GOSHEN - The Warsaw Lady Tigers' season continues.
The Warsaw girls soccer team defeated West Noble 3-1 in the first round of the Bethany Christian Sectional Monday, moving on to face Westview Thursday at 5 p.m."That's going to be a difficult matchup," Warsaw coach Dan Miller said of playing Westview. "They're the defending sectional champions, and most people would say they're the favorites coming in. I think they return nine or 10 girls from last year's team. Our scores are comparable though. We're excited. You want a chance to play against the team that's the favorite."
Prior to worrying about playing the favorite, Warsaw (10-6-1) first had to get past the West Noble Lady Chargers (6-9-3).
And early on, it looked like that wouldn't be a problem.
Just four minutes into the match, Warsaw freshman Meredith Hollar scored from the right post to the left, putting Warsaw in front 1-0.
"She's had a great season for us," Miller said of Hollar. "She's come a long way from the beginning of the season to where she is now. I think she's more comfortable with the girls and more comfortable with the system we're playing."
That comfort level showed as she got two more prime opportunities to score in the fifth and ninth minutes, but had the shots saved by West Noble junior goalkeeper Brandy Bechtold. In the 13th minute, Warsaw senior Janelle Sproul also had a great shot curve to the goal, but Bechtold made a leaping save, keeping a 1-1 tie in tact.
"Bechtold did a real good job in the goal, and anything that came her way, she pretty much got to," West Noble coach John Szynal said. "The three goals that got through were all good goals. So, what are you going to do about them?"
Despite Warsaw controlling the match, getting 15 shots on goal to West Noble's four, the Chargers still found a way to tie it up when a 35-yard lob shot from sophomore Brandy Pizana squeezed between the crossbar and the outstretched hand of Warsaw junior goalkeeper Dee Monroy in the 20th minute.
"We had a lot more shots, and defensively, we played well," Miller said. "We just made one mistake, and (West Noble) made us pay. That was a beautiful shot."
The tie held until early in the second half, when Warsaw sophomore Emily Williamson had a nice shot herself, connecting on a free kick from 25 yards out.
Five minutes later, Williamson's defense came into play as West Noble senior Diana Canul hit a header past Monroy that appeared to cross the goal line. Instead, Williamson got there in time to boot the ball out of the goal in time.
"Emily Williamson, no doubt, had the key plays in the game," Miller said. "They were, I think, really playing for an overtime and maybe penalty kicks, because of our pressure on them. A beautifully-struck free kick by Emily Williamson gave us the lead and a little bit of confidence. They came back on put pressure on us, and she sprinted from the midfield to clear the ball off the line. Just beautifully, then really makes two of the biggest plays of the game to give us the win."
Warsaw senior Emily Hickerson iced the game with 11:10 to go, scoring the final goal of the match, but Szynal thought his team had opportunities.
"I thought the header went in, I thought it was good," he said of the shot that was kicked out by Williamson. "Then we had a breakaway at the end, and there's your 3-3."
Making things even tougher for the Chargers was the loss of starting junior midfielder Vanessa Rangel, who suffered an ankle injury late in the first half. She tried to keep playing, but was visibly hobbled, eventually having to sit the rest of the match out.
"She tried to give it a go in the second half, but obviously, it wouldn't work on one foot," Szynal said. "She controls our whole game. Without her, I had to bring a forward back to play the midfield spot, and she doesn't have the endurance to play that spot."
