Kline, Eagles End Warsaw's SeasonPLYMOUTH – There were two differences between Warsaw’s boys soccer team and the Culver Academies Eagles in the 2A Plymouth Sectional Monday night. The Eagles had Patrick Kline, and capitalized on one more opportunity in the match. Kline scored both Eagle goals in their 2-1 win, ending the Tigers’ season. Culver Academies came out very fast and very physical; something Tiger head coach Frank Courtois told his squad to expect. “I told the boys at the beginning ‘they’ll be aggressive, they’ll be disciplined, they’ll be on top of us.’ That’s exactly what they did,” he said. “They were physical, they were strong, and they aren’t afraid of going in for the 50/50 balls. We were a little weak on that side, and it created windows of opportunity.” The first window opened seven minutes into the match when Kline took a pass from Jesus Palazuelos and found the back of the net from the left side. After that, Warsaw matched the Eagles’ intensity, and began to create a few opportunities of its own. The Tigers got the equalizer in the 23rd minute when Andrew Mevis, about 10 yards past midfield, hit Eric Ocock in stride. Culver goalkeeper Jackson Badalich came out too far from goal, Ocock got past him and hit the unguarded goal. Warsaw had at least three more chances to score in the first half, and two more in the second half before Kline got his second goal, ultimately the game-winner, in the 55th minute. “It seemed like we were the better side in control of the ball, but we could not finish,” Courtois said. “The defense folds instead of backing up and giving them that one shot. The difference was they put their’s away and we did not.” As the clock wound down, Warsaw became desperately aggressive to tie the match. The Eagles rose to the occasion, and several collisions had the Tigers and their fans yelling for a penalty. “I’m not going to talk about the refs,” said Courtois. “If we would have used our opportunities better, we wouldn’t have to worry about the refs.” Shots on goal were hard to come by. Culver had five and Warsaw four in the match, with several shots sailing over or wide of the goal for both teams. In the final two minutes, Warsaw goalkeeper Tomas Rivera became an extra defender near midfield, and charged the net when Mevis had a corner kick in the last seven seconds of the match. The ball pinballed against legs from both teams before bounding away as time, and the Warsaw season, expired. The Tigers finished with a 6-10-2 record. The Eagles will take on host Plymouth in the second sectional semifinal Wednesday. Wawasee and NorthWood play in the first semifinal at 5 p.m.
CULVER ACADEMIES 2, WARSAW 1 W 1 0 – 1 CA 1 1 – 2 CA – Patrick Kline (Jesus Palazuelos) 7th min. W – Eric Ocock (Andrew Mevis) 23rd min. CA – Kline (unassisted) 55th min. Warsaw record: 6-10-2
