NorthWood junior striker Caitlin Knepp (11) potted a trio of goals in a match with Mishawaka Tuesday evening. File photo provided by Chris Knight.

NorthWood Girls 4, Mishawaka 1

In an effort to beat the forecasted storm, the varsity match in Nappanee between the Panthers and Cavemen was contested as the opener with the junior varsity match to follow, weather permitting. Eventually, the teams were able to play 80 minutes, albeit with two weather delays that totaled around 35 minutes.

The home team Panthers struck first in the 13th minute on a nice through ball from Caitlin Knepp that found Ari Topping streaking down the middle of the field and receiving the ball just outside the top of the goal box. Topping’s aim was true as she beat the Mishawaka goalie to lift the lid off the scoring box.

Following the two rain delays, the two teams returned to the field to play the final seven minutes of the first half. With two minutes before the break, Knepp managed to separate from three Mishawaka defenders to find herself one-on-one with the goalie, resulting in her first goal of the evening and sending the teams into halftime with a 2-0 NorthWood lead.

The teams only took a two-minute break before coming out for the second 40 minute period. Ten minutes into the second half and following a Mishawaka foul outside the left side of the goal box, freshman Haylee Heflin launched a ball to the top of the six, which Knepp was able to misdirect with her head past the Cavemen keeper.

Five minutes later, Knepp was able to corral a rebounded shot and slip the ball past the goalie to earn the hat trick.

Mishawaka spoiled Panther keeper Carly Mast’s clean sheet in the 72nd minute to score the match’s final goal.

NorthWood moves to 5-1-1 on the season, 1-1-1 in the NLC. They face a tough challenge on Thursday when they travel to Goshen for a battle with the RedHawks.

The Panther JV squad shut out Mishawaka 5-0 in the evening’s nightcap match.

Columbia City Girls 3, Wawasee 0

The Lady Warriors dropped an non-conference match 3-0 Tuesday evening against Columbia City. Lily Beer managed eight saves in goal for Wawasee, which fell to 1-6-2.

“It was a tough game coming in to it without a starting player due to COVID reasons,” said coach Luis Camargo. “The girls came out strong and due to some mistakes we let a few goals in. Overall, we are happy with the improvements we see in the team.”

Wawasee will travel to Mishawaka for an NLC contest on Thursday.

Warsaw Boys 4, NorthWood 1

In another NLC matchup that suffered a weather delay, the host Tigers took down NorthWood 4-1. As the match ran late, stats were not available but will be updated as they are provided.