Warrenton boys soccer coach John Schulte said his team valued the experience of competing in the recent GAC Divisional Cup as its regular season comes down to its final weeks.
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Warrenton boys soccer coach John Schulte said his team valued the experience of competing in the recent GAC Divisional Cup as its regular season comes down to its final weeks.
“We were getting used to that physicality that we don’t always have when we play in a lot of our other games and that’s a good thing. I think it’s going to help us as we go into district play,” Schulte said.
The Warriors placed fifth with a 1-3 record. They defeated St. Charles 3-2 and lost to Liberty (9-1), North Point (3-0) and Troy Buchanan (8-3).
Warrenton lost to St. Charles 4-0 earlier in the year. Schulte said the main factor in his team’s hard-fought victory over the Pirates was its ability to capitalize on missed chances that were prevalent in their first matchup.
“We were all over them in that first half and had four or five opportunities where we missed or hit the crossbar,” Schulte said. “It was a back and forth game but the kids really wanted it and we put a lot of the things we worked on in practice together, like great passing and intensity, and it paid off.”
Schulte said injuries forced players to step up into new roles.
“We didn’t have any subs in the second half (against Troy), so the kids were doing the best they could out there but they’re tired,” Schulte said. “We had enough goals to win the game. We just needed a little bit better defense back there. They were pressuring and putting a lot of stuff on us and they caused some issues for us.”
Warrenton was without its senior centerbacks Brayden Brown and Caleb Hackmann due to injuries.
“It's been really tough trying to figure that out and move people around, so I think they’re getting used to new positions and what they need to do, but they are doing a really good job and working hard,” Schulte said.
The pair had been anchoring the backline together.
“They’ve been playing with me for four years, so it’s been really tough,” Schulte said.
Isaac Wagner led the Warriors with four goals and Evan Donovan, Iain Young and Gavin Thompson each had a goal in tournament play.
Warrenton took a 12-5 record into its match with Veritas Christian on Oct. 21. The Warriors have a home match against Hannibal (5-15-2) on Oct. 23.
Schulte hopes his team will carry the momentum from the GAC Cup into the final stretch of its season.
“The intensity was really, really high,” he said. “The kids are working extremely hard and we’re excited for the next couple of weeks coming up.”
