sickest of the team was Crines, who actually showed up for the game a little late.
"I had a pretty bad fever last night, but I really wanted to come and play," Crines said. "I slept until right before the game. My parents brought me up, then I played."
And his play was big for Warsaw.
"I don't know what we would have done if Ian hadn't shown up," Bauer said. "He's such a stabilizer at midfield. We were having a hard time finding some to fill in for him. We were really searching for some answers, then he comes walking in late."
Another similarity to last year's team was the fact that every squad in the four-team regional also participated in last year's in Logansport.
However, this year's Logansport game was different, as the Tigers stomped the Berries 10-2 a year ago in the regional semifinal.
"I thought they were strong and more technically polished," Bauer said of the 2009 Berries. "In the end, we just stayed in front of the ball and didn't give them too many dangerous chances. We snuffed out most of the danger."
And entering with an unblemished record, Crines admitted he was a bit concerned.
"We didn't really know what to expect," he said. "They had an 18-0 record, so we were kind of worried, hoping we could pull through."
At semistate, the Tigers will face the 15-3 Muncie Central Bearcats at 10 a.m. at the The Plex on the campus of IPFW Saturday. If they can advance past the Bearcats, the Tigers will get the winner of the Homestead (15-4-1) and Northridge (16-3-2), two teams they've lost to this season, at 6 p.m.
"The unknown is Muncie Central," Bauer said. "The knowns are everyone we've played this year. Northridge got us twice, once in conference and once in (the Carroll) tourney. They're a strong team, but we think we can play with them. Then you have Homestead. We lost to them 3-1, but the kids feel like they can play with them."
At the beginning of the year, the Warsaw team had a new look, and wasn't too sure how it would do this year. Now, the Tigers are on a roll and looking to see how far they can go.
"This is real exciting because we only have two seniors that are starting," Crines said. "Last year, our whole starting team was seniors. We didn't have our hopes up at the beginning of the year, so it's cool to make it this year.
"We're excited to see how far we can go," he added. "We have some high hopes. We'll see how it works out.
WARSAW 2, LOGANSPORT 0
W - Noah Price (Lake Price) 14th min.
W - Corey Lopez (José Rodriguez) 66th min.
Shots on Goal - Warsaw 4, Logansport 5; Saves - Warsaw (David Johnson) 5, Logansport (Stophane Vanier) 2; Corner Kicks - Warsaw 2, Logansport 6; Fouls (Yellow Card) - Warsaw 11 (N. Price), Logansport 11 (Christhian Monterro, Jared Jennings, Cristian Quinterro); Offsides - Warsaw 1, Logansport 2; Records: Warsaw 13-4-4, Logansport 18-1
Defeating the previously undefeated Logansport Berries 2-0 Saturday in the Argos Regional championship, the Tigers are in familiar territory, but this year's squad is nothing like last year's.[[In-content Ad]]"Last year was a veteran team," Warsaw head coach Scott Bauer said. "We were senior laden, and they'd been together a while. They were strong, but this team has a lot of heart."
The 2008 edition of the Tigers featured 10 seniors, eight of which started, while this year's team has three seniors, two that start.
On top of losing the seniors from last year, Bauer also lost starters Matt Franco and Scott Smyth, who are playing football this year.
"It's really different," Warsaw senior Tony Climaco said about this year's title. "It's a really different environment."
The only starter not different from last year is junior Noah Price, who actually gave Warsaw its lead off a free-kick cross from his sophomore cousin Lake Price 14 minutes into the game.
Berries senior Jairo Rodriguez came into the game leading Logansport (18-1) with 26 goals on the season, but the Tigers (13-4-4) defense was focused on him.
"His speed was the worst thing," Climaco said about defending Rodriguez. "Personally, I'm slow, so I had to rely on my team to help with that."
And the rest of the back line, including Lake Price and senior Ian Crines, did help out, keeping him out of the scoring column.
"At the beginning of the season, we had a real concern about what we'd defensively be able to put together, and what kind of system we'd be able to use to be successful," Bauer said. "We've just had guys step up. Tony Climaco's been incredible in the middle. He's got such composure as the central defender, and he's so strong in the air."
Another player with composure was sophomore goalkeeper David Johnson, who had five saves, including a leaping stop nine minutes into the contest, and a diving stop in the second half that left Logansport senior Edgar Islas landing on top of him.
"He's a sophomore keeper, but he's so great at anticipating," Bauer said of Johnson. "He sold out on the one shot, taking a full-body shot. He's just a kid who sells out for his mates."
Late in the game, the pressure on Johnson let up a bit when sophomore José Rodriguez dribbled to the left side of the Berries' goal, crossing the ball over to sophomore Corey Lopez for a header, putting Warsaw on top 2-0 with 14:50 to play.
"That goal was so beautiful, because we had been sending with some passion and trying to break out occasionally," Bauer said. "Just to have José make that kind of run and Corey setting up like he did. Corey is incredible in the air. He's had a number of goals in the air. He's a very dangerous player with his head.
"I felt like that put the game away for us," he added.
The goal was Lopez's 20th of the season, tying him with Jake Rogers' 2003 single-season record.
The score also tied Jesse Sharp's 2008 mark of 48 points in a season, showcasing the Tigers ability to fill in the holes vacated from last year's team.
"The teams are similar, in that we can score," Bauer said. "We've got people that can attack on this team and last year, we had that as well. It's nice to be able to count on some guys to put the ball in the back of the net."
When the game was officially put away, Bauer and his guys hustled to get their trophy and got on the bus to get out of the cold.
"I'm proud of the way these guys took on the conditions," Bauer said. "They've been struggling with sickness, and not feeling well."
The sickest of the team was Crines, who actually showed up for the game a little late.
"I had a pretty bad fever last night, but I really wanted to come and play," Crines said. "I slept until right before the game. My parents brought me up, then I played."
And his play was big for Warsaw.
"I don't know what we would have done if Ian hadn't shown up," Bauer said. "He's such a stabilizer at midfield. We were having a hard time finding some to fill in for him. We were really searching for some answers, then he comes walking in late."
Another similarity to last year's team was the fact that every squad in the four-team regional also participated in last year's in Logansport.
However, this year's Logansport game was different, as the Tigers stomped the Berries 10-2 a year ago in the regional semifinal.
"I thought they were strong and more technically polished," Bauer said of the 2009 Berries. "In the end, we just stayed in front of the ball and didn't give them too many dangerous chances. We snuffed out most of the danger."
And entering with an unblemished record, Crines admitted he was a bit concerned.
"We didn't really know what to expect," he said. "They had an 18-0 record, so we were kind of worried, hoping we could pull through."
At semistate, the Tigers will face the 15-3 Muncie Central Bearcats at 10 a.m. at the The Plex on the campus of IPFW Saturday. If they can advance past the Bearcats, the Tigers will get the winner of the Homestead (15-4-1) and Northridge (16-3-2), two teams they've lost to this season, at 6 p.m.
"The unknown is Muncie Central," Bauer said. "The knowns are everyone we've played this year. Northridge got us twice, once in conference and once in (the Carroll) tourney. They're a strong team, but we think we can play with them. Then you have Homestead. We lost to them 3-1, but the kids feel like they can play with them."
At the beginning of the year, the Warsaw team had a new look, and wasn't too sure how it would do this year. Now, the Tigers are on a roll and looking to see how far they can go.
"This is real exciting because we only have two seniors that are starting," Crines said. "Last year, our whole starting team was seniors. We didn't have our hopes up at the beginning of the year, so it's cool to make it this year.
"We're excited to see how far we can go," he added. "We have some high hopes. We'll see how it works out.
WARSAW 2, LOGANSPORT 0
W - Noah Price (Lake Price) 14th min.
W - Corey Lopez (José Rodriguez) 66th min.
Shots on Goal - Warsaw 4, Logansport 5; Saves - Warsaw (David Johnson) 5, Logansport (Stophane Vanier) 2; Corner Kicks - Warsaw 2, Logansport 6; Fouls (Yellow Card) - Warsaw 11 (N. Price), Logansport 11 (Christhian Monterro, Jared Jennings, Cristian Quinterro); Offsides - Warsaw 1, Logansport 2; Records: Warsaw 13-4-4, Logansport 18-1
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092