SPRINGFIELD — Vicki-Packard Cooper knew a single goal could derail her Northwestern High School girls soccer team’s chance at a Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division title.

In the waning moments against Greenon at Taylor Field on Monday, Packard-Cooper packed it in.

“I was playing defense,” Packard-Cooper said. “We wanted to come out and score. We played the first half that way. When it got down to 13 minutes, I told my outside mids, ‘Play defense.’ The bottom line is I would’ve loved to have won, but we didn’t want to mess up and get caught where a ball is up and over and you can’t get back (on defense).”

The strategy worked to perfection. The Warriors tied rival Greenon 0-0, taking a half-game lead in the Mad River Division.

Ale Tenorio had five saves for Northwestern, which improved to 11-1-2 and stayed unbeaten in the Mad River Division at 8-0-1.

Rachel Christopher had three saves for the Knights, who fell to 8-2-2 and 7-0-2 in the CBC Mad River.

Northwestern dominated most of the match, and had several chances to score.

“I wish we could’ve finished the ball,” Packard-Cooper said. “I thought the first 25 minutes of the game we were attacking their goal continuously, but couldn’t find the net.”

The Warriors’ defensive backfield of Michelle Pencil, Lauren Bischoff, Jensen Kleis, Miranda Whip and Tenorio did a great job containing Greenon’s attack.

With three minutes remaining, the Knights nearly broke through. Greenon’s Amanda Boling put an indirect free kick into the net, but the goal was disallowed because it went in untouched.

“Late in the game, we had our opportunities,” said Greenon coach Ray Raines. “We tried to gamble on the free kick and hope the keeper would touch it with her hands.”

Raines was disappointed with his team’s play, especially after a 1-0 win over Dublin Scioto on Saturday.

“We were doing nothing right the whole game,” Raines said. “We didn’t show up to play. We played well on Saturday and came out here flat. Give credit to Northwestern. They played one heck of a match. They dominated us.”

The game was originally scheduled at Greenon at 7 p.m., but the location and game time were moved to accommodate a bigger crowd for both the boys and girls matches.

The Warriors need wins over Indian Lake on Wednesday and Urbana on Oct. 13 to win the Mad River Division outright for the second year in a row.

“We never take anyone lightly,” Packard-Cooper said.