Under heavy cloud coverage and postseason-like temperatures, the Fort Wayne Carroll Chargers supplied just enough offense to accompany a tough defense against the Warsaw Tigers Saturday at the City-County Athletic Complex, taking the 1-0 victory.
"We always look forward to playing these guys," Carroll coach Rollie Clements said. "(Warsaw coach) Scott (Bauer) does a good job with them and they're always well coached. They're dinged up right now. I know they're not even close to what they ought to be. We know we'll always get a good game when we play them."In fact, this weekend's matchup was the second time the two squads have squared off this season, with Carroll defeating Warsaw 2-1 at its Labor Day weekend tournament. Just like in that match, defense was the story Saturday, as Carroll limited Warsaw to only three shots on goal, none coming in the first half.
"I thought we played pretty well," Bauer said of his team. "Putting our possession together, we kind of lacked the finishing touch when we were in the attacking third, but that's just because we have injuries."
Bauer's team opened 2007 without its top player when junior Jesse Sharp went down with a torn ACL, and with junior Micah Price not at 100 percent, Warsaw's trying to get production from others.
"With Jesse out, we knew they were going to be hurting," Clements said. "Micah, he's a dangerous player. We were trying to keep an eye on him. We know he's only 75-80 percent right now, so we were just trying to keep an eye on him."
And that game plan worked, as the Charger defense posted its fourth-consecutive shutout.
"They're young, but they're coming around," Clements said of his team. "They've given up four goals in 10 games, so they're coming around."
That defense was called on to seal the game following a goal by Lowell Hartzog with 7:26 remaining in the first half, even if the goal was mildly disputed. From the left side, Hartzog's ball appeared to have been legit, but some Warsaw players and fans noted that the ball may have gone through an open hole in the side of goal. After a small debate, the hole was fixed and Carroll had a 1-0 lead.
"In the first half, I thought we did a pretty good job," Clements said. "We got kind of a cheap goal. I don't think we were aiming that one, but it went in."
That goal would be the only offense the rest of the way, although Warsaw did pick up the pressure in the second half.
"They came out with more intensity than we did in the second half," Clements said. "I thought they brought it to us in the second half."
After not attempting a shot in the first half, Warsaw had three in the second. The Tigers also attempted two corner kicks in the second half, two more than they did in the first.
"In the second half, my guys felt they had to press a little bit more, because we were a goal down," Bauer said. "I think you reach a point in a game, with about 20 minutes left, that you're gonna have to put some numbers forward. We knew that as a coaching staff, so we were pushing some guys forward and trying to be opportunistic. Ultimately, we couldn't put the final goal in."
With the win, Carroll improved to 8-1-1, while Warsaw dropped to 5-5-3 with the loss.
With one player out and another on the mend, Bauer wasn't happy with losing to a tough Carroll team, but he also wasn't too down on his guys.
"All in all, we were pretty fluid," he said. "I liked what we were trying to do."
