Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE -ÊWawasee boys soccer coach Paul Boyd thought his team played one of its best games of the season Saturday.
Warsaw boys soccer coach Scott Bauer felt his team let one get away.
Warsaw and Wawasee finished in a 1-1 tie. Warsaw is 4-2-3 overall and 1-0-2 in the Northern Lakes Conference, while Wawasee is 3-3-3 overall and 1-0-1 in the NLC.
Games like these are why coaches use the cliche "throw out the records." When archrivals like Warsaw and Wawasee clash, emotions are charged. The rivalry itself serves to level the playing field.
Just ask Bauer.
"I've heard Wawasee comes to play every time they play Warsaw, that it's one game they get up for every year," he said. "I don't know if my kids were buying that concept or not, but they found out today Wawasee comes to play."
Said Boyd: "It was a great game. We played much better. I said, 'Guys, we gotta beat them to the ball. We gotta go to the ball. We went to the ball. That was the difference in the first half.'"
The first half belonged to Wawasee. Ryan Skaggs scored on a pass from Matt Klaassen to put the Warriors up 1-0 at the 26:40 mark.
"It was a nice cross by Matt Klaassen," Boyd said. "He brought the ball across, just like we had been playing in practice. Ryan Skaggs turns around and creamed it in. It was awesome."
Falling behind awakened Warsaw, which peppered the Wawasee goal in the second half.
Warsaw senior Mat LaFountain tied the game when he headed a directed free kick into the goal with 24:30 left. To celebrate, LaFountain and his team members ran in front of the crowd, pumping their arms. Warsaw had the momentum and intended on keeping it.
But 17 minutes later the source of Warsaw's only score got thrown out of the game.
"Mat's a very opportunistic striker on the front line," Bauer said. "It hurt us a lot. I guess he missed the ball and used a foul word, directed at no one else but himself, and the referee decided to kick him out of the game.
"I tell my players in practice we don't tolerate foul language. They don't do it in practice. They know if I hear it, I will pull them."
How much his loss hurt Warsaw was debatable. He is a senior, a leader, and he had scored Warsaw's goal.
Still, without LaFountain, Warsaw blistered Wawasee's goal three times in the last five minutes, only for Warrior goalkeeper Ryan Anderson to thwart Warsaw's attempts to win the game.
The game took on a physical tone early. In the stands some fans complained about whose players were getting away with what; others grumbled that some players spent too much time whining to the referees.
"We've had just as physical games with other teams, but I think we expect not to have such a physical game against a team we feel like we're better than," Bauer said. "That's what we do to better teams. We play physical, like Wawasee did to us today.
"We came back in the second half. We had a lot of opportunities to put one in. We just didn't cash in. My hat's off to Wawasee. It was a good game."
To Bauer, the key was Wawasee scoring first.
"We fell behind by a goal, and I think it shook us just getting scored on," he said.
Goshen and Concord are considered the favorites to win the NLC, but Concord has one loss, and Goshen is undefeated.
Asked if Warsaw still could consider winning the conference title, Bauer said: "Barely ... Barely. We needed this one."
Boyd said Wawasee played one of its best games of the year. He gave credit to the Warsaw/Wawasee rivalry for making it happen.
"That's a no-brainer for firing these kids up," he said. "Both squads like to hammer one another. It's a healthy rivalry. It's a good rivalry."
WARSAW 1, WAWASEE 1
First period
Ryan Skaggs (Matt Klaassen) 1-0 WAW, 26:40
Second period
Mat LaFountain 1-1 Tie, 24:30
Records - Wawasee 3-3-3 (1-0-1 NLC), Warsaw 4-2-3 (1-0-2 NLC)
JV: WARSAW 3, WAWASEE 1
Warsaw goals - Zach Woodward, Adam Hodge, Joel Popenfoose
Warsaw assist -ÊKirk Burnett
Warsaw record - 7-0-1
