A year ago, the Dragons celebrated their first-ever district title with a hard-fought 3-2 overtime win against the Bulldogs at Carm Bonito Field, thanks to the late-game heroics of Sawyer Mahoney.

Despite losing Mahoney and a talented group of seniors from last year’s roster, Warren has returned to 2020 in dominant fashion and carries a perfect 16-0 record into the rematch at War Memorial Field.

The Bulldogs, a familiar foe during head coach Jeremy Bickling’s five years with Warren, will have their work cut out for them after dropping both games against the Dragons this year via a combined 15-0.

“Meadville has always been our opponent, whether that was a semifinal game or in the finals,” Bickling said. “They beat us in 2017, but since then we have had the advantage and won, whether that was a semifinal matchup or a final matchup last year.”

Times Observer File Photo by Jay Young Warren’s Kyleigh Wilson, seen in this file photo from earlier this season, is one of many Dragons who have turned in fine efforts in leading the team into the District 10 3A title game Wednesday against Meadville.

On Oct. 6 Warren visited the Bulldogs on the road, turning in a typically dynamic performance to the tune of a 10-0 final.

In Saturday’s final regular-season contest, the Dragons were 5-0 winners at home.

“The girls played well,” Bickling said of that game. “We scored early, we scored in the first 90 seconds, so I was super happy that they got out and put some goals in. It wasn’t our best game overall of the season.

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Bickling added: “I felt that we didn’t play our highest level of soccer, but the girls wound up picking it up when we needed it. They never let Meadville be in the contest.”

Originally expecting to play on Tuesday night, Bickling and company have had to shift their plans due to some early winter weather. Today, the team plans to gather for a walk-through and practice at War Memorial Field prior to the Warren boys soccer regional semifinal against General McClane.

“As long as we get that training in on Tuesday, we’ll be fine. We just need to make sure that we touch base and get our heads on straight to play the game on Wednesday,” Bickling said. “At this time of the season it is not about development anymore. It is about specifically doing what you have to do to make adjustments to win the game. So I do like that aspect. We can focus specifically on the Meadville game versus trying to get through progression throughout the season — trying to develop certain things. It makes it super simple. We’ll just work on what we needed to work on from Saturday and hopefully improve those things.”

After claiming the program’s first district title and losing seniors in the process, Bickling knew that it would take some adjustments to find success again this season. Even knowing that he would return a group of talented scorers, this season has offered some pleasant surprises. Kyleigh Wilson and Kyra Wotorson have emerged as elite scoring strikers, supported by a well-rounded midfield, including Ella Ordiway and Georgie Bickling, and bolstered by strong defense.

“I knew going into the season two things were going to happen. One, we would lose a lot of experience and a very large senior group that has played many years together, but I also knew that we had a very, very strong core of players,” Bickling said. “As long as they had the secret sauce and could work and gel and do the right things together, they had all the potential in the world to be a better team than what we’ve ever put on the field. That has been the case and then some. Kyleigh has really excelled, Kyra has really excelled. Ella and Georgie have stepped up huge as young players on the team to really lead, and the defense has done a great job.”

Adding to this year’s unprecedented success is the fact that Warren now has both a girls and boys soccer program riding high into the postseason.

“My coaches and I, as well as the boys, have really worked hard to kind of build a program in the community where it is not just success at the high school level. It is kids playing all the way down into the youth level,” Bickling said. “There is that camaraderie of knowing that we all just love to play soccer, and many of the boys and the girls played on youth and travel teams together.”