Warsaw's Title Chase Hits Snag
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Warsaw got a little distracted during its trek to the first Northern Lakes Conference girls soccer title.
The distraction was in the form of an early apparent goal by Jenna Rooney that was disallowed. The result was a little lost focus and a 1-0 loss to Northridge at the CCAC Thursday.
Despite suffering their first loss of the season to Mishawaka Marian coming into the game, the Tigers (9-2-3) were still in control of the NLC and could have virtually wrapped up the first conference title with a win over the Raiders.
Five minutes into the contest, Bobbi Wildman hit a header in front of the net, and Rooney apparently converted the pass into an early goal. But the officials ruled that the ball had crossed over the endline earlier in the play and thus was ruled out of bounds - no goal.
The teams battled back and forth for 15 minutes until Northridge got a goal from point blank range and a 1-0 lead. After that, the Tigers had a few chances, but couldn't come close to converting them into a goal.
"It was hard to overcome the one good goal that we had that was taken away," Warsaw coach Brent Wildman said. "How can you say whether it was a right call or wrong call? It was a goal. That is pretty deflating when you work hard, and you earn the first goal and they get the second goal.
"That is tough," he said. "Then we started playing defensively instead of offensively. They got the break, and we were not able to overcome it."
In the first half, it appeared as though the physical Raiders were the aggressors and seemed to catch Warsaw on its toes. The second half, the Tigers were able to dish the physical play out as well as they were getting it.
"Until our girls adjusted to playing defense against them and took seriously what they had to do that was when they got their one cross (pass) in the first 20 minutes," Wildman said. "After that it was a very even game."
Northridge has now taken Warsaw's role in the driver's seat of the NLC title. The Raiders upped their record to 4-0-1 in the NLC, while Warsaw dropped to 3-1 in the conference. Concord, who Warsaw beat and Northridge tied, is at 4-1-1.
Northridge still has one game remaining in the NLC, one with first-year program NorthWood (1-4 NLC). Warsaw has two remaining, one with Wawasee (0-4 NLC) and one with Goshen (2-3 NLC).
If both teams win their remaining conference games, Northridge would win the conference outright with Warsaw in second.
"The girls are at a point they haven't experienced this year, and that is two losses in a row," Wildman said. "Even one loss they had not experienced in a long time. They have an opportunity to work on some things and to come out with some adjustments to their offense and to come out in command of things. We are a good team or we wouldn't have gotten this far."
Warsaw (9-2-3) hosts Wawasee Saturday at 12:30 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]
Warsaw got a little distracted during its trek to the first Northern Lakes Conference girls soccer title.
The distraction was in the form of an early apparent goal by Jenna Rooney that was disallowed. The result was a little lost focus and a 1-0 loss to Northridge at the CCAC Thursday.
Despite suffering their first loss of the season to Mishawaka Marian coming into the game, the Tigers (9-2-3) were still in control of the NLC and could have virtually wrapped up the first conference title with a win over the Raiders.
Five minutes into the contest, Bobbi Wildman hit a header in front of the net, and Rooney apparently converted the pass into an early goal. But the officials ruled that the ball had crossed over the endline earlier in the play and thus was ruled out of bounds - no goal.
The teams battled back and forth for 15 minutes until Northridge got a goal from point blank range and a 1-0 lead. After that, the Tigers had a few chances, but couldn't come close to converting them into a goal.
"It was hard to overcome the one good goal that we had that was taken away," Warsaw coach Brent Wildman said. "How can you say whether it was a right call or wrong call? It was a goal. That is pretty deflating when you work hard, and you earn the first goal and they get the second goal.
"That is tough," he said. "Then we started playing defensively instead of offensively. They got the break, and we were not able to overcome it."
In the first half, it appeared as though the physical Raiders were the aggressors and seemed to catch Warsaw on its toes. The second half, the Tigers were able to dish the physical play out as well as they were getting it.
"Until our girls adjusted to playing defense against them and took seriously what they had to do that was when they got their one cross (pass) in the first 20 minutes," Wildman said. "After that it was a very even game."
Northridge has now taken Warsaw's role in the driver's seat of the NLC title. The Raiders upped their record to 4-0-1 in the NLC, while Warsaw dropped to 3-1 in the conference. Concord, who Warsaw beat and Northridge tied, is at 4-1-1.
Northridge still has one game remaining in the NLC, one with first-year program NorthWood (1-4 NLC). Warsaw has two remaining, one with Wawasee (0-4 NLC) and one with Goshen (2-3 NLC).
If both teams win their remaining conference games, Northridge would win the conference outright with Warsaw in second.
"The girls are at a point they haven't experienced this year, and that is two losses in a row," Wildman said. "Even one loss they had not experienced in a long time. They have an opportunity to work on some things and to come out with some adjustments to their offense and to come out in command of things. We are a good team or we wouldn't have gotten this far."
Warsaw (9-2-3) hosts Wawasee Saturday at 12:30 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]