Warsaw’s Kiersten Parker races Homestead’s Gabby Torrez during the Warsaw Sectional championship game Saturday. (Photos by James Costello)

WARSAW — For roughly 90 minutes, the Warsaw girls soccer team played No. 7 Homestead to a stalemate. But national prospect Amelia White got enough space for a goal with 5:03 to go in the second overtime period, and the Spartans hung on for a 1-0 sectional championship victory over the 15th-ranked Lady Tigers Saturday.

There was no shame in the way the Tigers came up short at Saturday’s 94-minute war of attrition, but a moral victory didn’t seem like any victory at all for the two-time defending champs afterward.

“We had our chances. They probably had a few more chances than us, but we didn’t put away the ones that we had,” said Warsaw coach Jon Hoover.

“It was a hard one to lose today, but I’m proud of them. I’m proud of the fight they put in for a long game. We just didn’t come out on top today. “

The Tigers kept White, a player for the U15 U.S. Women’s National Team, under wraps for most of the afternoon. But the talented freshman got loose on a run up the left wing and snuck a goal far post for the game-winner in the 89th minute. Warsaw couldn’t find an answer during a hectic final few minutes, and the Spartans dethroned the defending-champion Tigers, hoisting their first 3A trophy and first sectional championship hardware since winning a string of five straight 2A titles between 2011 and 2015.

Warsaw High School Athletic Director Dave Anson presents the trophy to Homestead following Saturday’s final.

“It just was all worth it after that — all the hard work and just making every single run and just playing my hardest. It just made it all worth it,” said White of her goal.

“You could see from the game today that she attracted three or four defenders at a time, and that really freed up some of our other forwards. To play through her worked out to be a good thing for us, but she was finally able to put one in the back of the net for us. It just took us a little longer than I wanted it to,” said Homestead coach Rick Link.

“She’s a good player, and they have a good team with her and Morgan Halliwill,” said Hoover of White. “We played 80 minutes, and we shut her down. Yeah, she just slipped through at the right time, the right place. We didn’t get help side fast enough on that, which is tough to do in the 90th minute. She’s a good player, and we did a good job shutting her down but to win a game like this you’ve got to score. We just didn’t get one in the net.”

The Tigers were out-shot 10-5 in total shots on goal at the contest, including two shots on target to none over the two extra periods. Warsaw’s last, best chance came following Delaney Taylor’s well-placed corner kick into the Homestead 18-yard box, and Abby Steffensmeier got control of the ball at the center of the scrum for a point blank shot that ricocheted off the nearside post in the 92nd minute. Spartans keeper Samantha Castaneda smothered the ball before Steffensmeier or her teammates could manage a rebound shot, and the Tigers never got another real chance as the clock wound down in Warsaw.

Abby Steffensmeier and Madison Morris battle for possession.

Like White, Steffensmeier was hounded by defenders all day, and after more than 90 minutes of high-level and very physical soccer, seemed spent at the close.

“She worked hard today. It’s just they were pretty quick in the back so she had to keep a high level going,” said Hoover of his striker. “She got through a few times. She was right on the offside line where it could’ve gone either way, and she didn’t get that call. But she plowed through, just didn’t get on the end of one.”

Warsaw keeper Kaylee Patton put in a yeoman’s effort in goal for the Tigers, finishing with nine saves, including an impressive diving stop in the 49th minute and a heads-up save on a Halliwall shot as the final horn sounded on regulation.

“She kept us in it,” said Hoover of his keeper. “We talked last week as a team about how certain things have to happen to win these games against these good teams, and one of them is your keeper has to make at least one big save. She made several today. She did a good job keeping us in the game and kept composed back there and really held things together for us.”

The Tigers closed at 12-5-1 and must bid farewell to a trio of senior defenders in Dayle Harvey, Anna Grill and Olivia Herman.

“At this point I just think about our seniors. They put so much into this program,” Hoover said. “Dayle, Liv and Anna really set a tone for us every day in practice, and it’s a bummer that they don’t go out with a sectional championship. But I think that the next group coming up — the freshmen, sophomores and juniors — that got to see that, that’ll help this program be better in the next few years.”

Homestead moved to 15-3 with the hard-fought win. The Spartans advanced to play Carroll during the opener at the Logansport Regional next weekend, while Harrison and Fishers play in the late semifinal.

“It’s my first sectional as head coach so it feels really good. The girls worked really hard for it,” said Link.

“It was a challenge today, that’s for sure. Warsaw gave us a heck of a game.”

The Lady Tigers take their final bows after Saturday’s season-ending loss.