Northridge’s Ariana Stoltzfus (center) and her teammates celebrate after tying Warsaw, 1-1, Thursday night. Stoltzfus, who scored the equalizer, helped her team claim the NLC title for the second year in a row with the draw. (Photos by Mike Deak)

WARSAW – Neither team could afford to lose. And neither team did. But one team walked off the field feeling the sting of a loss while the other walked off as champions.

For the third year in a row, Northridge and Warsaw battled on the final day of the regular season for the Northern Lakes Conference girls soccer title, and for the second time in three years, ended in a tie. The 1-1 draw Thursday night worked in the favor of the Raiders, which needed either a win or tie to clinch the conference title while Warsaw needed an outright win to lay claim.

Warsaw used indecision in the defensive third to score its only goal of the match. Delaney Taylor made a slicing run through the right edge of the Northridge penalty area in the 46th minute. As Northridge converged on Taylor, the ball skipped around and off the hand of Maddie Sorg, forcing a penalty kick as Taylor lay in a heap on the finely manicured turf. Anna Grill stepped up and buried the try left edge to give Warsaw an initial moment of jubilation at 1-0.

For the Raiders (5-0-2 NLC), its golden goal came on a bounding ball that was a tricky play from the moment it was launched from Izzy Love’s foot. The high through ball took a huge hop near the Warsaw 18 and made goalkeeper Chloe Snow decide whether to go get it or let her defenders clear it. As the indecision continued, Ariana Stoltzfus took advantage of the free moment and buried a shot into a loosely guarded net to tie the match in the 55th minute.

“Our girls are disappointed they didn’t come out with a win, but I feel if the game was 85 minutes instead of 80 minutes, I think we would have gotten one more,” said Warsaw head coach Jon Hoover. “I’m proud of our girls, they didn’t stop working. They represented their school well.”

Warsaw’s Brenna Shipley

Stoltzfus’ moment of brilliance created the certain panic Warsaw developed trying to get the go-ahead goal. Much to Northridge head coach Thavisith Mounsithiraj’s surprise, his defense held Warsaw without a shot on target the final 31 minutes of the match. A low line drive from Anna Sullivan in the 49th minute was blocked by keeper Meghan Cawood and cleared out of danger. Otherwise, Warsaw would settle for a pair of shots well over frame and nothing better. The dirty work by defenders Leah Stacker, Mikayla Smith and Sorg to keep the front of the net clear was championship-worthy.

“This is a new group, we lost all of our starters from last year,” Mounsithiraj said, clutching a pair of soccer patches from Northridge back-to-back championships in 1997 and 1998. “These are all sophomores and juniors playing back there. I think what Stacker is capable of is because she has good instincts. But more importantly, our back line has been solid all year long. We conceded three goals in the conference all year. I was not surprised at how well they played tonight. I was not surprised they didn’t give up. I am not surprised that we were celebrating. But I am surprised that we did it against that Warsaw team that is so good and has so much firepower.”

Warsaw would develop four chances to open the second half, two by Taylor that required diving saves from Cawood. The Ridge keeper would make four saves in the match. Snow would make six saves for the Lady Tigers.

The match mirrored the past two seasons, where Warsaw tied Northridge 1-1 in 2015, the Tigers taking the title by a half-game on its home pitch. Northridge held court in 2016, 2-1, to run undefeated in the conference with Warsaw suffering its only NLC loss. Warsaw finished the 2017 season 5-1-1 in the NLC, its loss at Concord on Sept. 7 the difference. Northridge’s other tie came against NorthWood on Aug. 31.

“I think they will be ready,” Hoover said of his sullen troops. “Fortunately, we have the weekend to rest and to regroup and put some things together. I have no doubt come Tuesday when we play our game we’re going to be at good form. This is definitely a setback and definitely disappointing. But it doesn’t define us. They love the game and enjoy playing the game and that’s enough for us to come back.”

Warsaw (10-4-3 overall) will pick up the pieces as it heads to the Fort Wayne South Sectional, drawing the opening game Tuesday against the hosts with a 5:30 p.m. start. Northridge (11-3-3) will meet Concord on Tuesday in the first game of the Goshen Sectional.