SYRACUSE – For Warsaw soccer fans, Saturday was a day to enjoy their hot teams. For Wawasee and its fans, it was just hot.
In the opening game of a Northern Lakes Conference tripleheader, Warsaw’s Lady Tigers got two goals from Abby Steffensmeier less than two minutes in and rolled to a 10-0 win over the Lady Warriors at Warrior Field.
The varsity boys game was much closer. Warsaw had a pair of goals in the last 20 minutes to put away Wawasee 4-1. The finale was the boys junior varsity game, with Warsaw winning 7-0.
Girls Match
Steffensmeier finished with four goals through an outmatched Lady Warrior defense. Brenna Buhrt had a pair of goals, Delaney Taylor had a goal and four assists, and Brenna Shipley, Gracie Scholl, Carly O’Hara added one goal each.
“I feel like we’re starting to hit a good stride here,” Lady Tiger coach Jon Hoover said. “Abby and Delaney are working well together off the ball, and with the ball, and we’re getting healthy, which is a big piece for us. Anna Sullivan is coming to form with her rehab, and we got Sydney Weideman back for the first time all season, so that’s a big encouragement for us.”
“So things are clicking at the right time for us.”
The match started late because of what was being reported as transportation issues, and Wawasee coach Tracy Swain said the subsequent delay may have hurt her team’s game prep.
“I think the unforseen delay put us back on our heels a lot,” she said. “We’d been out there since 10:15, and we didn’t find out until 11 that (Warsaw) wasn’t going to be there on time. The girls didn’t want to go in and cool off, then warm up again, so we stayed out in the shade. But it was enough time to take their mind off of the game.
“Still, we didn’t show a lot of fight, and that was the most disappointing part of it.”
The Lady Tigers so dominated the match that their goalkeeper, Chloe Snow, didn’t have to make a save. Wawasee had the ball in its right corner twice, and never entered the 18-yard with possession of the ball.
Warsaw improved to 9-4-2 overall and 5-1 in the NLC. The Lady Tigers will host Northridge Thursday for the conference title.
Wawasee fell to 3-11 and will go for its first conference win Tuesday at Elkhart Memorial.
Boys Games
Warsaw scored the first two goals of the match and led 2-0 at halftime. Blake Burns got the first goal for Warsaw and Ethan Grill extended the lead for the Tigers. Warrior goalie Dillon Drake made a solid save on a penalty kick that helped keep Wawasee in the match.
Wawasee got a well-struck goal by Chris Pena, who found the net from around 30 yards out to draw within 2-1 with about 30 minutes to play.
Jorge Rico scored off an assist from Eric Ocock to extend the lead back to two goals, and from there the Tigers used plenty of ball movement to finish off the match.
“When (Wawasee) scored to make it 2-1, it was really intense,” Warsaw coach Frank Courtois said. “It was a first for us, playing on the turf, and it was hard on us. The heat definitely took a toll on us.
“We were moving the ball well. They were trying to go direct, while we were working the ball more, and preserving energy at the end, and that worked in our favor.”
Wawasee coach Jordan Sharp said his team didn’t begin the match playing well, and the Warriors improved as time went on.
“We started off not the strongest, but it was great that we were able to stop the (penalty kick) early on. That was huge,” he said. “We thought we might have them on the ropes a little bit, but they continued to do what they do, and they found a way to score and put the game away.
“Warsaw played well, and I was proud of our guys’ effort. I told our guys after the game that we played good, but we needed to play great to win that game. We didn’t play great, and they won.”
In the junior varsity match Adam Brown had a hat trick for the Tigers, and Brennan Cox scored twice for Warsaw. Jose Lara and Isaiah Van Pufflen added goals for the Tiger JV.
Warsaw (9-5-2, 3-3 in the conference), closes its regular season Thursday at Northridge. Wawasee (5-5-3, 0-5 NLC) hosts Northridge Tuesday.
WARSAW GIRLS 10, WAWASEE 0
WAR 4 6 – 10
WAW 0 0 – 0
(Scoring)
War – Abby Steffensmeier (Delaney Taylor), 2nd minute
War – Steffensmeier (Taylor), 2nd min
War – Brenna Buhrt, 9th min
War – Buhrt (Anna Grill), 18th min
War – Taylor (Anna Sullivan), 37th min
War – Brenna Shipley (Taylor), 38th min
War – Steffensmeier (Buhrt) , 43rd min
War – Steffensmeier (Taylor), 45th min
War – Gracie Scholl (Sullivan), 53rd min
War – Carly O’Hara (Haley Zachary), 62nd min
Records – Warsaw 9-4-2 (5-1 NLC), Wawasee 3-11 (0-5 NLC)
WARSAW BOYS 4, WAWASEE 1
WAR 2 2 – 4
WAW 0 1 – 1
(Scoring)
War – Blake Burns (Luis Cleto)
War – Ethan Grill (unassisted)
Waw – Chris Pena (unassisted)
War – Jorge Rico (Eric Ocock)
War – Alex Brown (Cole Voss)
Records – Warsaw 9-5-2 (3-3 NLC), Wawasee 5-5-3 (0-5 NLC)
JV – Warsaw 7, Wawasee 0
Warsaw Goals – Adam Brown 3, Brennan Cox 2, Jose Lara, Isaiah Van Pufflen.
