Warsaw’s Rilee Groninger takes a shot between Fort Wayne South Side’s Michaela Ignacio and Perla Martinez during Class 3-A Warsaw Sectional play Thursday night. (Photos by James Costello)

WARSAW — Heading into Thursday’s Class 3-A Sectional 7 semifinal, Warsaw girls soccer coach Jon Hoover wasn’t as concerned about Fort Wayne South Side as he was about whether his Lady Tigers would play their game. If they did, he reasoned, they’d have nothing to worry about.

Warsaw proved their coach right, scoring early and often in an eventual 9-0 victory over the Archers. The Tigers advance to play Homestead, which topped Huntington North 4-1 in Thursday’s early semi — in Saturday’s championship game at 7 p.m.

“We had a good practice yesterday. We talked about, kind of refocused on what we wanted to get done this week, and they responded,” said Hoover. “I loved the way they came out the first five minutes. Saturday is going to be a fantastic game if we come out and do that.”

Elizabeth Stone battles Mackenzie Kohler in the second half.

Six different players scored goals for Warsaw, which tallied 12 shots on goal to only two by South Side. The margin likely could’ve been 18 goals, but Hoover mercifully pulled all of his starters following Abby Steffensmeier’s third goal, which pushed the score to 6-0 in the 31st minute. Just as Warsaw’s starting 11 had done, the Tiger reserves continued to outwork their guests, and they potted a pair of goals in the 57th and 65th minutes. Valeria Marquez-Martinez scored both crashing the box for a pair of clean-up goals — the first on a Zoe Bergen shot that caromed off the near post and the second on a Mackenzie Kohler shot that ricocheted off the crossbar.

“She did a great job. She put herself in a position to be effective. It was great to see her come off the bench, and with all our subs coming in we didn’t lose how we played the game, how we moved around. Valeria came in and right place, right time. She put herself in a position to be effective, which was well done on her part,” said Hoover.

“It was fun. The reason we had six goal-scorers is because our team moved the ball really well today. We had a big win Tuesday, but the way we moved the ball tonight was way better than Tuesday. When that happens, we’re a tough team to defend because so many people can score when we do it right.”

While Steffensmeier notched a hat trick and Marquez-Martinez scored two goals, Audrey Grimm, Tes Berelsman, Corissa Koontz and Bonnie Hampton netted a goal apiece, and Steffensmeier, Bergen, Kohler, Grimm, Rylee Burns, Kierstin Parker, Brielle Fehlmann and Elizabeth Stone were credited with assists in the offensive showcase. Emily Bugg and Kaylee Ochoa were credited with a save each in the clean sheet for Warsaw, which moved to 11-5-2.

Jordan Love races Bre-Anna King-Bright.

With Thursday’s semifinals now in the books, the 19th-rated Tigers now face No. 10-ranked defending champion Homestead in a rematch of a 1-0 loss back on Sept. 5. Warsaw is playing for its first title since winning back-to-back sectionals in 2016-17.

“We’ve seen Homestead several times. They’re just a really good team. They always are. We love playing them,” said Hoover. “They beat us by one goal earlier this season. We’re both different teams now than we were then. It’s exciting to have such a great game as a sectional final. We’re excited to host. I’m thrilled for our team to be there, and it’s just going to be a fantastic game between two really good programs.”

LAKELAND CHRISTIAN 4, ELKHART CHRISTIAN 0
The Lady Cougars advanced to the championship at Westview with a convincing, 4-0 defeat of ECA Thursday night.

LCA jumped on the Eagles early with a breakaway but shot right into the ECA keeper. The majority of the play was in the midfield on the LCA defensive side, but ECA was not really able to generate scoring opportunities. The Cougars kept countering and were able to cash in when Jessi Calizo found herself on a breakaway and converted her opportunity seven minutes into the first half. Fifteen minutes later, Tori Calizo would get her first goal of the game on a through ball from Liza Schmitt. Jessi would then assist on her sisters Tori’s second goal of the game as Tori took the ball and made a move around the ECA keeper, sliding the ball into the empty net with less than six minutes to go until halftime.

The Eagles came out hard in the second half but still weren’t able to get quality scoring chances, and Finley Hobbs had no trouble stopping some shots from far out. LCA continued to counter but came up empty, until Avery Hobbs’ free kick to the top of the 18 resulted in a Jessi Calizo goal in the game’s 60th minute.

“We played a good game,” said LCA coach Nathaniel Raber. “We set a game plan, and the girls did a great job executing it. Our defense showed up in a big way tonight. We have a few things to clean up, but I am excited to be back playing in the sectional finals.”

LCA will play Bethany Christian in the finals on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Topeka.

NORTHWOOD AND WAWASEE AT LAKELAND SECTIONAL
NorthWood advanced with a 3-1 victory over Lakeland, while Wawasee closed with an 8-0 loss to DeKalb at the Class 2-A Lakeland Sectional Thursday.

Emma Martz, Cari Jenkins and Reagan Hartman each scored goals for NorthWood in the early game, and Martz and Lizzie Hilderbrant tallied an assist apiece in the win, which pushed NorthWood to 9-5-3. Lili Lomeli came up with five saves in goal for the Panthers.

In the late semifinal, Jaylin Carroll and Hope Lewis scored a pair of goals each, while Brielle Miller, Maddison Linker, Grace Snyder and Riley Exford also slotted away goals for the Barons. Linker, Snyder, Lewis, Katie Witte and Jamie Gentis tallied an assist each, while Exford finished with two. Sydney Maxfield finished with one save in goal for DeKalb as the Warriors managed just one shot on goal in the loss. Wawasee closes at 1-15.

NorthWood is playing for a third straight title when it kicks off with opposite the Barons at 7 p.m. Saturday.