SYRACUSE – Wawasee’s varsity girls soccer team scored twice in a six-minute stretch late in the first half, and it was enough for a 2-0 win over Whitko at Warrior Field Wednesday evening. The first goal came from Leigh Ann Schrack in the 28th minute. She broke open over the middle, received a pass from Sarah Lancaster and kicked the ball into the left side of the goal. Six minutes later Lancaster scored off a feed from Meg Heinisch. The Lady Warriors were strong defensively, keeping the ball on their end of the field most of the game. Whitko was short-handed and taking on a team with more experienced players. The Lady Wildcats’ starting lineup consisted mostly of underclassmen, while Wawasee celebrated Senior Night with nine starters from the Class of 2016. “We only have 16 girls, so numbers make a big difference. I have several that this is only their second year playing, so they’re still learning,” Whitko head coach Gary Sims said. “Experience is a big thing, and we can’t execute our offense because we don’t have enough experience.” Wawasee head coach Doug Heinisch knows what Sims is going through. “We’ve been on the other side of that. I think we have a little more experience, and so our soccer ability is a little higher at this point,” he said. “Today we started nine seniors and two juniors, and (experience is) one of the benefits.” While the home team controlled the ball most of the game, its offense was at its best the last 15 minutes of the first half. A third goal was waved off because the Warriors were offside, and a couple of other shots went wide of the goal “We played hard throughout, and I thought we played hard defensively throughout,” said Heinisch. “Really, I thought the last 15 minutes of the first half, we clicked offensively, and that was the difference. We had some chances in the second half, and even outside of that 15-minute stretch, we had more opportunities than they did.” Whitko fell to 1-5 on the season and will host Woodlan on Saturday. Wawasee moved to 3-4-1 and will host Culver Academy Saturday afternoon.
