<p>Whiteland’s boys soccer team appears to be hitting its stride of late, with an explosive offensive attack leading the way.</p>
<p>Riccardo Sicchiero and Trevor Pike each scored twice, leading the host Warriors to a convincing 6-0 victory over Greenwood Christian on Monday night.</p>
<p>“We’ve got some speed,” Whiteland coach Justin VanHorn said. “If we can find it, it’s deadly. Early on, we were kind of working through that, but I think as the season has progressed, we’re figuring out our mojo and we’re rolling right now.”</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
<p>The win for Whiteland (6-3-2) comes on the heels of another rivalry triumph last week against Franklin, and it also ended a three-match series losing streak against the Cougars.</p>
<p>VanHorn said he felt that putting less emphasis on the game this year enabled his team to play more freely, and it paid off.</p>
<p>“We let the kids come out and play, and they handled business,” he said. “(GCA has) been a really good squad over the last couple of years; we just got them tonight.”</p>
<p>Sicchiero got the Warriors on the board just 7:12 into the match when he lunged forward to head home a cross from Jacob Miller. A little more than two minutes later, Trevor Pike beat GCA netminder Gabe Vessely to a loose ball and punched it into an open net.</p>
<p>That margin held until the 28th minute, when Sicchiero tallied for the second time to give the Warriors a 3-0 lead going into the intermission.</p>
<p>Pike added some insurance in the 59th minute, scoring his second goal of the evening on an assist from Sicchiero.</p>
<p>The Italian exchange student has been able to blend in pretty seamlessly with the returning Warriors, and it’s starting to show.</p>
<p>“We’ve been passing through the midfield a lot, and we’ve been working very well up top,” Pike said of his team. “We just have a good connection with each other on and off the field, so we know what they’re going to do, what we’re going to do.”</p>
<p>Whiteland extended its lead to five when Tristan Thomas sent a perfectly-placed shot to the upper right side of the net with 15:01 to go, and Yahir Lugardo closed the scoring with a goal in the final seconds.</p>
<p>Vessely finished with 11 saves in a valiant losing effort, including several difficult stops at close range, while Nolan Ferguson maintained the clean sheet for Whiteland. GCA’s best chance came on a Fernando Lagunas breakaway shot with about 18 and a half minutes to go in the match, but the sophomore keeper snuffed it out.</p>
<p>The loss was the fifth in the last seven matches for the Class A No. 13 Cougars (5-5) since losing top scorer Jon Amador to a season-ending knee injury.</p>
<p>“The injuries have really hurt us,” GCA coach Jason Noel said. “We’ve been really stagnant here lately, going up and down like a roller coaster. But I’ve got to give credit to Whiteland; they played a really good offensive game. They really stretched us the whole game, and we let one in early and it kind of just deflated us for the whole game. …</p>
<p>“We’re really nicked up right now, but these guys that don’t usually get to play are getting playing time, which is going to make us better when it counts.”</p>
