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After starting off the season with a win on Tuesday night, the Warsaw boys soccer team remained at home to try to make it two in a row against visiting St. Joe. For the longest time, it looked as if neither side was going to come out on top, but the Tigers were propelled forward by a goal from senior Sam Lara with 1:11 left, which was good enough for a 1-0 win.
In the opening minutes of the match, the ball spent a majority of its time in the midfield, as neither side was able to possess it long enough to generate any real attacking chances. Between the two sides, Warsaw held possession for a touch more than the Huskies, but none of it resulted in anything meaningful until the Tigers managed the game’s first shot on goal eight minutes in. The attempt was saved by St. Joe keeper Brayden Liddell-Dyczko.
The next 10 minutes were not much different, as both sides continued to feel each other out. THe Huskies were able to match their opponents’ shot on target with one of their own on a quick counterattack, but senior Bennett Wiebe was not phased. The keeper made the same without giving up a rebound, keeping the game scoreless.
That second shot seemed to give the game the spark it desperately needed, as there were more shots in the next five minutes of play as there had been in the first 20. By this point, the game had begun to take shape more fully. St. Joe seemed content to let the Tigers possess the ball for longer stretches, trusting their defense to come up big when push came to shove. The visitors would then try to use Warsaw’s aggressiveness against them, striking quickly with a counterattack. It almost paid off once or twice, but the home defense was there to thwart the efforts.
The Huskies had to feel lucky that the game was still scoreless heading into halftime, as their play got significantly sloppier in the final five minutes before the break. The visitors turned it over on their side of the field quite a few times, which combined with a few foolish fouls, gave the Tigers ample opportunities to open the scoring. However, the St. Joe defense was up to the task in preventing that from happening, leading to the 0-0 score at the half.
Senior Diego Rodriguez of Warsaw leaps to avoid colliding with St. Joe's goalie Brayden Liddell-Dyczko during Thursday evening's home game...Nieter
The first 10 minutes of the second half came and went without the game’s first goal, but the visitors did come up with the best chance yet on a shot from long range that got lost in the shuffle before going off the post. The Huskies came out of the break playing a much more deliberate style of play, and were now the ones controlling possession.
Now, it was Warsaw’s turn to anchor down on defense. As time continued to tick away, the St. Joe offense continued to build and build. Outside of a few short runs by the home side, it was now the Huskies that had taken control of the ball. Like their opponents before them though, the Tiger defense was up to task, turning away their foe time and time again.
With just over 15 minutes left in the game, it appeared that St. Joe was moments away from finally scoring the opener. A counterattack following a corner kick by the Tigers gave the visitors a two-on-one attacking opportunity. With the Huskies closing in on the net, a fantastic tackle by Warsaw senior Delixandro Benitez put the ball out of bounds and allowed the rest of his defense to get back into the picture.
The intensity only skyrocketed from there, as the home side went right down to the other end and almost beat St. Joe at their own game. However, Liddell-Dyczko was there with a miraculous one-handed save to keep things level.
Soon, less than 10 minutes remained in the game, and even though it was clear as day that the legs of the players on the field were going, they were still giving everything they had as they raced end to end searching for a game-winner. The more time that ticked away, the more willing each side seemed to take that extra risk to try and set up that elusive goal. Because of this, both teams were draining the tank to attempt counters the other way when something went wrong.
Finally, with just over a minute left in the game, the Tigers were able to find a breakthrough. After a longer stretch than most in the Husky defensive end, things finally broke down for the visitors. The end result was the ball finding the boot of Lara, who was wide open in the middle of the box. After taking one touch to settle it, he unleashed a rocket that found the bottom left corner of the net, unleashing euphoria among the Warsaw faithful.
St. Joe did everything it could in the final 71 seconds to try and find an equalizer, even bringing Lindell Dyczko up into the offensive end to try and win the numbers game. It was not to be though, as the Tigers finished off an incredible defensive effort by running out the clock.
Warsaw (2-0) is at home Saturday against Hanover Central.
