Juniors Abby Steffensmeier and Delaney Taylor are a handful.
That’s how Warsaw girls soccer coach Jon Hoover described his dynamic duo following the Class 3A No. 8 Lady Tigers’ 3-1 win over the visiting Culver Girls Academy Eagles Wednesday night.
Steffensmeier scored Warsaw’s first two goals, while Taylor added the third as the Lady Tigers built up a 3-0 lead and improved to 9-2-1 on the season.
“Abby and Delaney are a handful when they’re working together,” said Hoover. “It was nice to see both of them score on the same night. When they’re both firing on all cylinders and doing it together it’s very difficult to defend them.
“Everybody knows about Abby scoring so many goals last season, but Delaney has come on and is scoring more this year, and teams can’t just focus on Abby anymore, there’s two of them that are really good players. When they’re working together, they’re very difficult to defend.”
Through 12 matches, Steffensmeier and Taylor share the team lead with nine goals.
Steffensmeier gave the Lady Tigers a 1-0 halftime advantage when she put an 18-yard strike past Eagles goalkeeper Sophie Michi in the 35th minute of the 80-minute match.
In the 57th minute, Steffensmeier forced a turnover, took the ball on a breakaway and put it past Michi for a 2-0 lead.
Taylor scored her goal three minutes later on an assist from sophomore Audrey Grimm.
The Eagles, who fell to 3-5, got their lone goal from junior Heather MacNab in the 74th minute.
“I thought we played well tonight, and sometimes that happens,” Hoover said of Culver’s goal. “It was a good shot. She’s a heck of a player, so she struck the ball well.
“We got a little tired toward the end, but at this point we’re looking forward to our next game, and we take away a lot of good things that happened tonight.”
The Lady Tigers have given up just two goals in their last five matches, and those came in a 2-2 tie with No. 6 Penn.
Warsaw now turns its focus to Saturday’s Northern Lakes Conference contest with Wawasee.
Not only is Saturday Warsaw’s senior day, recognizing Anna Grill, Dayle Harvey and Olivia Herman, but the Lady Tigers and Northridge are both 5-0 in the NLC standings.
Warsaw will play at Northridge on Sept. 27.
“I think regardless of Saturday we’d be thinking about playing Northridge,” said Hoover. “It could be any team we’re playing Saturday, and we’re not looking past Wawasee, but Northridge won the conference last year. So regardless of who we play Saturday, we know that Northridge is coming up in a week.”
Northridge, ranked seventh in the latest 3A poll, has outscored its five league opponents 25-2, while Warsaw has beat its five conference rivals by a combined 13-0.
