SYRACUSE - In a high school girls soccer match featuring similar styles, Saturday proved to be the Wawasee Warriors' day against the Warsaw Tigers.
The Warriors capitalized on solid midfield play against the Tigers, which resulted in the 2-0 home win in Northern Lakes Conference play."We've been working on quick play and rhythm," Wawasee coach Dodd Cunningham said. "Trying to keep it simple, playing easy and playing fast. They did that well today. As long as they're moving the ball with quick pace, less dribbling and more passing, they stay on their game well. We're kind of a possession team, and that's what we're trying to do."
That possession game starts in the middle, where senior Francisa Hoffmann controlled the Wawasee pace all afternoon.
"It was a good, strong match," Warsaw coach Mike Getz said. "We know Wawasee's a very good squad, especially Francisca Hoffmann - most of their plays are gonna run through her. We knew about her, but she still had a real strong match. She controlled the pace of the game."
With the score knotted at 0-0, Wawasee junior Ashlee Ort found a way to get the ball over the heads of the Warsaw defenders, allowing Brennan McAdams to get under it for an easy goal in the 45th minute. With a strong defense, which limited Warsaw to only three shots, Wawasee sealed the victory when senior Kaitlin Cunningham found the back of the net with a shot from outside the 18, upping the lead to 2-0 with only 15 minutes remaining.
Coming into the match, Cunningham was aware the Tigers had a tough squad, but he wasn't quite as sure about how tough.
"We weren't quite sure what to expect," Cunningham said. "Warsaw lost a lot of graduates last year, and we kind of thought they were gonna have little bit of an off season this year. I hadn't seen them play, but following the stuff I saw in the newspapers and in the standings, they had a much stronger season than I thought they were gonna have."
Making the match even more intriguing was how the strengths of both teams would match up. In the midfield, Wawasee's Hoffmann and Cunningham did an outstanding job against Jocelyn Evans and Bekah Kolbe of Warsaw, while Wawasee striker Chelsea Hoffmann also matched the production of Warsaw's top striker, Emily Hickerson.
"I know they have a quick forward and good midfielders, and we have kind of the same thing," Cunningham said. "So we were just trying to outplay them in those areas."
Making things even tougher for the Tigers were injuries. On the day, Courtney Flamion, Amanda Skibowski, Karly Wallen and Hickerson all suffered injuries, with Hickeron being the only one to return. And with Warsaw beginning sectionals on Oct. 8, Getz is hopeful the injury bug won't strike anymore.
"We've just had a real tough schedule right now, with a lot of games with no rest," he said. "We're playing five games in nine days, and today we had four girls we lost to injuries during the match. We were trying to switch people around into positions which they aren't playing, just so we could cover."
Warsaw will open sectional play Monday against NorthWood at the Bethany Christian Sectional, while Wawasee will also be at the Bethany Christian Sectional, taking on the host Tuesday.
WAWASEE 2, WARSAW 0
Waw - Brennan McAdams (Ashlee Ort assist) 45th min.
Waw - Kaitlin Cunningham (Francisca Hoffmann assist) 65th min.
