NORTH MANCHESTER – Though the sky was full of gray clouds, it never rained during Thursday’s high school girls soccer game between Warsaw and the host Manchester Lady Squires. As it was, the storm that rolled through town was the Lady Tigers, who scored five goals in the second half and had two players with hat tricks in a dominating 8-0 win at Good Field. On the night she scored her first varsity goal, freshman Abby Steffensmeier finished with three, as did senior Mariah Rivera. “That’s really cool if you think about it ... a freshman forward and a senior forward,” Warsaw coach Peter Lucht said of his two hat-trick performers. “That’s a really neat thing. “The girls were unselfish, everybody was, and distributed the ball. The girls on the wings were able to take advantage of their opportunities, going one-on-one often, and they were able to finish it. That’s just a really neat thing, so congratulations to both Mariah and Abby.” Freshman Delaney Taylor had one goal and two assists for the Lady Tigers, who are now 2-0 on the season, while junior Sydney Wiedeman tallied a goal and an assist. Seniors Julie Frazzetta and Breck Jackson, and freshman Brenna Buhrt each tallied an assist for Warsaw. “I’m grateful that we’re blessed with a really good team,” said Lucht. “Last year, we only lost two matches the whole year. We have a lot of our team together from last year, so we knew there was a chance to be strong, and we were able to get off to a great start Monday against Carroll, probably a top 15 team in the state, and then we were able to piece it together here.” The Lady Squires had just two shots on goal Thursday, one in each half. Warsaw junior Chloe Snow made the save in the first half, while freshman Kaylee Patton did so in the second half. Manchester junior Kiera Stacy made seven saves in goal. “Warsaw has played together since they were very little,” said Manchester coach Jen Birch. “On our team, we have nine seniors, and they’re a fantastic group of girls, but we also have seven freshman. We’re very young. We have a lot of new girls on the field, and a lot in new positions, where they’re learning to move on the go, and it’s just a tough thing.” The Lady Tigers, who opened the season Monday with a 2-0 win over Carroll, are in action again this weekend in a tournament at Newton Park in Lakeville. Warsaw plays Hamilton Southeastern tonight, and then plays Chesterton Saturday morning and Penn Saturday afternoon. The Lady Squires host Wawasee on Tuesday.
WARSAW 8, MANCHESTER 0 Warsaw goals – Mariah Rivera 3, Abby Steffensmeier 3, Delaney Taylor 1, Sydney Wiedman 1 Warsaw assists – Taylor 2, Julie Frazzetta 1, Brenna Buhrt 1, Breck Jackson 1, Wiedeman 1 Saves – Chloe Snow (War) 1, Kaylee Patton (War) 1; Kiera Stacy (Manch) 7
