“We know that we’re going to play Warsaw as an NLC opponent, and usually — the last five years or so — we’ve always seen them, whether it’s in the first round or whether it’s in the championship game at sectional,” Martin said. “Tonight I asked who we were playing, and they said ‘Warsaw.’ The bottom line is not that we’re looking forward to the next game, but we always want to play like we’re playing the best teams in the area, and Warsaw is ranked (16th) in the state right now in the rankings and that’s one of the teams to beat in this area.”
WARSAW 3, ARGOS 0
In the top bracket at Argos, Warsaw took a quick two-goal lead in the first half to take the wind out of the Dragons’ sails early.
The Tigers scored in the seventh minute on an empty-netter by outside forward Noah Price after Argos doorkeeper Mackenzie Williams — who recorded five saves in the loss — came out of the box to trap an earlier shot and couldn’t keep ahold of the ball, and team striker Jesse Sharp added an insurance goal in the ninth on a penalty kick. Argos kept Warsaw out of the net the remainder of the half, but the deficit proved too much to come back from. Sharp added another goal off a well-placed Ryan Price pass with one minute left in the match to hammer the final nail home.
“Those (first two goals) were goals that we’ve had a tendency to give up all year, and any team that gives those up it’s going to destroy your morale,” said Argos boys soccer head coach Todd Van Der Weele. “Especially against a team like Warsaw, to try and come back from that, it takes every ounce of energy you have. My guys put it forward, it just wasn’t our night.”
“I told the buys, obviously it’s important to score first and make Argos unbelievers that they can hang with us,” said Warsaw head coach Scott Bauer.
A suspended forward and a midfielder knee injury hurt the Dragons Thursday, as well.
“I did have a player that was suspended tonight, and that hurt,” Van Der weele said. “He provides a lot of pace for us, and he’s got a nice left-footed shot. Since Drew Overmyer’s been hurt we’ve really struggled moving the ball down the field. He gave everything he had, he’s just not himself. He’s not as mobile as he was... It’s really hard in a small school where you don’t have the depth to suffer through injuries and suspensions and to continue on a good roll.”
PLYMOUTH 2,
MANCHESTER 0
In the bottom bracket Thursday night, Plymouth displayed improved patience on offense to build the ball up from a solid defensive third, and the revamped play paid dividends as the Rockies racked up 10 shots on goal in exchange for just one by the Squires.
“We talked the other night about how we wanted to play through the midfield, and I though Darwin Galeano and Chris Spoor did a really nice job of making themselves available to our backs when we won the ball back there,” said Martin. “They played pretty direct, so they were playing a lot of long balls in, and we’ve been working with our backs on cleaning those balls up, getting some good touches and getting it to feet.”
Plymouth’s first goal came from the midfield, as Galeano pushed a long, rolling shot from 25 yards out off the glove of Manchester keeper Josh Bailey and into the far side of the net. The Rockies didn’t score again until Sean McClellan added some breathing room in the 42nd minute on a solo run up the middle and into the penalty box for a short-range strike. Plymouth got off six more shots in the half, but the buzzer sounded on a 2-0 win.
“Not bad. We held them to two goals,” said Manchester head coach David McKee. “Plymouth is a good team. They’ll give Warsaw a run.”
Plymouth’s sectional championship match against Warsaw Saturday will be a rematch of an earlier contest back in August, which the Tigers won 3-0. In addition to their conference rivalry, the two teams faced each other last year in a semifinal at Argos when the Rockies claimed a 2-1 penalty-kicks victory over Warsaw en route to the program’s first Argos Sectional championship, so they’re no strangers to one another.
“We watched them tonight,” said Martin of his team’s sectional final opponents. “Just a super-quality side. They played a lot of similar patterns that we like to try to play. Their defense is real tough. They’ve got some really big kids, some really fast kids. They have some really sharp kids in the back there. It looked like tonight they played a flat back four. We’re going to try to find some seams in between those guys. They’ve got some good speed so we’re going to have to try to exploit them from the flanks, too. We’ll have to be on our A1 game defensively to keep Sharp on a leash.”
• ARGOS BOYS SOCCER SECTIONAL
Game one
WARSAW 3, ARGOS 0
At Argos
First half
W - Noah Price (unassisted) 7th minute
W - Jesse Sharp (PK) 9th minute
Second half
W - Sharp (Ryan Price) 79th minute
Shots on goal: P 10, M 1
Saves: W 2 (William Brown), A 5 (Makenzie Williams)
Corner kicks: W 8, A 2
Fouls: W 17, A 7
Yellow cards: Bryant Kuchel (A) 69th minute; Price (W) 77th minute
Records: Warsaw 12-2-3, Argos 8-8.
Game two
PLYMOUTH 2, MANCHESTER 0
At Argos
First half
P - Darwin Galeano (unassisted) 7th minute
Second half
P - Sean McClellan (unassisted) 42nd minute
Shots on goal: P 10, M 1
Saves: P 1 (Lucas Hill), M 8 (Josh Bailey)
Corner kicks: P 5, M 0
Fouls: P 9, M 9
Yellow card: Milton Castellano (P) 55th minute
Records: Plymouth 11-7, Manchester 8-7-2.