ARGOS - With their eighth-straight shutout, the Warsaw Tigers won their eighth sectional championship in nine years Saturday night.
Scoring two goals in a span of 50 seconds in the first half, the seventh-ranked Tigers went on to beat the Manchester Squires 4-0 in boys soccer action at Argos High School's Eugene Snyder Field.Warsaw is now 16-2-1 on the season and will play Marion at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Logansport Regional. Twin Lakes and Maconaquah will play in the first regional semifinal at 5 p.m., with Wednesday's winners squaring off in the championship game Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Squires, who lost 11-1 to Warsaw in last year's sectional, finished the season with a 7-7-2 record.
"I was very impressed with Manchester," said Warsaw coach Scott Bauer, whose team has outscored its last eight opponents by a combined score of 24-0. "They were much-improved from last year. They played hard the whole game."
While the Squires played hard for 80 minutes, they were simply outplayed by the Tigers, who have advanced to the semistate championship game the past two seasons.
"My guys played hard the whole game, but we were outplayed," said Manchester coach Dave McKee. "Warsaw is the best team I've seen this year. Period. Nobody else comes close. They're a very good team."
The Tigers have played 19 games this year, and won won 14 of them by shutout.
In Saturday's blanking of Manchester, Warsaw took 17 shots to the Squires' six.
Junior Corey Lopez put the Tigers on the scoreboard in the fourth minute, footing what turned out to be the game-winner, while senior Brody Reinholt scored in the 28th minute and sophomore Diego Lopez added a goal 50 seconds later.
Corey Lopez scored again in the 57th minute.
Sophomore Nathan Kolbe and senior Joey Hickerson had assists for Warsaw.
"They're like surgeons with their passing," McKee said of the Tigers. "They know what they're going to do before they do it. Their passing is incredible. That's a very good soccer team."
Junior goal keeper David Johnson made one save while playing 70 minutes for Warsaw, while teammate Michael Yantz, a sophomore, made one save playing the final 10 minutes of the game.
For Manchester, junior Dylan Grossnickle played all 80 minutes in the net and made six saves.
WARSAW 4, MANCHESTER 0
(Scoring)
First Half
W - Corey Lopez 4th minute
W - Brody Reinholt 28th minute
W - Diego Lopez (Nathan Kolbe assist) 28th minute
Second Half
W - Corey Lopez (Joey Hickerson assist) 57th minute
Shots - Warsaw 17, Manchester 6; Saves - David Johnson (War) 1, Michael Yantz (War) 1, Dylan Grossnickle (Man) 6; Records: Warsaw 16-2-1, Manchester 7-7-2
