A trio of players make a play for the ball during the Warsaw at Goshen match Tuesday night. The Tigers topped the No. 19 Redskins 1-0 in a huge NLC match.

GOSHEN – Great players make the most of their opportunities.

Liz Van Wormer did exactly that Tuesday night for her Warsaw girls soccer team.

The senior star stepped up in big time fashion to propel the Tigers to a huge 1-0 win over No. 19 Goshen in a key Northern Lakes Conference match.

Van Wormer, the lone senior in the starting lineup for coach Peter Lucht’s talented team, drilled the game winner with a left-footed rocket boot with 18:43 to play in the contest as Warsaw remained undefeated on the season.

The Tigers, who improve to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the NLC, also avenged two tough losses to the Redskins in 2014. Goshen topped Warsaw 2-0 en route to the NLC championship and then handed the Tigers a 1-0 loss in a regional semifinal game at Goshen. The Redskins went on to claim the regional title in an 18-2-1 season in which they outscored their opponents 65-7 with 14 shutouts.

Van Wormer was able to shake free just long enough to take a great pass from sophomore Sydney Wiedeman and then blast a goal into the back corner of the net. The star forward had found little space to operate all night while being double and sometimes triple teamed by an outstanding Goshen defense.

“It was in the back of my mind that we had lost to them in the regional last year,” admitted Van Wormer. “We’ve got so many good girls on our team. We just said let’s go get them tonight.

“Sydney just showed a lot of determination to get me the ball and I knew they needed me to finish. We’ve worked a lot on those plays and the past few games I’ve missed some shots. I looked up and knew she (the Goshen keeper) was out and saw it go in the back of the net.”

Liz Van Wormer scored the lone goal in Warsaw’s win Tuesday night.

Warsaw coach Peter Lucht, whose team had outscored its first four foes 24-2,  was obviously pleased to get the huge road win.

“I’m just very proud of our entire team,” said Lucht, whose team finished 13-3 in 2014. “I give credit to all of them for working hard tonight. This was a gritty win. Goshen is a strong team. It was about our girls character tonight. They fought hard.

“It’s a great feeling to be 3-0 in the NLC right now. But, we have to continue to play one game at a time. Our girls felt we could have won either game against Goshen last year. We walked off this field last year after the regional knowing we had played our best.”

Warsaw had several golden chances in a scoreless opening half to dent the scoreboard. The Tigers had a shot carom off the crossbar just over five minutes into the physical contest and then had another sail wide after the Redskin keeper had slipped.

Goshen, which drops to 3-2-1 overall and 1-2 in the NLC, was missing its top player in Jelitza Palomino. The senior forward, who owns the program’s career scoring record with 55 goals (including 17 last year), suffered a knee injury in a game in July. She is scheduled to have surgery on Sept. 8 and is out for the season.

“I can’t put into words what Jelitza has meant to our program,” said longtime Goshen coach Dan Graber. “She’s our finisher and gave us a great combination with (Aylissa) Trosper. She scored the goal versus Warsaw in our regional win last year.

Brenna Shipley looks to gain possession for Warsaw.

“I knew it would be tough for us to score, but our defense kept us in it. I’m always confident that our defense will keep us in every game. VanWormer is just a phenomenal player. We knew they would get her the ball. I thought that our defense did a great job on her. We just lost her on that play and all it takes is one chance with a player of her calibre. I can’t fault my defense. They did a heck of a job on her.

“I thought that this game was won by Warsaw in the midfield tonight. They were outstanding there.”

Warsaw had an 11-5 edge in shots in the win and 4-3 advantage in corner kicks.

Warsaw sophomore goalie Chloe Snow made six saves for the winners. Alyssa Hershberger, one of four seniors for the Redskins, had six saves.

Goshen won the junior varsity game by a 3-0 final. The Warsaw JV is now 1-3 on the season.

Warsaw hosts Homestead and Goshen entertains LaPorte on Thursday evening.