Warsaw boys soccer coach Scott Bauer said his team took its foot off the pedal, so to speak. It didn't matter, however, as the sixth-ranked Tigers scored five goals in the second half and pulled away for a 7-0 win over Northern Lakes Conference rival Plymouth Thursday night. "If our quality comes through, we're going to be able to put away average to good teams," said Bauer, whose team returns the majority of its offensive firepower from last year's state finals squad. "We were clicking tonight. I figured we'd wear Plymouth down in the second half, and the flood gates opened." With the convincing win, Warsaw improved to 2-0-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play, while Plymouth fell to 2-1 and 1-0. Since opening the season with a 4-4 tie at Fort Wayne Concordia, the Tigers have defeated Fort Wayne Northrop and Plymouth by a total score of 13-0. The only visible thing that went wrong for Warsaw Thursday was a knee injury to senior goalie David Johnson. Coming out of the box, Johnson ran to cover up the ball and collided with sophomore teammate Gustavo Rodriguez, who was also trying to get to the ball. Johnson left the game prior to halftime and did not return. "He hit knees with one of my defenders," Bauer said of Johnson. "It was an unfortuate situation. David is fearless. He always has been. Hopefully it's just a bruise." While Johnson sat out because of the unfortunate incident, the Tigers kept Plymouth goalkeeper's Charlie Brown and Eric Aguilar busy. Xavier Arellanes scored the game's first goal in the 18th minute on an assist from Nathan Kolbe. In the 26th minute, Diego Lopez was assisted by Jose Rodriguez, as the host Tigers were up 2-0 at halftime. In the second half, Warsaw got two goals from Jose Rodriguez and one goal each from Corey Lopez, Miguel Rivera and T.J. Hofer. Kolbe and Rivera were credited with assists in the second half. "We have a lot of weapons," Bauer said of his team's scoring ability. "Corey, Diego (Lopez), Jose, Xavier and Nate, they can all score goals. And we have others who can score." While Warsaw has scored 17 goals in three games thus far, Bauer said his team will face a real test Saturday when it plays at No. 10 Penn Saturday. "We're tough to beat when we're clicking," said Bauer. "We were clicking tonight. We'll find out more about ourselves Saturday at Penn."
WARSAW 7, PLYMOUTH 0 (First Half) W - Xavier Arellanes (Nathan Kolbe assist) 18th minute W – Diego Lopez (Jose Rodriguez assist) 26th minute (Second Half) W – Rodriguez (unassisted) 47th minute W – Cory Lopez (penalty kick) 49th minute W – Rodriguez (unassisted) 51st minute W – Miguel Rivera (Kolbe assist) 53rd minute W – T.J. Hofer (Rivera assist) 63rd minute Shots on goal – Warsaw 9, Plymouth 1; Corner Kicks – Warsaw 5, Plymouth 1; Saves – Michael Yance (W) 1, Charlie Brown (P) 2, Eric Aguilar (P) 1; Records: Warsaw 2-0-1 (1-0 NLC), Plymouth 2-1 (0-1 NLC).
