The coaches expected District 14 boys’ soccer to be another dogfight entering the 2019 season.

One of those early back-and-forth battles took place Wednesday, with South Warren scoring twice in the final seven minutes to claim a 4-2 victory over host Bowling Green.

“Anytime we play Bowling Green, we know that they’re going to be well coached. Coach (Scott) Gural always has them organized, he always has them ready to play, they have a good game plan and they come out and execute it,” South Warren coach Tom Alexander said. “We know anytime we play Bowling Green, it’s going to be a really good game and that they have a lot of talented players … but it’s a great win. It’s a great start for us, so we’re looking forward to seeing what else we can do in the district.”

The Spartans’ second-half goals came from Anthony Cano and Kiram Mujic to break a 2-all tie. The last meeting between the two came in last season’s Region 4 tournament final, a 6-1 South Warren victory.

Cano’s goal came with 6:55 remaining in regulation after Eldin Velic – who scored the first two goals of the match – escaped two Bowling Green defenders and sent a cross into the box that eventually found the foot of the Spartans’ junior. Cano put a low shot off the post and in for the eventual game-winning goal.

“I saw there was no one around me, so I took a touch and I had to bury it,” Cano said.

It came after a four-goal performance in an 8-0 victory at Warren East on Monday. Cano scored just eight goals last year and has six in four games this year to help South Warren to a 4-0 overall start and a 2-0 start in District 14 play.

Mujic added the insurance goal with 4:30 to play.

“We expect these kind of things with our culture. The guys have been around long enough, like our two center backs – Braedon Price and Semir Selimovic – they’ve been starting since they were sophomores. This is their third year together,” Alexander said. “They know what this is about, they know how we play, they know what we need to do and I think they provide great leadership for us when we get in games like this.

“There’s going to be things that don’t go our way and it’s how we play out of it. We got up really good and they tied the game up on us and what we did after that showed the character these guys have and what they can do.”

Velic started the scoring in the 12th minute by putting a shot off the fingertips of Bowling Green goalkeeper Amran Linares and into the upper corner of the net. He added his second of the night with 21:26 to play in the first half when Mujic received a throw-in from Cano and crossed it to a wide-open Velic, who took one touch before firing the ball past Linares to make it 2-0.

“We just work hard during practice,” Velic said. “We work together.”

Bowling Green had several set pieces throughout the match and got on the board with one with 21:34 remaining in the second half. The Purples played the ball into the box on a corner kick and, after an attempt to clear it from the Spartans’ defense, Byamungu Amisi’s volley was deflected into the goal, making it 2-1.

The momentum continued in Bowling Green’s favor and the Purples tied the game with just over 14 minutes to play when a free kick from Hunter Hawkins made its way across the mouth of the goal and to Naid Gagulic, who put it in, but that was all the offense the home team could muster in the 4-2 defeat.

“It’s always easier to score when you can place the ball stationary and you can time your runs and you can put the ball in there where you want it,” Gural said. “It’s a work in progress and I’m sure South Warren will make some adjustments with their defense and we’ve got to make some adjustments to how we finish on the set pieces.”

The win is the sixth straight in the series for the Spartans. The two teams are scheduled to play again Sept. 5 at South Warren.

Bowling Green falls to 1-2-1 overall and 0-1-0 in district play. The Purples are scheduled to travel to Warren East on Thursday. South Warren is scheduled to face Louisville Collegiate on Saturday.{&end}