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When the Warsaw Tiger and Columbia City girls' soccer teams met earlier this season, they played to a 0-0 tie.
Now they will meet again in the Huntington North Sectional at 4:15 p.m. Monday.
Warsaw coach Brent Wildman expects another close, low-scoring game.
"Both teams had the opportunity to score the first time, but nobody could put it away," Wildman said. "They have a very good goalie. We outshot them, but their goalie had a lot of saves."
Low-scoring games are nothing new to the Tigers (6-6-1), who were hardly ever involved in any shootouts. Scores like 2-0, 2-1, 1-0 were typical of games the Tigers played in this year.
And Wildman expects the defense to get even better now. He installed a new defense after last year, and he says his team is getting used to it at the end of the season.
"The team is gelling in terms of defense," Wildman said. "It took a long time - we changed our placement of people. Our defense is getting used to playing with each other."
Offensively, Wildman says more people are getting into the act, giving Warsaw a more diverse scoring attack.
"We're starting to score from different positions," Wildman said. "We have better balance. More people are scoring."
Whoever wins the Warsaw game would most likely be tested in the second round. Huntington North (6-6-1) meets sectional favorite Homestead in the other first-round game at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday. Homestead (11-1-1) is ranked No. 8 in the state.
"Homestead is definitely at a different level than Huntington North, Columbia City or Warsaw," Wildman said.
For now, Wildman is just looking at the first game with the Eagles (5-2-4). He is satisfied with Warsaw's 6-6-1 record in the Tigers' second year of existence.
"We've been playing opponents who are more skilled this season," Wildman said. "To be 6-6-1 is an improvement.
"Columbia City is a physical team, an aggressive team, and they are probably a little older than we are. But we're a little more skilled than they are. It should be a very close game, and whoever gets the big breaks will tell the outcome."
The championship will be played at 11 a.m. Saturday.
