UNION GAP — Warden trailed early in the first half and never recovered, losing to La Salle 10-1.

The loss drops Warden into the third place match of the district tournament today against Connell.

“The game got away from us real early,” head coach Don Edson said. “We looked flat. The girls weren’t playing with much energy... when you’re playing a team of that level you have to be at your best as soon as the game starts.”

Forward Jennifer Mendoza scored the lone goal for the Cougars late in the second half.

Despite losing to La Salle, Warden still has an opportunity to advance to the state playoffs by defeating Connell today.

The Eagles beat the Cougars in the two previous meetings this season, most recently in a 2-1 shootout victory Oct. 15 ending Warden’s six-match winning streak.

“Even though we ended up coming away from that game with a loss the belief on the team with the girls and everything was that we really had deserved to win that game,” Edson said. “We had done all the things that we had needed to do.”

Edson felt that his team would be able to move on quickly from the loss against La Salle and refocus for today’s match.

“Truthfully, I think it’s a little bit easier to get over that game than if it had been a game that went all the way to the end and we lost in the last part of it,” he said. “The girls today at practice seemed to have already put it behind them.”

Today’s match is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. at Marquette Stadium with the winner advancing to the state tournament.