Warsaw’s Liz Van Wormer beat Northridge goalkeeper Meghan Cawood for a goal in the 69th minute, helping Warsaw to a 1-1 tie Thursday night and the Northern Lakes Conference girls soccer crown. (Photos by Mike Deak)

WARSAW – Dad’s generally hate getting ties for Father’s Day. Cub Scouts have all sorts of trouble tying knots. Ty Burrell likely won’t ever win Actor of the Year in a comedy series. OK, so maybe he did. Anyways, it’s just not cool to be a tie.

Warsaw, however, was jumping for joy after tying Northridge, 1-1, Thursday evening in the regular season girls soccer finale for both clubs. The draw left Warsaw 6-0-1 in the Northern Lakes Conference, a half-game ahead of Northridge, which settled at 5-0-2. The tie went to the runner, and Warsaw was crowned 2015 NLC champions.

“In that moment, I’ve done it a lot and I knew that I’ve scored that goal over and over,” said Warsaw striker Liz Van Wormer, who scored her team’s lone goal. “I knew it had to go in, we needed a goal. You just get in the moment and it feels right.”

Warsaw’s Sydney Weideman takes a shot as Northridge defender Ariana Stoltzfus closes in.

Van Wormer was vintage in scoring the game’s first goal in the 69th minute. Taking a long through ball from Anna Grill, Van Wormer darted through the teeth of the stingy Northridge defense like she has done for four years. Getting to her comfort zone, Van Wormer beat Ridge keeper Meghan Cawood right side for the goal.

Everything was falling into place for an unblemished NLC season for the Lady Tigers. Or, was it?

It took Northridge barely 10 seconds to take the kick-off and find a streaking Brey Baltazar down the left side, who didn’t hesitate in sending a rocket at a loosely guarded Warsaw goal. Possibly still unsettled from the goal celebration, more likely not expecting a 30-plus yard shot so quickly, Chloe Snow had no chance to save Baltazar’s loft. It took exactly 14 seconds for the buzz to wear off. It was 1-1.

“Too few seconds,” laughed Warsaw head coach Peter Lucht, who switched the script to, “I want to talk about our girl’s ability to bounce back from it. They got it, congrats to them for getting it, and that quick. My goodness. Credit to our girls for bouncing back. We didn’t just sit there and it had to be a shock, right? They didn’t let the emotion drain or anything. They picked it up and still finished most of the game on Northridge’s half.”

Northridge’s Brey Baltazar matched Warsaw’s goal with one just 14 seconds later.

Northridge, which had scored like that just days earlier at No. 13 Fort Wayne Carroll to pull out a 2-1 win, didn’t have any more bullets. Warsaw would hold possession on Ridge’s end for the remainder of the final 10 minutes, even taking a pair of shots, to close out its first title since 2003 and fourth overall.

Northridge, which tied Concord 0-0 in September, held Van Wormer to just one shot on goal, using its defense to mimic bees to a vacant pop can. In all, Warsaw would take seven shots, but had a rip from Alyssa Atkins rattle off the crossbar in the 30th minute and a chance by Sydney Weideman in the 71st whistle over the bar.

Warsaw held All-State candidate Ellie Lengacher in check for most of the game, but the stud midfielder would fire a pair of shots, one forcing Snow low to cover. Ridge would take five shots at Snow, the sophomore keep corralling three and watching the other sail just over the bar.

Warsaw finishes the regular season at 13-1-1 and will prepare for an Oct. 8 meeting in the semi’s of the Plymouth Girls Soccer Sectional against Wawasee (3-12-1), which were beaten by NorthWood 5-0 Thursday in Nappanee. Northridge (10-3-4) will meet Goshen at the Concord Girls Soccer Sectional Tuesday evening.

The JV game to open the evening went to Northridge in a 5-0 result. The Raiders hoisted 14 shots to dominate the match. Warsaw drops to 5-6-1 overall and will complete its season Saturday at the NLC Invite, to which Warsaw is the host.

The Warsaw girls soccer team won the Northern Lakes Conference championship with a 6-0-1 record in round robin play.