Generals Bounce Tigers From SectionalFORT WAYNE – The Warsaw Tigers couldn't finish any of their ample scoring opportunities Monday night.
As a result, their season is now finished.
In a Class 3A boys soccer sectional opener at Homestead High School, the 12th-ranked Tigers outshot the Fort Wayne Wayne Generals 11-2, only to come away with a disappointing 1-0 loss.
The Tigers, who advanced to the regional last year and lost in a penalty kick shootout to eventual state champion Lafayette Harrison, saw a number of their shots hit the post and bounce away. Others were stopped by stingy Wayne keeper Torren Gonzalez.
It just wasn't Warsaw's day, and the Tigers ended their season with a 9-3-6 record.
“Some days things go your way, and other days they don't,” said Warsaw coach Frank Courtois. “This is a day it just didn't go our way. There's a reason and purpose for everything, I guess. We gotta learn from this and move on.
“I don't know if we underestimated the other team or we didn't take them seriously, but those things happen.”
Wayne, now 12-4-1 on the season, got the match's lone goal from Naung Ket in the 21st minute and will play Huntington North at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the sectional semifinals.
Huntington North beat Fort Wayne North Side 3-1 in Monday's second game.
Fort Wayne South and the host Spartans will play in Wednesday's second semifinal.
Wednesday's winners will meet in the sectional final Saturday, a contest that will be played at Warsaw.
First-year Wayne coach Aaron Koch was proud of his team's determination, and said the 12 seniors on his roster weren't ready to hang their cleats up yet.
“We've got 12 seniors on the team, and when you've got 12 seniors and you start 10 of them, they're not ready to be done yet,” said Koch. “A lot of them played for four years (on the varsity), they're not ready to be done, and I think you kind of saw that in the effort and stuff today.”
The Generals won just one match three years ago when many of the current seniors were playing varsity as freshmen.
Monday night they took down the sectional favorite and notched a program-best 12th win in a season.
“You need a little luck sometimes,” said Koch. “Warsaw had some shots bounce off the post, but on top of that, Torren Gonzalez played absolutely phenomenally. This is his first year playing, and if I didn't tell you that you probably wouldn't know that. He's just a pure athlete and he was absolutely phenomenal in the net today.
“We got a couple breaks, they had balls hit the post and things like that, and in the state tournament you need a couple breaks like that. I'm just happy it fell for us today.”
Monday's loss marked the end for six Warsaw seniors – Ricardo Saldivar, Isaiah VanPuffelen, Tony Aguillon, Garrett Reinholt, Payne Rager and Dominic Smith.
“This is not when we expected to get beat. But like I said, everything happens for a reason,” said Courtois. “We still have a bunch of young players, we just need to sit down and really think about things. We have to find a way to finish our chances and put them away. We can't just mess around with them and let the other team hang around.”
