WC soccer team wins home finale

Celebration was the theme Friday night at the WCHS soccer field as the Pioneer soccer team celebrated not only Senior Night, but a big 3-2 District 7-AAA victory over White County.

The Pioneer squad, along with parents and friends, honored Warren County’s nine seniors: Miguel Aparicio, Tony Garibaldi, Rob Hamby, Wataru Maeda, Honest Mrema, Mauro Ponce, Sam Pryor, Lazaro Serna and Travis Young during a halftime ceremony.

The game saw two evenly matched teams battle it out, with White County striking first at the 36:21 mark. The Pioneer squad drove the ball down the field and worked on offense for the next eight minutes, firing two shots at the White County net.

Garibaldi tie the game at 1-1 when he worked his way to the left side of the net and fired from 15 yards out. Warren County regained possession after the goal, and Garibaldi struck again one minute later to put his team on top 2-1.

White County had a chance to tie the game at the 19:34 mark when Jonathan Fann fired at the Pioneer net, but WCHS goalie Rob Hamby turned the attempt away.

But the Warrior offense continued to push the tempo of the game, and just before the first half ended Jesse Littigreen hit for the visitors to tie the contest at 2-2 as the two teams went into the break.

For the first 35 minutes of the second half neither team could find a clear shot. The tempo of the game increased, as did the physical play. Warren County fired at the Warriors’ goal four times, coming up empty. White County managed three shots, but they, too, were unsuccessful.

With time clicking off the clock, Warren County picked up the pace on offense. Garibaldi gave his team what would end up being the winning goal, slipping his shot under the diving White County goalie at the 6:37 mark for a 3-2 lead.

The Warriors had an opportunity to tie the game off of a free kick with 3:24 left to play, but the attempt came up short. As the clock ran down under the two-minute mark the Warriors took one last chance at tying the game, but Hamby came up with the big save to preserve the victory for Warren County.

The Pioneers are scheduled to travel to Lebanon on Monday for a first-round game in the district tournament, facing the Blue Devils at 4:30 p.m.