Unhappy with the way his team started the game, Warsaw boys soccer coach Scott Bauer certainly had to be pleased with the way it ended. "I thought we came out with a lack of focus and a lack of purpose," said Bauer, whose fifth-ranked Tigers beat the Culver Military Academy Eagles 5-0 Wednesday in the second semifinal game of the Warsaw Sectional. "The way we started the first half, I was hoping we'd be more focused. I was happy with the second half, we put together some nice opportunities and did some nice things." The Tigers scored three goals in the second half, including the final two by senior Corey Lopez in less than a minute, as they improved to 14-3-1. "We had a number of kids who didn't have a good night, and we were still able to get five goals," said Bauer. "That's a good CMA team." With the win, the Tigers advanced to Saturday's 7 p.m. sectional championship game against fellow Northern Lakes Conference team NorthWood. The Panthers advanced by beating NLC foe Wawasee 2-0 in Wednesday's first semifinal game. NorthWood, which got two goals from Taylor Wegmiller, improved to 11-6, while Wawasee ended its season with a record of 0-14-1. "It's the same thing Saturday, we have to come out focused and play with purpose," said Bauer. "NortWood is a good team." During the regular season, Warsaw beat NorthWood 6-0. Lopez scored three goals for the Tigers Wednesday, the first coming in the ninth minute, while the other two came in the 68th minute. Nate Kolbe scored in the 39th minute, while Brant Davis scored in the 42nd minute. Lake Price, Xavier Arellanes, Grant Allbritten, José Rodriguez and Davis all had an assist for Warsaw. The Tigers, who advanced to the state finals last year, are looking for their fourth consecutive sectional championship and ninth in 10 years. In its last seven sectional games, dating back to 2008, Warsaw has outscored its opponents by a total of 32-2.
