Warsaw, Manchester Soccer Teams Advance
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
In the evening's first game at Eugene Snyder Field, the seventh-ranked Warsaw Tigers disposed of Argos 5-0, but in the nightcap, the Manchester Squires upset Plymouth 1-0.[[In-content Ad]]"They worked hard for this win," Manchester coach Dave McKee said. "I'm without words and that's pretty hard to do."
The win is Manchester's first sectional victory since defeating Winamac in the 2005 Logansport Sectional semifinals.
Manchester (7-6-2) will play the two-time defending sectional champion Tigers (15-2-1) Saturday at 7 p.m. for the Sectional 17 crown.
Game 1 - Warsaw 5, Argos 0
Through the first 30 minutes of the game, Warsaw's potent offense was held in check by the Argos Dragons (10-7). However, once sophomore Nate Kolbe lobbed a ball over the Dragons' keeper with 10:19 remaining in the first half, things loosened up.
"We just needed to get something on the scoreboard, and once we got two, that kind of broke their backs," Warsaw coach Scott Bauer said.
The second goal came off the foot of junior Xavier Arellanes with five minutes remaining in the half, scoring off an assist from junior Andros Gonzales, giving the Tigers a comfortable halftime lead.
Making the 2-0 lead even more comfortable is the way the Warsaw defense has been playing.
With their latest shutout, the Tigers now have 13 shutouts in 18 games, and haven't been scored on since defeating NorthWood 3-1 back on Sept. 14. During their span of seven-straight shutout games, Warsaw has outscored the competition 20-0.
"Dave Johnson in goal continues to shine and the back three or back four, depending on what system I use, are playing very stingy," Bauer said.
Those defenders are senior Tyler Snow in the center, flanked by junior Lake Price and senior Isaiah Garza, while senior Scott Smyth joins the group when the Tigers play four in the back.
With the defense playing tight, junior Corey Lopez scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season in the second half. The first score came off an assist from sophomore brother Diego Lopez in the 50th minute and the second came unassisted in the 65th.
"He's starting to find his form after an injury earlier this year," Bauer said of Corey Lopez. "His brother, Diego, did a nice job of setting him up. Then, Corey did a nice job trying to set him up a few minutes later, it just didn't work out. I'm happy Corey got a couple goals and hope he gets a real nose for it."
Senior Everado Ahuatl put the icing on the cake with just 3:25 remaining, propelling Warsaw into it's third-straight Argos Sectional championship game.
"I hope this gets us moving in the right direction and I hope this gets us some momentum going into the championship Saturday," Bauer said. "These guys have set some lofty goals, having been to semistate the last couple of years, and they want to try to make it out of semistate."
Game 2 - Manchester 1, Plymouth 0
Saturday's championship game could have been a Northern Lakes Conference battle between Warsaw and Plymouth (4-9-4), but Manchester had other plans.
Like Warsaw, Manchester also applied a stingy defense, making a score by junior Kegan McNeeley in the 20th minute hold up for the win over the Rockies.
"These guys have a lot of heart," McKee said. "I'm not going to say we were outplayed, but Plymouth possessed the ball real well. We didn't play our game, but we adjusted our game to what we had to do. It worked."
Plymouth did control the game, possessing the ball for almost the entire game, taking 24 shots to Manchester's seven, but at the end of the 80 minutes, it was the Squires who had the advantage on the scoreboard.
"Bottom line is, we had our opportunities," Plymouth coach Josh Martin said. "Their keeper had a pretty good game, but a lot of the opportunities we had, we shot right at him. Didn't really force him to make some saves and that's tough."
Manchester junior goalkeeper Dylan Grossnickle had 12 saves in the game, the last coming with 1:09 to play when Plymouth junior Michael Yoder aimed a ball to the upper corner, making Grossnickle leap for the save.
"Dylan Grossnickle is an amazing goalkeeper," McKee said. "He was amazing tonight."
The Squires' goal was also quite amazing.
Following a Plymouth penalty, Manchester junior Martin Anderson took a direct kick from beyond midfield. With some good distance, the ball bounced just inside the box, going over the head of Plymouth senior keeper Tyler Crum, who came out to retrieve it. After it got past Crum, the speedy McNeeley was there to head it into the net, getting a celebration started on the field.
"That was sweet," McKee said about the score.
The goal was only the second time the Squires had scored in the Argos Sectional since joining the field in 2006. In the previous four years, the Squires had gone 0-4, losing by a combined score of 16-1.
"I told the guys last year was our first baby step and today we were going to take big step," McKee said said about scoring a goal in the sectional a year ago. "These guys took that big step."
Along with being a big step for the Squires, the goal also put the Rockies at a big disadvantage.
"When you go down in any game, I don't care who you're playing against, whether it's a Manchester or a Warsaw, an early goal allows a team to get back into a defensive shell," Martin said.
After downing one NLC team, the Squires will need to pull an even bigger rabbit out of their hats against Warsaw, a team that dispatched the Squires from the sectional 11-1 last year.
"We're going to go out and play our hearts out," McKee said.
WARSAW 5, ARGOS 0
W - Nathan Kolbe (Jose Rodriguez) 30th min.
W - Xavier Arellanes (Andros Gonzales) 35th min.
W - Corey Lopez (Diego Lopez) 50th min.
W - C. Lopez 65th min.
W - Everado Ahuatl (Arellanes) 77th min.
Shots - Warsaw 22, Argos 7; Shots on Goal - Warsaw 15, Argos 3; Saves - Warsaw (David Johnson) 3, Argos (Dylan Colburn) 8; Corner Kicks - Warsaw 7, Argos 1; Penalties (yellow card) - Warsaw 7, Argos 14 (Sam Edmonds); Offsides - Warsaw 2, Argos 0; Records: Warsaw 15-2-1, Argos 10-7
MANCHESTER 1, PLYMOUTH 0
M - Kegan McNeeley (Martin Anderson) 20th min.
Shots - Manchester 7, Plymouth 24; Shots on Goal - Manchester 5, Plymouth 12; Saves - Manchester (Dylan Grossnickle) 12, Plymouth (Tyler Crum 5, Erik Aguilar 4) 9; Corner Kicks - Manchester 0, Plymouth 9; Penalties - Manchester 5, Plymouth 9; Offsides - Manchester 0, Plymouth 4; Records: Manchester 7-6-2, Plymouth 4-9-4
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In the evening's first game at Eugene Snyder Field, the seventh-ranked Warsaw Tigers disposed of Argos 5-0, but in the nightcap, the Manchester Squires upset Plymouth 1-0.[[In-content Ad]]"They worked hard for this win," Manchester coach Dave McKee said. "I'm without words and that's pretty hard to do."
The win is Manchester's first sectional victory since defeating Winamac in the 2005 Logansport Sectional semifinals.
Manchester (7-6-2) will play the two-time defending sectional champion Tigers (15-2-1) Saturday at 7 p.m. for the Sectional 17 crown.
Game 1 - Warsaw 5, Argos 0
Through the first 30 minutes of the game, Warsaw's potent offense was held in check by the Argos Dragons (10-7). However, once sophomore Nate Kolbe lobbed a ball over the Dragons' keeper with 10:19 remaining in the first half, things loosened up.
"We just needed to get something on the scoreboard, and once we got two, that kind of broke their backs," Warsaw coach Scott Bauer said.
The second goal came off the foot of junior Xavier Arellanes with five minutes remaining in the half, scoring off an assist from junior Andros Gonzales, giving the Tigers a comfortable halftime lead.
Making the 2-0 lead even more comfortable is the way the Warsaw defense has been playing.
With their latest shutout, the Tigers now have 13 shutouts in 18 games, and haven't been scored on since defeating NorthWood 3-1 back on Sept. 14. During their span of seven-straight shutout games, Warsaw has outscored the competition 20-0.
"Dave Johnson in goal continues to shine and the back three or back four, depending on what system I use, are playing very stingy," Bauer said.
Those defenders are senior Tyler Snow in the center, flanked by junior Lake Price and senior Isaiah Garza, while senior Scott Smyth joins the group when the Tigers play four in the back.
With the defense playing tight, junior Corey Lopez scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season in the second half. The first score came off an assist from sophomore brother Diego Lopez in the 50th minute and the second came unassisted in the 65th.
"He's starting to find his form after an injury earlier this year," Bauer said of Corey Lopez. "His brother, Diego, did a nice job of setting him up. Then, Corey did a nice job trying to set him up a few minutes later, it just didn't work out. I'm happy Corey got a couple goals and hope he gets a real nose for it."
Senior Everado Ahuatl put the icing on the cake with just 3:25 remaining, propelling Warsaw into it's third-straight Argos Sectional championship game.
"I hope this gets us moving in the right direction and I hope this gets us some momentum going into the championship Saturday," Bauer said. "These guys have set some lofty goals, having been to semistate the last couple of years, and they want to try to make it out of semistate."
Game 2 - Manchester 1, Plymouth 0
Saturday's championship game could have been a Northern Lakes Conference battle between Warsaw and Plymouth (4-9-4), but Manchester had other plans.
Like Warsaw, Manchester also applied a stingy defense, making a score by junior Kegan McNeeley in the 20th minute hold up for the win over the Rockies.
"These guys have a lot of heart," McKee said. "I'm not going to say we were outplayed, but Plymouth possessed the ball real well. We didn't play our game, but we adjusted our game to what we had to do. It worked."
Plymouth did control the game, possessing the ball for almost the entire game, taking 24 shots to Manchester's seven, but at the end of the 80 minutes, it was the Squires who had the advantage on the scoreboard.
"Bottom line is, we had our opportunities," Plymouth coach Josh Martin said. "Their keeper had a pretty good game, but a lot of the opportunities we had, we shot right at him. Didn't really force him to make some saves and that's tough."
Manchester junior goalkeeper Dylan Grossnickle had 12 saves in the game, the last coming with 1:09 to play when Plymouth junior Michael Yoder aimed a ball to the upper corner, making Grossnickle leap for the save.
"Dylan Grossnickle is an amazing goalkeeper," McKee said. "He was amazing tonight."
The Squires' goal was also quite amazing.
Following a Plymouth penalty, Manchester junior Martin Anderson took a direct kick from beyond midfield. With some good distance, the ball bounced just inside the box, going over the head of Plymouth senior keeper Tyler Crum, who came out to retrieve it. After it got past Crum, the speedy McNeeley was there to head it into the net, getting a celebration started on the field.
"That was sweet," McKee said about the score.
The goal was only the second time the Squires had scored in the Argos Sectional since joining the field in 2006. In the previous four years, the Squires had gone 0-4, losing by a combined score of 16-1.
"I told the guys last year was our first baby step and today we were going to take big step," McKee said said about scoring a goal in the sectional a year ago. "These guys took that big step."
Along with being a big step for the Squires, the goal also put the Rockies at a big disadvantage.
"When you go down in any game, I don't care who you're playing against, whether it's a Manchester or a Warsaw, an early goal allows a team to get back into a defensive shell," Martin said.
After downing one NLC team, the Squires will need to pull an even bigger rabbit out of their hats against Warsaw, a team that dispatched the Squires from the sectional 11-1 last year.
"We're going to go out and play our hearts out," McKee said.
WARSAW 5, ARGOS 0
W - Nathan Kolbe (Jose Rodriguez) 30th min.
W - Xavier Arellanes (Andros Gonzales) 35th min.
W - Corey Lopez (Diego Lopez) 50th min.
W - C. Lopez 65th min.
W - Everado Ahuatl (Arellanes) 77th min.
Shots - Warsaw 22, Argos 7; Shots on Goal - Warsaw 15, Argos 3; Saves - Warsaw (David Johnson) 3, Argos (Dylan Colburn) 8; Corner Kicks - Warsaw 7, Argos 1; Penalties (yellow card) - Warsaw 7, Argos 14 (Sam Edmonds); Offsides - Warsaw 2, Argos 0; Records: Warsaw 15-2-1, Argos 10-7
MANCHESTER 1, PLYMOUTH 0
M - Kegan McNeeley (Martin Anderson) 20th min.
Shots - Manchester 7, Plymouth 24; Shots on Goal - Manchester 5, Plymouth 12; Saves - Manchester (Dylan Grossnickle) 12, Plymouth (Tyler Crum 5, Erik Aguilar 4) 9; Corner Kicks - Manchester 0, Plymouth 9; Penalties - Manchester 5, Plymouth 9; Offsides - Manchester 0, Plymouth 4; Records: Manchester 7-6-2, Plymouth 4-9-4
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