SYRACUSE – The Wawasee girls soccer team was young last year, but it's not much older this season. Opening their season with a 2-0 home win over the Lakeland Lady Lakers (0-1) Monday in Syracuse, the Lady Warriors (1-0) feature three seniors, one junior, 10 sophomores and eight freshmen on their roster. "We are very young," Wawasee coach John Blunk said. "We only have three seniors. I only played four people that played last year. Basically, I had seven people who had never played before." One of those young players is freshman Hannah Thompson, who netted the Lady Warriors' first goal of the season, corralling a pass from senior Lexy Blunk and finding the back of the net just a little over four minutes into the game. However, Thompson's first high school goal wasn't by design. "Hannah was at the wrong spot, but she got the ball in the net," Blunk said. "That wasn't where she was supposed to be. She was supposed to be out wider, but hey, it worked." Sophomore Tori Sylvester then gave Wawasee a cushion in the 47th minute after she tracked down a long pass from senior Cassie Martinez. One-on-one with Lakeland junior goalkeeper Jessica Hoover, Sylvester lobbed a shot up high, which appeared to be much too high, but fell in behind the keeper, increasing the lead to 2-0. Wawasee had 11 shots on goal, while Lakeland controlled most of the possession. Despite controlling the ball, Lakeland got just seven shots on goal, all of which were stopped by Wawasee senior goalkeeper Jordan Edington. "I thought we controlled the field better in the first half, when we weren't as tired," Blunk said. With so many girls getting used to varsity play, fatigue will be a common concern this year, but Blunk was pleased how the experienced and inexperienced fused in the season opener. "We had a freshman score tonight and we had a sophomore score tonight — and an assist from a senior," he said. "So, I'm happy. We won." Wawasee travels to West Noble Wednesday for a 5 p.m. game.
