Involved with Warsaw’s boys soccer program for 15 years, as an assistant and now as the head coach, Frank Courtois is proud of the Tigers’ domination of Northern Lakes Conference rival Plymouth. With that being said, the last two meetings between the Tigers and Rockies don’t sit well with Courtois, as Warsaw’s rival from Marshall County has won them both. The two teams met Thursday evening in Warsaw, and Plymouth spoiled the Tigers’ NLC opener when senior Colin Calvert scored in the sixth minute en route to a 2-0 win. Calvert scored again, giving Plymouth some breathing room in the 69th minute. “No, it doesn’t sit well,” said Courtois. “In the last 15 years I’ve been in this program, Plymouth never beat us back-to-back. We lost to Plymouth, I can count probably, well, three or four times in the last 15 years. Right now, they’re getting momentum on us.” Prior to last season’s sectional loss, which snapped Warsaw’s streak of six straight sectional titles and six consecutive regional championships, the Tigers hadn’t lost to Plymouth since 2007. In Thursday’s loss, Courtois said his team was caught off guard by Plymouth’s quick goal, which squirted past sophomore goal keeper Colton Wottring. Wottring was in goal in the place of junior Bailey Berelsman, who was injured during a recent practice. “It’s that surprise goal that threw everybody off,” said Courtois. “It caught everybody off guard. That’s a ball the goalie should’ve stopped. Right now I’m playing my backup goalie. My goalie got hurt in practice on Monday. He’s a sophomore, he’s learning, but we can’t give those goals that easy.” Wottring made four saves for the Tigers, while Plymouth senior Sam Stone made seven saves. Plymouth had five corner kicks to the Tigers’ four. With Thursday’s loss, Warsaw fell to 1-3 on the season and 0-1 in conference play. The Rockies are now 3-1 and 1-0. The Tigers are in action again Saturday at Penn.
PLYMOUTH 2, WARSAW 0 (First Half) P – Colin Calvert 6th min (Second Half) P – Calvert 69th min Shots – Plymouth 6, Warsaw 7; Saves – Sam Stone (P) 7, Colton Wottring (W) 4; Corner Kicks – Plymouth 5, Warsaw 4 Records: Plymouth 3-1 (1-0 NLC), Warsaw 1-3 (0-1 NLC) JV – Warsaw 1, Plymouth 0 Warsaw goal – Alavaro Aguillon (Payne Rager assist) Warsaw record: 3-0-1 (1-0 NLC)
