Tiger Boys’ Soccer Celebrates Cleansing “Second Season”
October 10, 2022 at 11:33 p.m.
Tiger Boys’ Soccer Celebrates Cleansing “Second Season”
By Chip Davenport-
Warsaw’s (15-3-1) second season lives on following Saturday night’s Class 3A boys’ soccer sectional title shutout win, 3-0, over the Homestead Spartans at the Tiger Soccer Complex (TSC).
Saturday’s title match featured two finalists who were looking forward to the second season cleansing for different reasons.
Warsaw stood at 10-0-1, was ranked tenth in the state polls, and stood unbeaten atop the Northern Lakes Conference ladder with Goshen slightly less than one month ago. The Tiger side subsequently dropped each of its final three conference matches – part of a 2-3 run among the final five matches – relegating themselves to fourth place in the NLC entering postseason play.
Homestead, with an uncharacteristic 1-9-6 record entering postseason play, maintained its customarily strong non-conference schedule, and battled closely with most of its top-tier opponents (hence the 6 ties). They believed their regular season rigors prepared them for a viable second championship hunt.
“They're not your normal two-win team,” Tiger head coach Ryan Burgher respectfully noted. “They played a lot of good teams out of Indy (Cathedral, Carmel, Hamilton Southeastern), and we knew coming in here it was gonna be a whole different game. Homestead came out and played a great game and really kept it close.”
Warsaw scored first in the 5th minute when Javi Enciso, moved from midfielder to forward for the second consecutive postseason match, scored on a rebounded shot on goal.
“They came out totally different than we thought,” Burgher said. “When they’re pressing, getting a goal on them early like we did really helps.”
While Burgher was relieved to draw first blood, and the Tigers were picking up most of the evening’s shots on goal, he continued to discuss the element of surprise in Homestead’s approach.
“Homestead did the complete opposite of what I thought they were gonna do. I thought they were gonna sit back a little bit, so we have been preparing for that, but they came out aggressively… pressing our guys, so we really had to clean up our passes because if we were giving passes away in the middle of field it was going to be a counter on us.”
The pace Burgher commented on continued throughout the evening. Although Warsaw’s junior striker Noah Vanpuffelen (22’) scored an additional Tiger goal on freshman striker Mydin Burgher’s assist, the Tigers’ 2-0 lead wasn’t enough to keep the coaches from pacing the sidelines, nor the fans from sitting on the edges of their seats on a clear, chilly evening. Soccer universe aficionados, of course, frequently remind casual observers there are very few circumstances more stressful than a 2-0 soccer match lead.
The Tigers’ continued frequency of near successful close- and mid-range shots on goal elicited a steady crescendo of “Aaaahhh(s)” from the Tiger faithful, abundant in attendance, and compounded the stress levels customarily accompanying a side’s 2-0 lead.
The crowds of both sides filled the stands and spilled onto multiple rows of space along the grass sections stretching southward. Homestead fans, also large in number, were conversely excited and vocal on the same plays, hoping to exacerbate the air of the leading side’s superstition that comes with 2-0 lead.
The striker combination of Vanpuffelen and Burgher was the most aggressive the duo has been since Burgher was called up to play increasingly meaningful varsity minutes on the pitch, and many of their attacks triggered the aforementioned responses between the respective fan bases.
Burgher was already on the Spartans’ radar. The fleet freshman’s two goals against them - in his varsity debut September 14 – were still fresh in Homestead’s vivid memory
“We knew from the first time that we played Homestead,” Burgher said. “Mydin has the speed to get behind their defenders, and he had two or three breakaways tonight. We thought we might be able to do that same type of thing. (He) got behind the defense quite a bit, and I think they started moving over to him a little bit of course. I (told) all of our guys, ‘If we finished some of those chances it's not as close (as it was) at the end.’ The fact that he's a freshman getting those chances is pretty special.”
Vanpuffelen, one of Warsaw’s top scorers, will also return for the 2023 season, a treat Tiger soccer fans are eagerly awaiting although the Noblesville Millers (12-3-3) – in the immediate future, tomorrow at 6 p.m. in fact - await Warsaw’s trip to their pitch for a regional semi-final battle.
Senior defender Dennis Hernandez, late in the match’s 78th minute, finally relieved the collective stress of the 2-0 lead when Hernandez skillfully bent a penalty kick goal to the left rear corner of the Homestead net for the match’s third and final goal.
Hernandez was solid on defense as well, as was classmate Nathan Dailey, and juniors Rylan Smith’s and Braydon Bussard. Whether it was a disruptive header to intercept a Spartan forward streaking downfield, or a physical-but-legal steal, the foursome contributed notably to Nehemiah Wright’s shutout in his final game in the TSC.
Hernandez, now in his final season with Warsaw, was a surprise discovery in the halls of Warsaw high school in his sophomore year.
“Dennis is our anchor in the back. The coaches joked about ‘LAD,’ L-A-D. It's ‘life after Dennis.’ We don't wanna think about it too much right now but he's key to our team. He came into this program after he was playing for Chicago Fire, and just sitting in our high school. We found him and got him out as a sophomore in a huge role, starting for us.”
The Tiger seniors’ collective journey began in Burgher’s inaugural season (2020). It wasn’t a pretty start, and most of the aforementioned seniors started as sophomores in a 2020 campaign where they won four matches – a baptism under fire for the coach and his side who now have championship hardware from 2021 (NLC title), and Saturday’s sectional title trophy.
“This season those sophomores, who won four games, standing as sectional champions,” Burgher joyfully remarked. “It's a pretty amazing story for them. I'm proud of these guys on and off the field this year.”
Saturday’s title was Warsaw’s first boys’ soccer sectional crown since 2017, and Burgher’s first as a head coach.
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Warsaw’s (15-3-1) second season lives on following Saturday night’s Class 3A boys’ soccer sectional title shutout win, 3-0, over the Homestead Spartans at the Tiger Soccer Complex (TSC).
Saturday’s title match featured two finalists who were looking forward to the second season cleansing for different reasons.
Warsaw stood at 10-0-1, was ranked tenth in the state polls, and stood unbeaten atop the Northern Lakes Conference ladder with Goshen slightly less than one month ago. The Tiger side subsequently dropped each of its final three conference matches – part of a 2-3 run among the final five matches – relegating themselves to fourth place in the NLC entering postseason play.
Homestead, with an uncharacteristic 1-9-6 record entering postseason play, maintained its customarily strong non-conference schedule, and battled closely with most of its top-tier opponents (hence the 6 ties). They believed their regular season rigors prepared them for a viable second championship hunt.
“They're not your normal two-win team,” Tiger head coach Ryan Burgher respectfully noted. “They played a lot of good teams out of Indy (Cathedral, Carmel, Hamilton Southeastern), and we knew coming in here it was gonna be a whole different game. Homestead came out and played a great game and really kept it close.”
Warsaw scored first in the 5th minute when Javi Enciso, moved from midfielder to forward for the second consecutive postseason match, scored on a rebounded shot on goal.
“They came out totally different than we thought,” Burgher said. “When they’re pressing, getting a goal on them early like we did really helps.”
While Burgher was relieved to draw first blood, and the Tigers were picking up most of the evening’s shots on goal, he continued to discuss the element of surprise in Homestead’s approach.
“Homestead did the complete opposite of what I thought they were gonna do. I thought they were gonna sit back a little bit, so we have been preparing for that, but they came out aggressively… pressing our guys, so we really had to clean up our passes because if we were giving passes away in the middle of field it was going to be a counter on us.”
The pace Burgher commented on continued throughout the evening. Although Warsaw’s junior striker Noah Vanpuffelen (22’) scored an additional Tiger goal on freshman striker Mydin Burgher’s assist, the Tigers’ 2-0 lead wasn’t enough to keep the coaches from pacing the sidelines, nor the fans from sitting on the edges of their seats on a clear, chilly evening. Soccer universe aficionados, of course, frequently remind casual observers there are very few circumstances more stressful than a 2-0 soccer match lead.
The Tigers’ continued frequency of near successful close- and mid-range shots on goal elicited a steady crescendo of “Aaaahhh(s)” from the Tiger faithful, abundant in attendance, and compounded the stress levels customarily accompanying a side’s 2-0 lead.
The crowds of both sides filled the stands and spilled onto multiple rows of space along the grass sections stretching southward. Homestead fans, also large in number, were conversely excited and vocal on the same plays, hoping to exacerbate the air of the leading side’s superstition that comes with 2-0 lead.
The striker combination of Vanpuffelen and Burgher was the most aggressive the duo has been since Burgher was called up to play increasingly meaningful varsity minutes on the pitch, and many of their attacks triggered the aforementioned responses between the respective fan bases.
Burgher was already on the Spartans’ radar. The fleet freshman’s two goals against them - in his varsity debut September 14 – were still fresh in Homestead’s vivid memory
“We knew from the first time that we played Homestead,” Burgher said. “Mydin has the speed to get behind their defenders, and he had two or three breakaways tonight. We thought we might be able to do that same type of thing. (He) got behind the defense quite a bit, and I think they started moving over to him a little bit of course. I (told) all of our guys, ‘If we finished some of those chances it's not as close (as it was) at the end.’ The fact that he's a freshman getting those chances is pretty special.”
Vanpuffelen, one of Warsaw’s top scorers, will also return for the 2023 season, a treat Tiger soccer fans are eagerly awaiting although the Noblesville Millers (12-3-3) – in the immediate future, tomorrow at 6 p.m. in fact - await Warsaw’s trip to their pitch for a regional semi-final battle.
Senior defender Dennis Hernandez, late in the match’s 78th minute, finally relieved the collective stress of the 2-0 lead when Hernandez skillfully bent a penalty kick goal to the left rear corner of the Homestead net for the match’s third and final goal.
Hernandez was solid on defense as well, as was classmate Nathan Dailey, and juniors Rylan Smith’s and Braydon Bussard. Whether it was a disruptive header to intercept a Spartan forward streaking downfield, or a physical-but-legal steal, the foursome contributed notably to Nehemiah Wright’s shutout in his final game in the TSC.
Hernandez, now in his final season with Warsaw, was a surprise discovery in the halls of Warsaw high school in his sophomore year.
“Dennis is our anchor in the back. The coaches joked about ‘LAD,’ L-A-D. It's ‘life after Dennis.’ We don't wanna think about it too much right now but he's key to our team. He came into this program after he was playing for Chicago Fire, and just sitting in our high school. We found him and got him out as a sophomore in a huge role, starting for us.”
The Tiger seniors’ collective journey began in Burgher’s inaugural season (2020). It wasn’t a pretty start, and most of the aforementioned seniors started as sophomores in a 2020 campaign where they won four matches – a baptism under fire for the coach and his side who now have championship hardware from 2021 (NLC title), and Saturday’s sectional title trophy.
“This season those sophomores, who won four games, standing as sectional champions,” Burgher joyfully remarked. “It's a pretty amazing story for them. I'm proud of these guys on and off the field this year.”
Saturday’s title was Warsaw’s first boys’ soccer sectional crown since 2017, and Burgher’s first as a head coach.
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