The Class 2A No. 9 Warsaw boys soccer team added a little excitement to its opening game of the postseason. Hosting Sectional 7, the Tigers (11-2-5) allowed the Culver Military Academy Eagles (8-7-2) to get a 3-0 lead, before reeling off four goals in the final 22 minutes for the 4-3 victory. Warsaw will attempt to claim its sixth-straight sectional crown Saturday against Plymouth, which defeated NorthWood 2-0 Thursday night, in the 2 p.m. championship game. During the regular season, Warsaw won its Northern Lakes Conference matchup against Plymouth 3-0 back on Aug. 29 at home. Warsaw’s quest for a 12th sectional crown seemed to be a simple one, and the Tigers’ back line seemed to have had that mentality early against CMA. In the first half, CMA only had three shots on goal, but each was golden as the Eagles successfully sprinted by the Warsaw defenders on the two occasions. The first counter attack resulted in a one-on-one goal by junior Nicholas Bissonnette at the 23:41 mark and the other helped junior Leonardo Rodriguez get two shots on goal, as the first was saved by Warsaw senior defender Alex Climaco after junior goalkeeper Peyton Long was beaten, but his second attempt got through at the 7:19 mark. “I don’t know why it started out that way,” Warsaw coach Scott Bauer said about his defense. “They were lackadaisical. Maybe they thought this was going to be in the bag for us. Those first two goals, we were just sleeping. On the second one, there was only one defender in the goal trying to clear it, which was Alex. The other three defenders were watching him do all the work. In good defending, when that happens, you save the goal for your keeper. I should have had three guys in there rather than one. That’s just not coming ready to play.” CMA’s 2-0 lead held until halftime, even though Warsaw outshot the Eagles 14-3, but only one of those shots was on goal, while all three of CMA’s were on frame. Warsaw’s defense began to pick it up in the second half, as junior defender Caleb Klusman actually had to save a goal with his foot 11 minutes in, but then a penalty inside the box a minute-and-a-half later gave CMA sophomore Dominic Puzevic a penalty kick, which he converted with 27:24 remaining. Even before falling behind by a third goal, Bauer had a message for his guys. “I told them at halftime, ‘This team put two goals on us in a half. We certainly are capable of putting two on them,’” he said. “But when they put three on us, you have to go, ‘They’ve put three on us, can you put three on them?’ I think the guys believed.” Helping that belief was the move of senior Stephen Kolbe from the defensive back to the front. Using his speed, Kolbe pressured the CMA defense and gave the Tigers an element they’d been lacking. “We were without (senior midfielder) Matt (Williams), so we didn’t have the pace were usually have on the right side, to turn the corner,” Bauer said. “We were then without (senior forward) Zack (Tucker) (who was injured with 11:08 remaining in the first half). So, we had to find someone else, and Stephen was my only real option to spread them out.” Playing with a sense of urgency, Warsaw’s first goal came off a cross from sophomore Brad O’Cock that nipped the head of a diving junior Tito Cuellar inside the five and rolled slowly just inside the post. Down 3-1 with 21:49 remaining, the crowd began to become energized, just as the players did. “I felt if we got a goal at some point, that would get these guys excited,” Bauer said. The excitement only built following a scramble goal by Kolbe with 16:50 left and peaked after junior Sam Allbritten tied the contest at 3-3 with 4:34 left to play. Having already scored three goals in 17 minutes, the Tigers went ahead and avoided overtime when Allbritten added another goal with 2:09 left on the clock. The Warsaw offensive rush came despite CMA coach Kevin Green’s best effort. “We switched formations to go a little more defensive just to make sure we could hold their attack and make them push forward,” Green said. “It didn’t work out.” Looking like a completely different team in the final 20 minutes, CMA struggled to contain Warsaw’s attack. “One was their skill, being able to trap balls, then I think our guys may have become a little anxious,” Green said. Getting pushed to the brink in their opening game of the postseason, Bauer sees a positive coming out of it. “I told the guys at halftime, ‘These are the games that define, often, your postseason runs. Maybe it’s not in the cards, maybe you lose one,’” he said. “When you can overcome two goals, then three, it does sort of generate some optimism on the field that you can make another run.” As for Thursday night, the optimism of a deep postseason run was overcome by the excitement of an opening-game victory. “It’s exciting for the boys,” Bauer said. “This is why soccer’s a beautiful game.”
WARSAW 4, CULVER MILITARY ACADEMY 3 (Sectional 7, Semifinal) C – Nicholas Bissonnette (Tanner Grant) 17th min. C – Leonardo Rodriguez 33rd min. C – Dominic Puzevic (penalty kick) 53rd min. W – Tito Cuellar (Brad O’Cock) 59th min. W – Stephen Kolbe (O’Cock) 64th min. W – Sam Allbritten (Manuel Rodriguez) 76th min. W – Allbritten 78th min. Shots – Warsaw 25, CMA 6; Shots on Goal – Warsaw 7, CMA 6; Saves – Warsaw (Peyton Long) 2, CMA (Perley Provost) 2; Fouls (Yellow Card) – Warsaw 18 (Juan Sanchez), CMA 13; Offsides – Warsaw 0, CMA 3; Corner Kicks – Warsaw 5, CMA 1 Records: Warsaw 11-2-5, CMA 8-7-2
