The Class 2A No. 13 Northridge girls soccer team had to wait a couple extra days, but eventually celebrated a perfect Northern Lakes Conference campaign in Warsaw. The season finale for Northridge (13-1-2, 7-0 NLC) and Warsaw (9-3-2, 4-2-1 NLC) began Thursday in Warsaw, but lightning forced play to be suspended, and started all over Saturday. Playing in-between storm fronts, Northridge captured its fifth-straight NLC title with a 3-0 victory, which left Warsaw third in the conference behind Goshen’s 5-1-1 mark. The result was Warsaw’s first loss in nine games, going back to a 2-1 defeat at NorthWood on Aug. 29. It was also the first time a goal had been scored against the Lady Tigers since a 2-2 draw with Class 2A No. 15 Mishawaka Marian on Aug. 31 in Warsaw. “When things go well for us, we’re a very tough team to beat,” Warsaw coach Peter Lucht said. “We certainly have talent across the board. Today was one of those days where it wasn’t quite clicking.” Warsaw’s streaks were impressive, but Northridge’s are even more so, as the Lady Raiders didn’t give up a single goal in NLC action this season, and still haven’t lost an NLC match since its 2008 finale, going 30-0-5 over the past five seasons. “This is 13 (wins) in a row for us now, with 12 shutouts in that span,” Northridge coach Bill Redinger said. “We played like we should. We played well. We had a real big goal of finishing 7-0 in the conference. We have not been scored on in the conference, so achieving both of those goals were big to us.” After playing to 0-0 score in 20 minutes of play Thursday, the Lady Raiders were crisper Saturday, as junior defender Brennah Tadeo scored nine minutes in, bending a shot into the upper right corner from outside the 18. “All of her goals are from that range,” Redinger said of Tadeo. “It’s that transition through there. We know (Warsaw senior goalkeeper) Abby (Schue) is a great goalkeeper. To be able to beat her once, let alone three times, is a big deal.” Schue did post nine saves in the victory, including one with 8:51 remaining in the first half, which required her to punch out a high shot by Northridge senior Jaymee Powers just before it dropped below the crossbar. The Warsaw defense kept the score at 1-0, but the offense struggled, not getting a single shot off in the second half. Bracketing Warsaw junior Brooklyn Jackson, the Lady Raiders defense made it very tough to get quality shots, as all four of Warsaw’s in the opening half were right to senior goalkeeper Julina Skow. “Our concerns were their speed up front with (sophomore Elizabeth) VanWormer and (junior Danielle) Hutcherson coming up, but she played a little more defensively today,” Redinger said. “With Jackson also up front, we wanted to make sure we contained them and kept them in front of us. We try to defend as a team and defend with two. So if they do beat that first defender, you’ll have to beat a second one immediately.” Eventually, Northridge broke the game open when senior Lauren Blyly took a shot on goal with 14:47 left in the game, which Schue jumped to catch, but it slipped through her grasp and bounced across the goal line. Northridge sophomore Ellie Lengacher added another goal with just 27 seconds remaining, heading in a cross off the foot of Blyly. “We were a little under manned today,” Lucht said. “We had some injuries along our back line, and even lost another one today (when freshman Rachel McClelland went down after hitting her head in the first half), which makes things difficult. We had our JV tournament earlier today, so a lot of players that could potentially get experience on both sides, we went ahead and played them all this morning, because they were guaranteed more minutes there. “We literally had no subs at the end of the game,” he added. Despite the possible reasons for his team’s defeat, Northridge’s skill was by far the biggest component. “They’ve certainly earned their record,” Lucht said. “They’re a good squad. I told their coach that hopefully we’re going to see them in a couple of weeks (at the regional).” In order for the rematch to take place, Warsaw will need to win its fourth-straight sectional title at Plymouth this week and Northridge will have to claim its first sectional title since 2007, competing at Elkhart Memorial. If they both claim sectional titles, the two would meet at 7 p.m. on Oct. 16 at the East Noble Regional. Lucht may be looking forward to another shot at the Lady Raiders, but doesn’t want to look too far ahead, as the Lady Tigers must first take down 0-15 Wawasee Thursday at 5 p.m. in Plymouth. During the season, Warsaw defeated Wawasee 5-0 on Sept. 28 in Syracuse. With a win, the Lady Tigers would advance to Saturday’s 7 p.m. sectional title game against either Culver Girls Academy, NorthWood or Plymouth. In the regular season, Warsaw fell to NorthWood, defeated Plymouth 3-2 on Aug. 27 and never played CGA. Of the three, Lucht has his preference. “One game at a time for us,” he said. “We were able to be successful against Wawasee earlier in the year, so God willing, we’ll continue that trend. Then, we’ll get a potential rematch with NorthWood or Plymouth. NorthWood was a game we lost early on when we were still trying to figure some things out. I’m almost hoping for a chance to right a wrong and get a shot at redemption for the team.”
NORTHRIDGE 3, WARSAW 0 N – Brennah Tadeo 9th min. N – Lauren Blyly 66th min. N – Ellie Lengacher (Blyly) 80th min. Shots – Northridge 18, Warsaw 5; Shots on Goal – Northridge 12, Warsaw 4; Saves – Northridge (Julina Skow) 4, Warsaw 9; Fouls – Northridge 7, Warsaw 8; Corner Kicks – Northridge 7, Warsaw 0 Records: Northridge 13-1-2 (7-0 NLC), Warsaw 9-3-2 (4-2-1 NLC)
