Sarah Lancaster leaps into Leigh-Ann Shrack’s arms after feeding the junior for Wawasee’s first goal in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Whitko. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

SYRACUSE – Wednesday night’s game with Whitko was far from a marquee matchup anywhere else, but in Syracuse it was the biggest match of the season as the fans could finally pay tribute to the seniors that have guarded the pitch at Warrior Field for the past four years.

After dropping the past two contests to Whitko, the Lady Warriors lived up to their pregame motto to “fight like a Warrior” and left smiling with a 2-0 victory.

With 12:06 remaining in the opening half it was a nice string of teamwork that broke the nil-nil tie. Freshmen Meg Heinisch placed a nice pass to senior Sarah Lancaster who found junior Leigh-Ann Shrack in front of the goal. Shrack finished off the sequence to give Wawasee the 1-0 lead. Less than five minutes later Lancaster, who was simply playing on a different level than anybody else on the field, extended that lead with a goal of her own.

Lancaster was fierce in Wednesday’s contest. To be fair, she’s fierce in every contest. But Wednesday was different for her and for the rest of Wawasee’s senior class. It was their night to shine and that’s just what they did. The Lady Warriors have gotten back to beating the teams that they are supposed to beat this season, it’s a small step back to relevance, but it’s a positive step nevertheless.

“I think what’s really helped us is that we have experience, we have a good group of seniors,” said Wawasee senior and left midfielder Savannah Schwartz. “We’ve all maintained a positive attitude, that’s been a big focus of ours. Trying to keep things positive, keep our heads up, that’s something we struggled with the past few years. Avoiding getting down on ourselves has made a big difference this season.”

Wawasee stayed physical in the second half where defense was the key to holding off Whitko. Kayla White remained strong in goal for the home team, making a pair of nice saves.

For Whitko, it’s just the fourth season of IHSAA sanctioned play. The Wildcats had just five reserves to bring in compared to Wawasee’s much deeper bench of 10 girls. Head coach Gary Sims is just making sure his girls are taking it one game at a time.

“We only have 16 girls, many of them playing just their second year,” began Sims. “They’re still learning. Experience was the big difference today.”

Whitko was able to put pressure on Wawasee and had a few chances to score, but being able to finish off those attempts comes with, well, more experience.

“We can’t execute,” Sims continued. “That comes with experience. We played well defensively, we just don’t have any subs. Across the board at Whitko our numbers are down, especially in girls sports. We even see it on the middle school level.”

As to what is keeping kids from coming out for sports in a lot of the schools is anyone’s guess, but Sims remained lighthearted on the subject.

“Maybe it’s video games,” joked Sims.

Looking ahead for Wawasee, there is still plenty of room for improvement for a group that has been walked over by the majority of its competitors for the past four years.

“We just have to continue being intense,” said Lancaster, the queen of intensity. “Then we just need to realize that we have enough skill to compete with some of the teams that we’ve not beaten in the past. I think there are still a few teams on our schedule that we can prove something to.”

Lancaster and Shrack have helped spark the majority of Wawasee’s goals the past two seasons and after every scoring connection, the two jump into each others arms in celebration. This begs the question, does the duo believe they have the best goal celebration in the area? Of course.

“I feel like we do,” Lancaster exclaimed, raising her voice, smiling ear to ear. “I feel like hugs are always the best celebration!”

Wawasee (3-4-1) will host Culver Academy Saturday afternoon. Whitko (1-5)will host Woodlan at 10 a.m. Saturday.