Ball Bounces Warsaw Lady Tigers' WayThe ball certainly bounced Warsaw’s way Saturday afternoon, as the Lady Tigers won their sixth girls soccer sectional championship in the last seven years. Hosting fellow Northern Lakes Conference school NorthWood in the finals, No. 18 Warsaw got off to a slow start, but scored the game-winning goal in the 43rd minute before adding two more for a 3-0 victory. Senior Breck Jackson took a free kick when the game was scoreless, and NorthWood sophomore keeper Kira Robinson came out of the goal to make a play. Rather than Robinson getting to the ball, it took a favorable Warsaw bounce over her head and into the net. The Lady Tigers later got a goal from Sydney Wiedeman in the 57th minute, a score that was assisted by Abby Steffensmeier, and from Anna Grill in the 61st minute. “We got off to a slow start and did not play the kind of soccer that we are used to,” said Warsaw coach Peter Lucht, whose team beat NorthWood 5-0 on Aug. 25. “I think some of it had to do with running the gauntlet and playing our third game in five days. We are going to have to come focused on Monday (at practice), and be ready to work so that we can get our mind right for regionals.” With the win, the Lady Tigers improved to 16-4, while NorthWood’s season ended with a 7-8-2 record. Warsaw will play No. 1 Penn at approximately 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in a regional semifinal at Goshen High School. Penn beat the Lady Tigers 4-0 in a tournament on Aug. 20 at Newton Park in Lakeville. Since then, Warsaw has gone 14-1. “We’ve got to bring it,” Lucht said of the matchup with Penn, last year’s state runner-up. “We did meet earlier in the year, and we were without some people. The girls have to be hungry and intense, and intelligent with our decision making during the match to give ourselves a chance to win.” Unranked teams Goshen and South Bend St. Joe will play in Wednesday’s first semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday’s winners will meet in the regional final Saturday at 2 p.m.
WARSAW SECTIONAL (Finals) WARSAW 3, NORTHWOOD 0 (Scoring) W – Breck Jackson (unassisted) 43rd min W – Sydney Wiedeman (Abby Steffensmeier assist) 57th min W – Anna Grill (unassisted) 61st min Records: Warsaw 16-4, NorthWood 7-8-2
