The Warsaw boys soccer team ended its regular season on a positive note Saturday.
Defeating the Wawasee Warriors 3-0 at Warsaw Community High School, the 12th-ranked Tigers improved to 12-2-3 and 5-1-1 in the Northern Lakes Conference going into Thursday's 5 p.m. sectional match at Argos.The Tigers will face the host Argos Dragons in the opening match, a team they defeated 7-1 Sept. 27 at home.
"That's a dangerous situation to be in," Warsaw coach Scott Bauer said. "It's a good one, because we beat them pretty well the first time we played them. But sometimes, you just don't put things on frame or the keeper plays very well, and Argos can find a way to hang with us. But we're feeling pretty confident about our chances."
On Wawasee's side, the Warriors have drawn a much tougher task taking on the Goshen Redskins at the Goshen Sectional Thursday.
"It's a tough draw, but we're probably going to have to play them anyways to get out of there,' Wawasee coach Peter Lucht said of Goshen, a team that defeated Wawasee 3-1 this year. "At some point in the state tournament, you're going to have to play a good team to move on. We just happened to have a very good team right away."
Prior to any sectional matches, the Warriors and Tigers were looking to get an NLC win.
With the victory, Warsaw's NLC record is good enough for a share of a conference title. However, the IHSAA is currently reviewing whether or not another loss may be added after an ineligible player was used in a 6-0 win over Elkhart Memorial on Sept. 9.
"Our record is good enough to share the conference crown," Bauer said. "In these kids minds, we're co-conference champions. Unfortunately, we played a kid in a 6-0 blowout conference game. He was ineligible, and it all started back in track the previous year. Everyone thought he was ready to go, and I feel horrible for my kids. We'll deal with it."
There is a chance the IHSAA will allow the game to stand, but defeating Wawasee was an objective the Tigers could decide on the field in the regular season finale.
Through the first half, the Tigers defense shut the Warriors down, allowing only one shot on goal. Despite the defense doing its job, the offense sputtered a bit, missing five shots on goal, before junior Matt Franco broke through with a goal at the 1:03 mark from outside the 18.
"That was one of those shots of a lifetime," Lucht said. "Upper 90 from the far side. It curls perfectly."
The goal gave the Tigers some breathing room before freshman Corey Lopez put the game out of the reach with two second-half goals.
"Corey's had a number of opportunities in earlier matches," Bauer said. "He started off really strong for us, then he hit kind of a slump. It was nice to see him convert these two. When you're a striker, you always get enthusiastic about your play when you're finishing well."
Lopez may have been able to find a little room in the Warriors defense due to the fact that Wawasee opted to have Tyson Searfoss shadow Warsaw's all-time leading scorer Jesse Sharp during the entire match.
"Certain teams really want to make sure Jesse isn't the one that hurts them," Bauer said. "Jesse's still going to work really hard, and be a part of what we want to do. He still had his chances. He touched the ball a lot, even with a player man-marking him. That just helps us out as well. It kind of bothers Jesse, but we have a lot of other players who can get a lot more room to do things. We have some guys that can get the ball in the net."
And it was the other guys that Lucht was going to make hurt his squad.
"Sometimes it was a 9-on-9 ballgame," Lucht said. "If we take away their player, that leaves one of our players out as well. Trading Sharp against one of our guys - I'm going to take that trade."
WARSAW 3, WAWASEE 0
War - Matt Franco 39th min.
War - Corey Lopez 65th min.
War - Lopez (Franco) 72nd min.
Shots on Goal - Warsaw 11, Wawasee 3; Saves - Warsaw (Will Brown 4, David Johnson 3) 7, Wawasee (Drew Johnson) 7; Corner Kicks - Warsaw 9, Wawasee 2; Fouls (Yellow Card) - Warsaw 5 (Jesse Sharp), Wawasee 11
