SYRACUSE – It didn’t take more than a second for Wawasee senior Caitlin Clevenger to sum up her junior soccer experience.

“Bad,” was all Clevenger really said.

While silver lining moments were abundant for a young team seeking an identity, Wawasee’s 2013 girls soccer season was troubling. Clevenger accounted for the team’s lone goal it scored in 17 games, a 3-1 loss to West Noble, otherwise there wasn’t any celebrating really to be done. The team did play hard throughout the year, which was evident in several measures including the sectional matchup with Warsaw. But Clevenger, one of just two seniors in the program, knows things have to change.

“I feel like in my senior year I have a lot more responsibility with what’s going on,” Clevenger said. “I need to lead my teammates and guide and help when I can. We have to rebuild the program. I’ve been here four years, it’s time.”

Clevenger is self-admittedly not the most dynamic or physical specimen taking to the pitch this fall. Average speed has been compensated by an aggressive on-the-ball mindset, and what she doesn’t possess in superior ability she makes up with smart decision making. And that will have to be refined this fall with a team that is returning nearly a dozen, but very green in many regards.

“As a team, I really think we can improve,” Clevenger stated. “It’s not just about winning for us right now. We have to want to win, but we also have to want to get better. I know we can win, and we’re not going to give up. The more we practice and get into games, a lot of these girls will pick up the game more.”

Clevenger has tried to lead by example, loving the game as part of a senior class that began with 10 freshman in 2011, but now just Ashley Larson is the only other senior. For Clevenger, she takes a little umbrage in the poor senior showing, but has also shown a little maturity in sticking with it. Time could be spent complaining about who isn’t playing or what could have been. It’s really about next Monday, Aug. 18, when Lakeland visits Syracuse to begin the year.

“This summer has been crazy,” ushered Clevenger, who worked two jobs and began to put college plans on the horizon. “I think about adult stuff like college and what I want to do with myself. What do I want to do as an adult. I always loved soccer, it really is the one sport I love to play. I’d love to play in college, if the fit is right.

“There is just something about soccer, it’s a relief for me,” continued Clevenger. “Even when we weren’t playing well last year, soccer just allowed me to turn everything else off and go play. I could just shut out the outside world and just play the game.”

Clevenger, who is also a budding photographer, is hoping to find a happy niche between the two mediums.

“I think the best way to pull through anything is to have the right mindset and believe in yourself,” Clevenger said. “My view is I want to win. But I also want to have fun doing it. If I go out and play as hard as I can, I can be happy with that. I really just want to support the game. There is no end result until the final whistle. That’s really how I look at most things in life.”