PLYMOUTH - Warsaw's soccer team competed in arguably its biggest game of the season Tuesday evening. The stakes were clear in this game against Plymouth, the team the Tigers were chasing in the Northern Lakes Conference.

Win, and the Tigers would share a the Northern Lakes Conference title, with Plymouth.

Lose, and they would have to settle for second place.

For 78 minutes and 25 seconds, Warsaw outplayed Plymouth to gain a 1-0 lead.

With 95 seconds left in the game, the lead, the win and any NLC title hopes slipped away. That was when Plymouth senior Nick Long scored the only Rockie goal, ending the game in a 1-1 tie.

For Plymouth, the tie was as good as a win.

For Warsaw, the tie might as well have been a loss.

The tie gave Plymouth a 5-0-1 record in the conference, while it made Warsaw 4-1-1. Neither team has any NLC games left, so Plymouth owns the title.

What made the tie tough for Warsaw was the way it happened. The Tigers, who entered this game 6-0-1 in their last seven games, dominated play. Warsaw fans knew this, while Plymouth fans admitted this.

Kevin Stouder gave Warsaw the 1-0 lead with a goal five minutes before halftime. The Plymouth goalkeeper came out too far, and Stouder made him pay.

The Warsaw players were faster and went to the ball quicker. Plymouth rarely controlled the ball and rarely got behind the Warsaw defense to get a shot at the goal.

The game was physical, with Warsaw being called for 26 fouls, while Plymouth was called for 20. Part of that had to do with just two officials. Three officials are the norm at soccer games.

Warsaw coach Corey Rose knew one goal would not decide the game.

"It was going to be a two-goal game for whoever was going to win," he said. "It's hard to say. With just two officials and an intense game like we had tonight, you can't expect them to do a good job. You can't expect them to see everything."

How much did Warsaw dominate? The Tigers had nine corner kicks; Plymouth had three. Three of Warsaw's nine came in the last two minutes of the game, but the Tigers could not convert any of these into game-winning goals.

Warsaw had 12 shots on goal; Plymouth had seven.

"We dominated the whole game," Rose said. "We just couldn't put it away. We had a couple of chances at the end, but with their desire to stop us, they did. We didn't take advantage of some of the things we should have. Our corner kicks were off all night. We couldn't even get the ball into the goal.

"That's soccer. I've been involved in it long enough to know that sometimes, the best team doesn't always win. You have to live with it."

With less than 20 seconds left, the Tigers scored what they thought was the winning goal. The officials waved it off.

"He said the (Plymouth) goalie had the ball, and we charged him or something," Rose said. "But you know, you just have to go with the officials. What can you do?

"In my book, this game was a win. It was a very physical game both ways. We were very confident coming in, because we had been playing so well."

The tie made Plymouth's overall record 11-2-4.

Warsaw, 9-3-3 overall, ends the regular season with a Thursday game at Huntington North. The tie hurt Warsaw, but still, the Tiger defense turned in yet another solid effort. Warsaw has allowed just five goals the last eight games. The last time the Tigers gave up more than one goal in a game was Sept. 14, when they were 3-3-1. That was a 3-0 loss to Carroll, currently ranked No. 12.

Rose faces the chore of pumping up his team after this tie. The Tigers had played so well and were very confident entering the Plymouth game. Rose wants to make sure his team regains that edge.

"It's definitely demoralizing," Rose said. "We should have won the game. Instead, it ended up in a tie. But I'll get the guys focus back where it needs to be, and we'll be ready to go Thursday and ready to go into the sectional." [[In-content Ad]]