ARGOS – The Warsaw Lady Tigers led for just 34 seconds of Tuesday’s 80-minute soccer game at Eugene Snyder Field.
It was long enough to beat the host Argos Lady Dragons 3-2 in a final tuneup for Thursday’s Northern Lakes Conference championship game against Northridge.
In a back-and-forth battle, Warsaw sophomore Delaney Taylor scored two goals in the second half, including the game-winner with 34 seconds remaining.
Up until that point, the Lady Tigers had trailed Argos or only been able to tie the score.
“It wasn’t anything pretty,” said Warsaw coach Jon Hoover, whose team improved to 10-4-2 while Argos fell to 10-5-1.
“The way that Argos came out and played, you could just tell the second half was going to be grinding both ways. It became a match that wasn’t the prettiest of styles, but I think both teams worked really hard and just decided to throw everything down and go after it.
“The last goal was a perfect example of that. It was a grinding goal where we just worked hard, the ball fell our way, and Delaney had a great finish.”
Argos scored first, with senior Morgan Baldwin putting the ball in the net in the 14th minute.
Warsaw sophomore Abby Steffensmeier scored the equalizer in the 34th min, but the Lady Dragons responded with a goal from senior Samantha Stone three seconds before the intermission, giving the home team a 2-1 lead at the break.
“Argos is a very organized team, and they did a great job of staying composed and keeping their defensive shape,” said Hoover. “It took us a while to break through, we started a little flat, and Argos capitalized on some mistakes that we had. But I’m proud of the way our team came out in the second half ... being down 2-1 at any away field is not an easy thing to overcome, and I’m proud of the way they gutted it out.
“I thought the entire second half we were gonna get that winning goal. I thought it would come a little sooner, to be honest, but I’m proud of the way they pulled it out.”
A goal by Taylor tied the game 2-2 in the 51st minute, and she sent her teammates and Warsaw’s fans into a frenzy with her goal in the final minute.
The Lady Tigers will host Northridge Thursday evening for Senior Night and the regular season finale. The game will decide the NLC champion, as Warsaw is 5-1 in conference play and Northridge 5-0-1.
“Tonight, we really just wanted to stay healthy,” said Hoover. “We’ve got some people who are coming back from injuries still that are nursing through those things, a few people sick. So tonight we just wanted to get our legs underneath us.
“Argos is a great squad, it was a great game to play going into a great Northridge team. We’re glad we got to play this game. We’re glad for the timing of it, so that we could play this before Northridge. It was a great tuneup for Thursday.”
WARSAW 3, ARGOS 2
W 1 2 – 3
A 2 0 – 2
(Scoring)
A – Morgan Baldwin (Samantha Stone assist) 14th min
