Tourney Titles At Stake Saturday
Warsaw senior Nathan Kolbe controls the ball during soccer sectional action at Plymouth last week. Kolbe, who had the lone goal in a 1-0 regional semifinal win Thursday night. and the No. 2 Tigers play No. 12 Elkhart Central Saturday at 7 p.m. in the title match of the Mishawaka Regional (Photo by Mike Deak).
With a lot at stake for a quartet of Tiger teams.
The Class 2-A No. 2 Warsaw boys soccer team plays in a regional final at Mishawaka at 7 p.m. Saturday evening. The Tigers, who are 17-1-2 on the field, face Elkhart Central (16-2-1) in a showdown at Ward Baker Park.
Warsaw will be shooting for its fifth straight regional title. The Tigers beat South Bend St. Joseph 1-0 in a semifinal match Thursday night, while the Blue Blazers topped Penn 2-1 in the other semifinal contest.
The winner of the Warsaw-Central match earns a spot in the Warsaw Semistate on Oct. 20.
At the same time Saturday evening (at 7 p.m. start), the Warsaw girls soccer team plays No. 4 South Bend St. Joseph in a regional final at Goshen. The Tigers, who lost 4-2 to St. Joe in a regional semifinal game in 2011, are trying to claim their first regional title since 2003.
The Warsaw girls, who have nine seniors, defeated Penn 2-1 Wednesday night in semifinal play at Goshen. South Bend St. Joe, which lost in the semi state final a year ago, defeated Concord 3-0 in the first semifinal at GHS Wednesday.
The winner of the Warsaw-St. Joe match earns a spot in the South Bend St. Joseph Semistate on Oct. 20.
The action on Saturday begins with cross country regional action at Culver Academies. The No. 15 Warsaw girls team, led by phenom Ashley Erba, races at 10:30 a.m. with the No. 6 Tiger boys team racing at 11:15 a.m.
Erba set a sectional record Tuesday night at Culver Academies to lead the Warsaw girls team to its second straight sectional championship. Sarah Ray placed third and Emma Hayward ninth overall for coach Scott Erba’s team.
The WCHS boys team won the sectional easily Tuesday at Culver Academies, even without standout Jake Poyner, who opted not to race to rest for the regional. The Tigers dominated the race with five runners in the top 10, led by a second-place finish by senior standout Robert Murphy.
The girls field Saturday at Culver includes Warsaw, Rochester, Plymouth, Culver Academies, Triton, No. 6 Eastern, Northwestern, Cass, Carroll and Logansport. The boys field includes Warsaw, Rochester, Culver Academies, Triton, Plymouth, Western, Logansport, Carroll, Kokomo and Northwestern.
The top five teams and top 15 individuals in both the girls and boys races advance to the New Prairie Semistate on Oct. 20.
The Wawasee girls and boys cross country teams return to Ox Bow Park in Elkhart Saturday morning for regional action, starting at 9:30 a.m.
The Wawasee boys team placed third in the sectional held at Ox Bow on Tuesday night. Reid Stichter was fifth overall and Adam Doll ninth to lead the Warriors.
Breanna Robinson captured an eighth-place finish Tuesday to lead the Wawasee girls team to a fourth-place finish in the Elkhart Central Sectional.
The boys field at Ox Bow for the regional includes Wawasee, Northridge, Goshen, Elkhart Central, Concord, Mishawaka, South Bend Riley, Penn, South Bend St. Joseph and South Bend Adams. The girls field includes Wawasee, No. 9 Northridge, Elkhart Memorial, Goshen, Concord, Penn, Mishawaka, South Bend St. Joseph, South Bend Riley and South Bend Adams.
The top five teams and top 15 individuals in both the boys and girls races advance to the New Haven Semistate Oct. 20.
