Tippecanoe faces Columbus Bishop Watterson on Wednesday night, looking for a return to the state title game. This is Tipp’s 3rd trip to state in the past 5 years and the Red Devils will look to avenge their 2014 regional semifinal loss to Watterson.
The Schedule
Bishop Watterson enters with a 13-5-4 record, but by no means should the Eagles be overlooked. For starters, they played a much tougher schedule than Tipp. Their opponents finished the season with a combined record of 239-122-59 (61.2%) compared to Tipp’s opponents, which went 187-181-38 (48.3%).
Watterson faced 15 teams that finished the season with at least 10 wins, going 8-4-3 against them. Tipp played 9 such teams, going 7-1-1. In those games, Watterson scored 24 goals (1.6 per game) and allowed 14 (0.93 per game), while Tipp outscored their 10-plus win opponents 29 (3.2) to 8 (0.89).
Offense
In general, Watterson is not a high scoring team. The Eagles value possession soccer, which hasn’t led to many goals, but hasn’t surrendered many either.
Watterson has scored just 40 goals this season through 22 games (1.82 per game). Only 6 teams in Tipp history have scored fewer goals than that in a season, the last one coming in 1997.
By comparison, Tipp has scored 115 goals so far this season (5.23 per game), though that number would likely be higher if the Red Devils had gotten to play Greenville in the sectional semifinal round rather than get handed a 1-0 forfeit win. Tipp beat Greenville 9-0 in the regular season.
Watterson scored more than 2 goals in a game just 6 times this season, whereas Tipp was held to 2 or fewer only 6 times.
Defense
Defensively, Watterson is stout, having allowed just 18 goals (0.82 per game) with 10 shutouts. Only one opponent (Upper Arlington) scored more than 2 goals on the Eagles (3). Upper Arlington, a Div 1 program, went 13-2-4 this season, averaging 3.2 goals per game before falling in the district final.
By contrast, Tipp has surrendered just 10 goals all season (0.45 per game) with 15 shutouts. Only 1 team (Summit Country Day) managed more than 1 goal in a game against the Red Devils (3) but Tipp got revenge in the regional final on Saturday, holding the Silver Knights scoreless.
Four of Watterson’s 5 losses came to Div 1 foes (Upper Arlington, Lewis Center Olentangy, Olentangy Berlin, and Dublin Coffman) while the 5th was Worthington Christian, who faces Waynesville in the Div 3 state semifinal on Wednesday. Lewis Center Olentangy and Olentangy Berlin faced off in the district final with the latter winning before falling in the regional semifinal. Dublin Coffman was the only of those that could be considered a bad loss as they went just 7-7-4 and bowed out in sectionals.
In fact, Watterson has surrendered just 4 goals to non-Div 1 teams all season. Meanwhile, 5 of the 10 goals Tipp has allowed have been to non-Div 1 teams, though 3 of those were to Summit Country Day, as mentioned above.
Opponent Comparison
Although Tipp and Watterson don’t share any common opponents this season, there is one comparison we can draw. River View was the highest-scoring team Watterson has faced to date and that was last week in the regional semifinal.
River View entered that game with an 18-2 record against a schedule of opponents with a 51.1% winning percentage, having scored 116 goals and surrendered just 20. Sound familiar? That’s awfully close to Tipp’s resume so far this season, the main difference being in goals against.
In that regional semifinal contest, Watterson won 2-1, holding River View to their lowest scoring output of the season. Watterson took a 1-0 lead in the first half before River View tied it up early in the 2nd. Watterson took the lead midway through the 2nd half and held on the rest of the way, stopping the Black Bears’ high-powered offense.
In the ensuing match against Fairfield Union, Watterson held another high-scoring offense in check. Union (18-2-1 heading into that regional final match) had scored 104 goals (4.95 per game), but Watterson held them scoreless in a 4-0 win.
Overview
Given the above, it’s safe to say the record is deceiving when looking at Watterson’s resume. During their current 9-game winning streak, the Eagles have outscored opponents 21-3 with 6 shutouts. Over that same timeframe, Tipp has outscored its opponents 44-3 with 6 shutouts.
There’s no question that Tipp has the high-powered offense, but the Watterson team of the last month has shown that doesn’t matter. The difference is going to have to be Tipp’s defense. Watterson scored in the first 10 minutes of the game on Saturday and then added 2 more midway through the first half to take a quick 3-0 lead over Union. Tipp can’t allow that to happen.
When they do get opportunities, the Red Devils will have to take advantage. Goals will be hard to come by, and one goal will likely be the difference.
Players to Watch
- Junior midfielder Angelo Ginocchi (#6) leads the Eagles with 11 goals and 2 assists. Ginocchi scored 2 goals in the regional final win over Fairfield Union.
- Senior forward Jordan Vais (#13) is second on the team with 6 goals. He was 1st-team all-Central Catholic League and 1st-team all-district in 2022.
- Senior midfielder Alex Ferguson (#9) has 4 goals and 3 assists this season.
- Senior midfielder Dillon Brown (#4) has scored 4 goals. He was named 1st-team all-Central Catholic League and 2nd-team all-district in 2022.