Warsaw and Goshen, two of the top girls soccer programs in the Northern Lakes Conference faced off at the Tiger Soccer Complex Tuesday night in what turned out to be a doozy of a match. The highly contested game featured plenty of chances for both sides, with each team scoring a goal late to end the game in a 1-1 draw.
It was evident in the first few minutes of the game that this was not going to be a one-sided contest. Both teams were able to showcase the style of play that they wanted to exhibit over the course of the first five minutes, with plenty of possession changes to give each side plenty of chances.
After the initial “feeling out” period that so many of these games can start out with, the Lady RedHawks put together the first few big chances of the game. The first Goshen shot on goal was a high, pop-fly type of strike that fell back down to Earth at the perfect time, forcing Warsaw senior keeper Eleanor Schneck to leap up to the top of her net to make a save.

    Warsaw senior Tatum Bergan (R) battles for the ball with Naomi Schlegel of Goshen during Tuesday night's match at Warsaw...Nieter

That first chance was enough to swing momentum over to the visitors for a short spell of time, as the RedHawks were able to put together a few more chances after the one that started it all. Schneck’s defense did well in front of her to keep her from having to make any more big saves.
Much of Warsaw’s offensive work in the first half came as the result of the counterattack. With Goshen beginning to control the ball for longer and longer stretches of time, it was key for the Lady Tigers to find a way to get some offense going of their own. Perhaps the best of Warsaw’s early game chances game 16 minutes into the game on a steal at midfield by Lola Pepper. Working with her sister Evie to move the ball up the pitch, the end result was a corner kick, which was not converted into a goal.
It would not be the last chance of the first half for Lola. With 15 minutes left in the opening 40, a RedHawk hand ball allowed for a free kick not far outside of the box. The elder Pepper took it, just missing above the crossbar as things remained scoreless.
The last 10 minutes of the first half were incredibly entertaining, with both sides covering a ton of ground and sharing possession time fairly equally. It looked as if each of the teams had a chance to score the opener during this stretch, but were unable to, resulting in a 0-0 tie going into halftime.
Opening up the second half, Warsaw looked to have made some adjustments at the half, controlling the ball much better and putting some pressure on the visitors. This spell resulted in more than a handful of scoring chances for the Lady Tigers, with a pair of corner kicks just missing the mark and a few shots that ended up being saved by the Goshen keeper.
Time continued to tick away without the opening goal being put on the board. Yet another corner kick for Warsaw almost resulted in the goal, but the header just missed the mark. After weathering the Lady Tiger storm, Goshen began to impose their will once more, forcing the home defense to make some plays to defend their net.
About midway through the half, Warsaw came its closest to a goal yet. Sophomore Amy Escutia -Palacios went on a fantastic run towards the net, beating a series of defenders to get a shot off. The attempt was beyond the reach of the keeper, but kept going, harmlessly skidding outside of the post for a goal kick.
Five minutes later, the first goal of the game was finally scored, but it would be by the visitors. Fielding a perfect lead pass, Goshen sophomore Jiana Camacho weaved her way around a pair of Warsaw defenders and Schneck in net to bury the opener in the 64th minute, giving the RedHawks a lead with just over 15 minutes to play.
Things looked bleak, with not a lot of chances being generated over the next few minutes of play. Finally, the Lady Tigers caught a break. After a takeaway by the Warsaw defense that could have been called a foul but wasn’t, the home team instantly launched the counterattack. A nice pass from the wing found Lola up the middle, and after making a defender miss, she unleashed a rocket at the net that ricocheted off of the bottom of the crossbar and into the back of the net to tie things up with just eight minutes remaining.
A corner kick two minutes later almost gave the visitors the lead once again, but a terrific leg save by Schneck kept it out of the net and kept the draw alive. The clock continued to approach zero with not many other chances taking place. Goshen nearly won it with a corner kick with less than a minute to go, but the Warsaw defense was there once again to earn the draw the hard way.
Warsaw (2-1-1) will face off against Noblesville Saturday morning.