Warsaw Soccer Sectional: Tigers Race Past Vikings Into Final
WARSAW – It was full speed ahead for the Warsaw boys soccer team Wednesday night.
The fleet-footed Tigers, boasting a huge speed advantage, ran right past Huntington North 3-0 in a sectional semifinal contest.
Warsaw, also boasting a big edge in its skill set, dominated the Vikings from start to finish in the Class 3-A Warsaw Sectional.
The Tigers advance to play Homestead Saturday at 2 p.m. for the sectional championship. Homestead defeated Fort Wayne North Side 5-1 in the second semifinal Wednesday night.
Warsaw beat Homestead by a 5-3 count in a shootout in a semifinal match of the Carroll Classic on Sept. 2. The two teams had played to a 0-0 draw in the contest. The Tigers went on to beat conference foe Northridge later that day to claim the tournament title.
Warsaw, now 12-5-2, will be playing for its first sectional title since 2013 and its first-ever in the new three-class state tournament format that began this year.
The Warsaw Sectional winner advances to the Kokomo Regional on Oct. 14.
The final scoreboard read 3-0, but was not indicative of how dominant the hosts were in this one.
The Tigers, who prepare themselves each season for postseason play, came out strong, sharp and aggressive from the opening whistle.
Warsaw had a pair of first-half goals disallowed due to two offsides calls, which drew the ire of exasperated Tiger coach Frank Courtois.
In the end, the two scores that were waved off did not matter in the least.
The Tigers, who also had another 3-4 shot attempts hit off the crossbar or side post of the goal, were just too fast for the Vikings.
“After watching Monday night (when Huntington North beat Fort Wayne Wayne), we knew what to expect tonight,” said Warsaw coach Frank Courtois. “We knew that up top they had no threat to us.
“We just needed to come out and play smart and use our speed to our advantage. We had some nice runs with one-touch. We prepare for 1-2 touch and our guys did a very good job tonight of keeping the ball moving.
“I’m not disappointed, but it could have been like 8-0 tonight. We didn’t put some balls away when we had chances too.”
The Tigers took quick control of the match when senior Cole Voss buried one in the back of the net in the seventh minute off a fine cross from Luis Cleto for the 1-0 lead.
Warsaw then had two goals disallowed in an eight-minute span in the opening. much to the chagrin of Courtois.
The Tigers took a 2-0 lead at halftime as sophomore Blake Burns tallied a goal with 11:20 to play. Sophomore Jorge Rico assisted on the second score of the night.
Senior forward Ocock completed a strong night as he blasted one home in the first ten minutes of the final half on a breakaway to complete the win.
Warsaw piled up a 20-3 edge in shots on the evening. The Tigers also had a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks. Tiger keeper Harrison Mevis, a sophomore, stopped a pair of decent scoring chances by the Vikings in the shutout.
Huntington North finishes its season at 13-4-1, while the Tigers prepare to play for the sectional hardware back on the home pitch Saturday afternoon.
“I think that the second match could go either way,” said Courtois when asked about an opponent for the final Saturday prior to North facing off with Homestead Wednesday night.
“We have to come to play better on Saturday than we did tonight. We didn’t put balls away. I think that if we fnish on Saturday we will win.
“Anything can happen anytime that you step out there on the field to play. If we show up Saturday like we can, I expect it to be a good game.”