After tying 2-2 in a meeting earlier this season, the Warsaw and Fort Wayne Northrop girls soccer teams had quite the stage to settle their differences Tuesday night: the opening round of IHSAA 3A Sectional 7. The game was incredibly entertaining with plenty of twists and turns, but the end result was the Bruins eliminating the host Lady Tigers with a 4-3 win.
The wildly entertaining game began with a bang, as each side wasted no time rushing up and down the field with incredible pace. At times it was hard to keep track of the action as chances for both teams popped up out of nowhere.
After a back-and-forth opening five minutes, momentum started to shift in the direction of the Bruins, with Northrop beginning to win the 50/50 balls and control possession. Nine minutes into the contest, the game’s first goal was scored after a turnover in the midfield by the Lady Tigers. Northrop’s Lydia Herald would pick the pocket of a Warsaw midfielder and take the ball all the way, bending a curling finish into the top right corner of the Lady Tiger goal.
Despite it being the fifth goal scored between the two teams over the course of their two meetings this year, it was the first scored from open play. The four previous had come from either penalty kicks or set pieces.
Herald almost scored another screamer two minutes later, but a great defensive play by Warsaw’s Annie Scholl to knock the shot out of the way at the last second kept it a one-score game.
But just a few minutes after that, the Bruins would double their lead anyways after a penalty against Warsaw in the box. Nury Sibri Carmona would step up and hit the ensuing penalty kick. Warsaw goalie Claire German got a hand on the shot, but could not send it away.
Following the game’s second goal, intensity ramped up even more. Needing to get onto the scoreboard fast, the Lady Tigers picked up the pace offensively, leading to the host school earning a penalty kick of her own halfway through the first half. Moments after getting fouled, Lola Pepper would make good on her try and cut her team’s deficit in half.
Less than three minutes afterwards, Herald would strike again, once again making a great run to create some space in front of the net. German would stop the initial shot by Northrop’s all-time leading goal scorer, but the rebound offered up would find its way through for the Bruins’ third goal of the half.

    Warsaw senior goalie Claire German drops to the ground to make a save on Lydia Herald of Northrop's pinpoint shot. Photo by Gary Nieter
Not done yet, Warsaw would once again rebound well after allowing the goal, putting even more pressure on the Northrop defenders to fend off the endless attack. The persistence would pay off, as Natalie Brown, who had been a force to be reckoned with all night to this point, converted on a shot just inside the box with 10 minutes left in the half to make it a one-goal game once again.
A handball just outside of the box five minutes into the second half almost gave the Lady Tigers an equalizer, but Pepper’s free kick attempt sailed just high. It was just one of many opportunities for Warsaw in the early going of half number two, as the Lady Tigers looked determined to find a way to tie things up.
Instead, the next goal would belong to Northrop, who would extend its lead to two once again after earning a free kick on a counterattack. The kick would turn into a perfect cross that Sibri Carmona would put a boot on for her second score of the game. Now with 30 minutes remaining, Warsaw needed two goals once again.
As time continued to wind down, the Lady Tigers had their fair share of chances, but could not seem to find another goal. Midway through the second half, Pepper went down in the box, but no foul was called. With 18 minute remaining, a header off of a corner kick went just over the cross bar. Two minutes after that, senior Haley Rodewald went on a nice run that resulted in a save.
With 10 minutes remaining in the game, tempers flared after a hard foul. The two teams had to be separated, but the result was a free kick for Warsaw. The ensuing free kick by Kaidyn Pepper was perfect, and Sarah Kratzsch was on the receiving end, making a nice move and scoring the much needed goal.
With every second becoming more and more precious, Warsaw began breaking out every trick in the book to score one more and keep its season alive. A corner kick attempt with just six minutes left nearly did the trick, but bounced off the far post. In the game’s final minutes, the Bruins were able to play keep away just well enough to hold on to the victory and advance to the sectional semifinals.
Warsaw will return next season.