Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Looking to begin Northern Lakes Conference play on a high note, the Warsaw girls soccer team did exactly that on Tuesday, scoring early and often en route to a wire-to-wire 8-1 win over Plymouth at home. Five different players scored in the victory.
Warsaw used the opening moments of the match to set quite the tone for the visitors. The Lady Tigers had possession of the ball for nearly all of the first 10 minutes of the match, and most of that time was spent deep in the Plymouth zone. The home side peppered the Lady Rockie goalie with shots, and while none of them found the back of the net just yet, the Warsaw opener felt inevitable with the way this one was playing out early.
In the 13th minute, it would arrive. A long shot by a Lady Tiger midfielder was bobbled by the Plymouth keeper, resulting in a corner kick for the home team. Haidyn Elliot stepped in to take it, and she did the rest. The junior perfectly bent her shot over the outstretched arms of the goalie and into the back of the net to put her team up 1-0.
Only a minute later, Warsaw would capitalize on the momentum. A perfect lead pass from Brooklynn Conley found the boot of Natalie Hoeppner, who beat the only defender she had in front of her and buried a laser into the bottom right corner of the net to quickly double the advantage.
For most of the rest of the first half, Warsaw continued to dominate both pace and possession, playing the game the way they wanted to. They came close to adding a couple more goals to their lead, but were denied from doing so.
Interestingly enough, Plymouth’s first real chance in the game would end up being a fruitful one. After winning their first corner of the game, Lila Hanzewski lined up to take it and delivered a perfect strike off of the keeper and into the goal. Just like that, the Lady Tiger lead was cut in half.
However, it didn’t stay that way for long. Even after the Lady Rockie goal, the pressure of Warsaw pressed on. A scrum in front of the Plymouth net with nine minutes left in the first half saw the ball squeak out of a group of bodies and land perfectly at the feet of Hoeppner. With an open net in front of her, she had no problem scoring her second goal of the night to make it 3-1, where it remained at the half.
Warsaw senior captain Annaka Scholl keeps control of the ball during the first half of Tuesday night's home match against Plymouth...Nieter
The status quo remained the same throughout the first 10 minutes of the second half, punctuated by a goal scored by Amy Escutia-Palacios, assisted by Evie Pepper. With the score now 4-1, the home team was in complete control.
The three-goal lead didn’t stop Warsaw from continuing to hunt for more. As the midway point of the second half neared, the Lady Tigers had come awfully close to going up by even more on multiple occasions, including a pair of corner kicks that just barely missed paydirt. It eventually paid off, as Escutia-Palacios was able to clean up a rebound after a save and drive it home for the brace.
With a little under nine minutes to go in the game, Pepper added a goal to go with her assist to resume the scoring. A minute later, a fantastic pass by freshman Gracie Boren led to Taylor Reynolds getting onto the scoresheet while making it 7-1 in the process.
The game’s final goal came with two minutes left, as Pepper scored her second goal of the second half to give her team an even eight goals.
Warsaw (2-1, 1-0 NLC) is on the road at NorthWood on Thursday.
