The ninth-ranked Warsaw boys soccer team got a scare from the Wawasee Warriors Saturday in their regular season finale in Warsaw.
The Northern Lakes Conference game saw Wawasee (4-6-7, 1-3-3 NLC) playing very defensive, with eight men back and only one up front. The scheme worked for a while, but in the 53rd minute, Warsaw senior Joey Hickerson got behind the defense and found junior Corey Lopez for the lone score of a 1-0 game."We finally got the ball in the box and had the ability to finish," Warsaw coach Scott Bauer said.
Wawasee coach Peter Lucht has been using the defensive strategy over the last few matches, and with speed and quickness of Warsaw (14-2-1, 7-0 NLC), he knew it would come in handy.
"I saw their Lakeland (Christian Academy) and Argos games, so I was familiar with what they wanted to do," he said. "We played a formation that we've been playing, and that has given us success over the past month. So, we didn't change too much. We just needed to be aware of what they wanted to do. Even with the precautions and measures we had, they still scored. Hats off to them for a fantastic effort."
Wawasee's scoring opportunities were put on the shoulders of senior Cody Blunk, who was the lone man playing up.
"The way we're working the ball toward him, he's getting some dangerous opportunities," Lucht said. "We just need to get guys in the box on the far post and we need to get something like a backwards diagonal pass to get some support that they're running with him, so he doesn't feel like he's all on his own."
Blunk may have been the only player playing up, but all four of Wawasee's shots on goal came from direct kicks by senior Austin Benzinger.
"It's something that we practice and something we've been good with because of the delivery of Benzinger," Lucht said about set plays. "It's not so much a hope, but more of a level of anticipation, because we've been able to depend on him."
Benzinger's last direct kick came from just inside midfield with seconds remaining.
Following his boot toward the goal, senior Josh Matti was their for the put back, but Warsaw junior goalkeeper David Johnson was there to corral the ball just before it crossed the goal line and the clock expired.
"Wawasee came in with a good scheme to keep us from getting up on them early," Bauer said.
Even after getting the win, Bauer wasn't overly impressed with his team as it prepares to take on Argos at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Argos Sectional.
"We're a little suspect right now," he said. "We've got to start playing better and more consistent. If we don't, we could end up on the losing side of a match."
Wawasee takes on Goshen Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Goshen Sectional.
