The Warsaw girls soccer team went toe to toe with the defending state champion St. Joseph's Saturday before falling 4-2 in the first round of the regional played at Jackson School.

The Indians jumped on the board with a goal just 30 seconds into the match to deliver a shocking blow, but the Tigers didn't blink or stumble. Hannah Cutshall answered that jab by getting a goal about 60 seconds later, taking an assist from Kelly Wildman, and Warsaw was back even.

The match stood knotted at 1-1 into halftime, but St. Joe started the second half as they did the first, getting a goal within the first 30 seconds. A penalty kick goal put St. Joe up 3-1, but once again the Tigers responded.

Kelly Williams collected a loose ball in front of the St. Joe goal, blasting it into the corner of the net and the Tigers trailed just one with 25 minutes to play. Gabby Monroy and Caitlin Johnson were both credited with the assist to Williams.

Warsaw had a couple of opportunities, but St. Joe's Madison Turner's goal with 15 minutes to play capped the scoring and the Tigers could not must another strong threat against the experienced St. Joe squad. Turner's shot appeared stopped by Tiger keeper Abby Schue, who jumped high into the air, deflecting the ball off the crossbar, but the spin on the ball bounced it backwards into the net.

Warsaw, getting a stellar performance in front of the net by Schue, finishes its season 13-3-2. Schue finished with five saves, and the sophomore keeper had a number of grabs of crosses. St. Joe held a 9-5 shot advantage and a 7-0 corner kick advantage. The Indians, 16-3, advance to face Penn in Saturday's championship match.

Posted In: Girl's Sports > Soccer