Warsaw To Meet Familiar Foe
Familiar and formidable.
That’s the challenge awaiting the Warsaw girls soccer team in regional play Wednesday night.
The Tigers face a huge task versus Northern Lakes Conference foe Northridge in the second semifinal game at Goshen.
The 5:30 p.m. opener Wednesday pits Penn (14-4-1) versus No. 10 and defending regional champion South Bend St. Joseph (16-2-1). Warsaw (11-3-2) then meets the No. 14 Raiders (15-1-2). The championship game is Saturday back at Goshen at 7 p.m.
Warsaw, under first-year coach Peter Lucht, claimed its’ fourth straight sectional title Saturday night. The Tigers blanked NLC foe NorthWood 1-0 on a goal by Danielle Hutcherson in the final at Plymouth. The victory avenged a 2-1 regular-season loss to the Panthers.
The Tigers know the Raiders very, very well. Northridge blanked Warsaw 3-0 at Warsaw on Oct. 5. The NLC contest was begun on Oct. 3, but was postponed due to lightning. Lauren Blyly and Ellie Lengacher each had a goal and an assist for the Raiders in that win.
“We’re not unaware of who they are,” said Lucht with a smile of the Raiders following the sectional title win Saturday night. “Northridge is a phenomenal team.”
The Raiders, who outscored their NLC foes 32-0 this fall to claim their fifth straight conference title, have been phenomenal for sure. Northridge has won 15 straight matches since a 1-0 loss to Noblesville. The Raiders started the season 0-1-2 with ties to Mishawaka Marian and Penn, followed by their lone loss.
Northridge. coached by Bill Redinger, has outscored its’ opponents 65-1 in the 15-match win streak. The Raiders have allowed just six goals all season. Northridge blanked Concord 3-0 in the semifinals and then shut out Goshen 3-0 Saturday night to win the Elkhart Memorial Sectional title. It was just the second sectional title for the Raiders, with the other coming in 2007.
“We have to bring our A game Wednesday,” Lucht said. “We have to play our game. Our girls are knowledgeable and dangerous and we have to have good possessions.
“We’ll change some things up from the first time we played them, like we did for NorthWood.”
The Tigers, who lost a plethora of outstanding players from last year’s team including career scoring leader Meredith Hollar, have come on since a slow start. The trio of Brooklyn Jackson, Elizabeth VanWormer and Hutcherson give the Tigers a dangerous scoring threat. Senior Abby Schue, who will play at Grace College next year, is one of the top keepers around and the defense Saturday, led by Breck Jackson and Clair Snodgrass, was outstanding.
“I’m blessed to coach such a phenomenal group of young ladies,” said Lucht Saturday night.
St. Joseph, which won a state title in 2010, blanked Mishawaka Marian (which won the state title in Class 1-A last year) 1-0 Saturday night to win its’ sixth straight sectional championship. Coach Johan Kuitse’s powerful program has won four regional titles in a row.
Penn topped South Bend Adams Saturday night to claim its’ seventh sectional title in a row.
The regional Wednesday features three of the same teams as 2012. Warsaw edged Penn 2-1 and St. Joe blanked Concord 3-0 in semifinal action a year ago before St. Joe stopped the Tigers 3-1 in the title match.
The last regional championship for the Tigers came in 2003. Penn’s last regional crown was in 2010 and Northridge has never won a regional title.