Head-to-head, Goshen had Warsaw's number Wednesday. But Tiger coach Andy Lewis thinks things could be different at this weekend's Northern Lakes Conference tournament.

Despite the 3-2 loss to the always-tough Redskins, it was an effort that shows promise for a young Tiger squad.

"We lost seven seniors last year, and we still went 3-2 with Goshen," Lewis said. "I am so proud of these kids. We only have one kid from last year that played varsity, and that was (No.1 singles) Craig (Harman). The rest of them had no varsity matches before this year, and to lay it all on the line, and to take them 3-2 showed you what kind of character this team has."

The win improved Goshen's NLC mark to a perfect 6-0 this year, while Warsaw fell to 4-2. With NorthWood (5-1) also in the fray, Lewis said that the more teams involved could help Warsaw to the NLC tourney title and a share of the NLC championship.

"You never know at conference," Lewis said. "You have to show some depth at conference. If we can get our singles players to the finals, and get our doubles players through the first round we could end winning it, and tie for the conference championship."

Goshen won the match on the strength of its play at the three singles positions. The Redskins captured the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 singles matches, thus giving them the match.

But a lack of strength at the doubles positions could be Goshen's downfall this weekend. Last year, the Plymouth girls won all three singles championships, but still did not win the NLC tourney title.

"Even if their singles players all win it, they could still lose it because of their doubles team not getting through the first round," Lewis said. "That will be key for them, but that will really be key for everybody.

"A lot of teams have put some strong players at No. 1 and No. 2 (doubles) because they knew Goshen would have those three singles players," he said. "They were strong, but we showed them that we weren't going to back down from them. We played them tough even though the scores might not indicate it."

Warsaw won the two doubles matches, while Goshen captured wins at No. 1 and No. 3 singles, setting up the deciding match at No. 2 singles.

"My No. 2 doubles just went through them, that was nice to see," Lewis said. "I know Goshen was a little afraid of us coming in. I thought if we won the doubles matches, one of our singles players would come through. That wasn't the case tonight. In theory, they didn't come through, but in guts and determination and attitude, they scored high points today."

Warsaw (6-5) is at the NLC Championships Friday and Saturday at Northridge. Play starts Friday at 4:30 p.m., and begins Saturday at 9 a.m.

GOSHEN 3, WARSAW 2

Singles

No. 1 - Tim Miller (G) def. Craig Harman, 6-2, 6-1

No. 2 - Tom Slabach (G) def. Ryan Van Puffelen, 6-3, 6-0

No. 3 - Adam Scharf (G) def. Pete Hake, 6-2, 6-0

Doubles

No. 1 - Owen Compton & Matt Howard (W) def. Phil Bowser & Luke Jordan, 6-3, 6-3

No. 2 - Dan Tupps & Dan Benyousky (W) def. Chad Zepeda & Josh Kurtz, 6-3, 6-2

JV: GOSHEN 4, WARSAW 1

Singles

No. 1 - Chris Manhart (G) def. Matt Krizmanich, 8-2

No. 2 - Jean-Felipe LaFroid (W) def. Matt Shively, 8-6

No. 3 - David Harms (G) def. David Honneffer, 8-2

Doubles

No. 1 - Kyle Weldy & Raghu Betina (G) def. Matt Kloser & Eric Grossnickle, 8-6

No. 2 - Chris Pestow & Bradd Weddell (G) def. Eric Keller & Steve Slaughter, 8-5

Exhibition match

Doubles - Ryan Creager & Jason Torrence (W) won 8-5 [[In-content Ad]]