GOSHEN - After reaching semistate two years in a row, the undefeated Wawasee Warriors' season wasn't suppose to end without a sectional championship.
"This is definitely not how it was supposed to end," Wawasee coach Dodd Cunningham said after his team lost 1-0 to Westview Saturday. "These games happen sometimes. Normally, these type of games happen to us during the season. This year, we made it all the way through the season without having one, then here it is. Right when we didn't need it."The type of game Cunningham was referring to was one of low intensity, allowing the Westview Warriors to win the Bethany Christian Sectional championship.
"We started real slow," Cunningham said. "I don't know what our issue was in the first half. The focus just wasn't there. The girls didn't appear to be mentally prepared. The second half, we played a lot better. We had a lot of opportunities, we just didn't finish on any of them. It's the first game we've been held scoreless all year. It's not for a lack of chances or lack of shots. We had a lot of them."
On numerous occasions, Wawasee had shots from the 18 sail just over the crossbar, saw headers fall just short of the goal line and witnessed one-on-one shots from the six veer outside the post.
Westview also had similiar opportunities, but when a pass from a corner kick landed in the box, freshman Jeslyn Zimmerly didn't miss a rebounded shot, scoring the game's only goal with 26:31 remaining.
"We knew we had to be intense coming into this," Westview coach Chuck Christner said. "We knew they were strong and they could take long shots at us. Defensively, we held them strong. We had some offensive opportunities, but the one when the ball was bouncing around in front of the goal, we were there at the right place at the right time."
Wawasee appeared to be in the right place at the right time late in the game, but when a sliding cross off the foot of senior Kylee Ort found freshman Mallory Rondeau for a header in front of the goal, only to take a wrong bounce with 50 seconds remaining, it appeared the night wasn't supposed to be theirs.
Instead, the night belonged to Westview, who took the sectional title by shutting out each of the three Northern Lakes Conference teams it faced at the sectional.
In the first round, Westview blanked Warsaw 2-0, defeated NorthWood 1-0 in the semis, then pulled off another shutout in the championship.
"We've really peaked at this point in the season," Christner said. "We've just gotten better, better and better. In terms of our play as a team, we've come together more and more."
While Westview keeps getting better, Wawasee may have caught them on their best night.
"They played a lot higher pressure," Cunningham said of the Westview defense. "They pressured us a lot harder to the ball. I think that's why we started slow in the first half. We weren't playing to their intensity level. They came out pressing real hard, playing with a lot energy - not allowing us a lot of possession time. Their defense was playing well. They were holding our forwards from having too many opportunities."
The loss didn't only spell the end of the season, but also an end to the high school careers of six seniors, including five starters Adriana Ganz, Haley Herr, Brennan McAdams, Ashlee Ort and Kylee Ort.
"They've been with me the whole time I've been here," Cunningham said of the girls who entered the program during his first season coaching at Wawasee. "They're a huge part of the team. It's gonna be hard seeing them go. There are some great athletes there, and helped make this team what it is. We could see that potential as freshmen. We could see it then, even though we weren't a great team. I could see the potential to have a team like this. It's unfortunate for them that it had to end this way. They know they're good enough to move on. It's devastating to them right now."
The season is over for Wawasee, while 14-3-2 Westview now moves on to the Goshen Regional, where they'll face 14-3-2 Penn Wednesday.
"We've struggled many times in the postseason," Christner said. "I don't know the last time we won a sectional, but we haven't won many girls soccer sectional titles. This is great for us."
