KENDALLVILLE - The Warsaw girls soccer team won its first sectional championship since 2003 Saturday.
At the East Noble Sectional in Kendallville, the Tigers defeated Westview 4-0, claiming the crown that had eluded them for seven years, moving on to this week's Penn Regional."It was nice to see the girls' hard work pay off," Warsaw coach Dan Miller said. "I can't even tell you how satisfying it was to win."
In the regional, Warsaw takes on No. 13 Penn Wednesday at Penn High School. A win over the Lady Kingsmen would put Warsaw in the Valparaiso Semistate Saturday.
"They have a couple of really good forwards and a good midfield," Miller said about Penn. "It's a game where we'll need to play at our highest level. We can win, but we will need to play at our best."
Against Westview, it didn't take Warsaw long to get into the action, as Emily Williamson scored in the second minute, putting the Westview Lady Warriors in an immediate hole.
"Getting an early goal was important for us," Miller said. "Emily Williamson got the corner kick and got a reflection into the goal. That play was pretty important."
Warsaw's Meredith Hollar scored two-straight goals off an assist from Kelly Wildman in the 31st minute and one from Erica Gauger in the 38th minute to put Westview in an even deeper hole.
The two goals in the championship game gave Hollar 11 scores in the team's three wins at the sectional. The sophomore entered the postseason with a team-high 16, and she currently holds the school record for goals in a season with 27.
"She's been playing at a high level," Miller said about Hollar. "She just doesn't want to let us lose. Before the game, one of the seniors said, 'I do not want this to be my last game. I want to keep playing.' Meredith's kind of the same way, she doesn't want to stop playing."
With the game already decided, Wildman added another goal in the 73rd minute, scoring off an assist from Williamson.
Taking just seven shots, the Tigers made the most of their opporunities, scoring on four of them, while Dee Monroy got the shutout with six saves.
"The score doesn't really reflect the way the game went," Miller said. "It was a close game, we just took advantage of our opportunities and they didn't."
