Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
For a six-minute period during the second half of Warsaw's girls soccer match with Bethany Christian Tuesday at the City-County Athletic Complex, the Tigers were simply outmatched.
Bethany Christian's Megan Gongwer used her tremendous speed to beat the Warsaw defense for two goals to tie the contest at 2-2 but the Tigers were able to escape with a 3-2 win.
The Tigers jumped out early when Courtney Flamion took a great lead pass from Abby Rankin and scored to give Warsaw a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute of play.
Warsaw took that lead into the second half before Rankin got a goal of her own in the 47th minute on a pass from Amy Durgin to give the Tigers what seemed to be an insurance goal.
Gongwer forced Warsaw to cash that insurance in.
The Bruins spent nearly 10 minutes in Warsaw's half of the field and continually found Gongwer sneaking behind the Tigers' defense and capitalized twice in six minutes to tie the contest at 2-2.
With momentum completely in Bethany Christian's possession, Warsaw failed to convert on several scoring opportunities and dodged several Bruins' scoring bullets.
Then with two minutes left in regulation and overtime looming, freshman Jocelyn Evans streaked down field after receiving a pass and found Rankin. Rankin worked inside the Bruins' goalie box and placed the ball in the upper-right hand corner to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead.
Warsaw head coach Mike Getz was pleased with Rankin's performance.
Rankin led the Tigers in scoring last year despite playing just half the year because of two separate ACL injuries.
"It's nice to see her back and scoring goals after what she went through last year," said Getz.
Injuries have cast a pall over the Tigers this year.
Kaitlyn Cunningham, a dangerous scoring threat for Warsaw, was lost prior to the season after a serious car accident left her with several broken bones.
The Tigers have since battled injuries large and small and have been forced to juggle their lineup.
Thanks to performances by freshmen like Evans and Becca Kolbe, the Tigers have been competitive.
But wins have been hard to come by for Warsaw.
The Tigers went through a four-game stretch where they played several top-20 teams including South Bend St. Joseph's.
In the game against St. Joe, Warsaw was down 4-1 before coming back with two straight goals and eventually losing 4-3.
Getz said that game went a long way in building the character of his team.
"We've been playing a lot of tough teams," said Getz. "I've told to girls not to look at our record but what we've learned and how we've grown. What they've seen is that if you keep playing, good things can happen and it gives them confidence."
During the Bruins' run, Warsaw goal keeper Brittney Pherigo kept the Tigers in the game with several key saves late.
Pherigo ended the night with five saves.
The Tigers outshot Bethany Christian 17-10 and had five corner kicks while the Bruins had none.
Warsaw's record improves to 4-7-2 overall and remains 2-2-0 in Northern Lakes Conference and finishes their regular season with three NLC matches in five days starting with Northridge Thursday night at the CCAC for the Tigers' senior night.
WARSAW 3, BETHANY CHRISTIAN 2
(Scoring)
W - Courtney Flamion (Abby Rankin) 5th minute
W - Rankin (Amy Durgin) 47th minute
BC - Megan Gongwer (unassisted) 52nd minute
BC - Gongwer (unassisted) 58th minute
W - Rankin (Jocelyn Evans) 78th minute
Shots on goal - Warsaw 17, Bethany Christian 10
Saves - Brittney Pherigo (Warsaw) 5, Barwick (Bethany Christian) 7
Corner kicks - Warsaw 5, Bethany Christian 0
JV - Warsaw 2, Bethany Christian 2
Warsaw goals - Carlye Snider 2
Warsaw assists - Bri Myers, Sam Carter
Warsaw JV record - 8-1-3 (3-0-1 NLC)
