ARGOS -ÊWarsaw boys soccer coach Scott Bauer thought Tuesday night's regional game against Penn would be a toss-up.

"This was a well balanced game," said Bauer. There were occasional momentum shifts in game play, one team would dominate a possession and then it would change to the other team. But neither team gave in."

After 80 minutes of regulation play, the score was tied at 1-all, and it looked as though the game would come down to penalty kicks. However, Penn's Jesse Brunton slipped the ball into Warsaw's goal with just 52 seconds left in the second overtime period to give Penn the 2-1 victory and the regional title.

After the first period of play, Warsaw and Penn were embroiled in a scoreless tie. That tie was broken at the 46:24 mark when Kingsman junior Austin Waters scored the first goal of the game.

But Warsaw wasn't down for long. Before the announcer could broadcast the Penn goal, Warsaw tied the score at one. Ben Rice slipped through the defense and found the back of the Penn goal just 10 seconds after the Kingsman score.

The rest of the game was a defensive battle, with neither Warsaw nor Penn allowing another goal in regulation.

After seven more scoreless minutes in the first overtime period, the evenly-matched squads switched goals and started the second overtime period.

"I would say they mirrored us pretty well," said Bauer. "They have good midfielders, their strikers target, their backline is disciplined, and they play wide a lot just like us. Penn ranks right up there with their team speed as well. They are right up there with Carroll, Elkhart Memorial and Goshen in that respect."

It looked as though the game would go down to penalty kicks for a decision until Brunton scored the game winner.

The Tigers finish the season with a 16-3-1 record. Three Tiger seniors, Thomas Burnworth, Nate Kline and Andrew Sawyer will graduate in the spring.

"Our three seniors followed 11 seniors who graduated last year," said Bauer. "They brought this team out here and got them to compete at this level."

Kline was not only battling the Penn Kingsmen, he was battling illness as well.

"Nate Kline was not 100 percent out there," said Bauer. "He has mono (mononucleosis), but his spleen was not enlarged so he got to play. That was a gutsy performance out there."

ARGOS REGIONAL

PENN 2, WARSAW 1

Penn 0 1 0 1 - 2

Warsaw 0 1 0 0 - 1

Penn goals - Austin Waters, Jesse Brunton

Warsaw goal -ÊBen Rice

Fouls - Warsaw 16, Penn 16

Corners -ÊWarsaw 7, Penn 4

Shots on goal - Warsaw 7, Penn 9

Shots -ÊWarsaw 14, Penn 13 [[In-content Ad]]