Warsaw, Northridge Tie In NLC Title Tilt
September 29, 2017 at 4:35 p.m.
Warsaw, Northridge Tie In NLC Title Tilt
By Dale [email protected]
Northridge coach Thavisith Mounsithiraj said it could have gone either way.
Thursday evening’s girls soccer game between the Warsaw Lady Tigers and visiting Northridge Lady Raiders was for the Northern Lakes Conference title, and it lived up to the championship billing.
Neither team won the game, as it ended in a 1-1 tie, but Northridge felt like the winner after capturing the conference crown with a 5-0-2 record. Warsaw felt the sting of a loss, finishing second in league play with a 5-1-1 record.
“You look back at a match like that, and you’re definitely disappointed,” said Hoover, whose team is now 10-4-3 heading into Tuesday’s sectional matchup against host Fort Wayne South Side.
“Northridge is a great team. We don’t walk away feeling like we tied a bad team. Northridge is a very solid team. They’re well-coached. Coach T had them ready to go tonight. It was everything you would expect out of a conference championship match.
“Our girls are disappointed they didn’t come out with a win, but I feel like if the game was 85 minutes instead of 80 minutes we might have got one more.”
Warsaw scored first, as junior Anna Grill converted a penalty kick in the 46th minute after Northridge was whistled for a hand ball in the box.
As strong as both teams were playing defensively, the PK goal gave the Lady Tigers a huge advantage.
“I think Delaney Taylor set that up really well by attacking off the dribble and Anna Grill finished it, very confident finish for her,” Hoover said of the PK opportunity.
“That was a really amazing moment for our seniors to watch that go in on Senior Night. Northridge is a good team ... they battled back and found a way. Kudos to them for doing that.”
The Lady Raiders, who take an 11-3-3 record into Tuesday’s matchup with NLC rival Concord in the first game of the sectional at Goshen, evened the score Thursday when junior Ariana Stolzfus scored off an assist from classmate Izzy Love in the 55th minute.
Northridge’s equalizer started with a through ball from Love, and it forced Warsaw goalkeeper Chloe Snow to make a big decision – come out and secure the ball, or let her defenders clear it.
Stolzfus was able to put the ball in the goal, as Snow was drawn away from her position.
After tying the score, the Lady Raiders went into full defensive mode and opted to focus more on not letting Warsaw score, than to score themselves.
“We talked a great deal about our kids playing well, and sometimes what goes unsaid is that I have a group of amazing assistant coaches who put a plan together,” said Mounsithiraj.
“We broke it down to every 15 minutes what we were going to do. And when we implemented the plan, the kids followed it through, and we had a scenario for what we were gonna do. To see the kids execute our plan, and to come away against a team like that, that is very rewarding.”
Prior to the game, Warsaw honored its six seniors – Brenna Shipley, Alex Koontz, Emma Pena, Sydney Wiedeman, Sarah Meade and Snow
NORTHRIDGE 1, WARSAW 1
(Scoring)
W – Anna Grill PK 46 minute
N – Ariana Stolzfus (Izzy Love assist) 55th min
Records: Northridge 11-3-3 (5-0-2 NLC), Warsaw 10-4-3 (5-1-1 NLC)
JV – Northridge 1, Warsaw 0
JV record: Warsaw 5-7-1 (2-3-1 NLC)
Northridge coach Thavisith Mounsithiraj said it could have gone either way.
Thursday evening’s girls soccer game between the Warsaw Lady Tigers and visiting Northridge Lady Raiders was for the Northern Lakes Conference title, and it lived up to the championship billing.
Neither team won the game, as it ended in a 1-1 tie, but Northridge felt like the winner after capturing the conference crown with a 5-0-2 record. Warsaw felt the sting of a loss, finishing second in league play with a 5-1-1 record.
“You look back at a match like that, and you’re definitely disappointed,” said Hoover, whose team is now 10-4-3 heading into Tuesday’s sectional matchup against host Fort Wayne South Side.
“Northridge is a great team. We don’t walk away feeling like we tied a bad team. Northridge is a very solid team. They’re well-coached. Coach T had them ready to go tonight. It was everything you would expect out of a conference championship match.
“Our girls are disappointed they didn’t come out with a win, but I feel like if the game was 85 minutes instead of 80 minutes we might have got one more.”
Warsaw scored first, as junior Anna Grill converted a penalty kick in the 46th minute after Northridge was whistled for a hand ball in the box.
As strong as both teams were playing defensively, the PK goal gave the Lady Tigers a huge advantage.
“I think Delaney Taylor set that up really well by attacking off the dribble and Anna Grill finished it, very confident finish for her,” Hoover said of the PK opportunity.
“That was a really amazing moment for our seniors to watch that go in on Senior Night. Northridge is a good team ... they battled back and found a way. Kudos to them for doing that.”
The Lady Raiders, who take an 11-3-3 record into Tuesday’s matchup with NLC rival Concord in the first game of the sectional at Goshen, evened the score Thursday when junior Ariana Stolzfus scored off an assist from classmate Izzy Love in the 55th minute.
Northridge’s equalizer started with a through ball from Love, and it forced Warsaw goalkeeper Chloe Snow to make a big decision – come out and secure the ball, or let her defenders clear it.
Stolzfus was able to put the ball in the goal, as Snow was drawn away from her position.
After tying the score, the Lady Raiders went into full defensive mode and opted to focus more on not letting Warsaw score, than to score themselves.
“We talked a great deal about our kids playing well, and sometimes what goes unsaid is that I have a group of amazing assistant coaches who put a plan together,” said Mounsithiraj.
“We broke it down to every 15 minutes what we were going to do. And when we implemented the plan, the kids followed it through, and we had a scenario for what we were gonna do. To see the kids execute our plan, and to come away against a team like that, that is very rewarding.”
Prior to the game, Warsaw honored its six seniors – Brenna Shipley, Alex Koontz, Emma Pena, Sydney Wiedeman, Sarah Meade and Snow
NORTHRIDGE 1, WARSAW 1
(Scoring)
W – Anna Grill PK 46 minute
N – Ariana Stolzfus (Izzy Love assist) 55th min
Records: Northridge 11-3-3 (5-0-2 NLC), Warsaw 10-4-3 (5-1-1 NLC)
JV – Northridge 1, Warsaw 0
JV record: Warsaw 5-7-1 (2-3-1 NLC)
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