Soccer Enjoys Record-Setting Day

History was made on Sunday as the Little Giant Soccer team set new records for longest unbeaten start to a season and most shutouts in a year with their 1-0 win over Oberlin.

The Little Giants are also guaranteed to finish with a winning record for the season, the program’s first since going 11-7-1 in 1998.

“We’re working hard,” Keller said. “We worked hard all this week after the Mount Saint Joseph game for Oberlin. We’re not working for records. We’re not working for stats. We’re working for each individual game. Each game’s a new season for us, so we’re happy with the win but looking forward to hitting the road next week.

“Putting together a winning season was a big goal for our seniors. With a 9-0-2 record and seven games left in the regular season, we can guarantee that now.”

Wabash opened the scoring in the twenty-first minute when Riley Pelton scored his first goal of the season with one of the better shots the Little Giants will see all season. Pelton was assisted on his goal by Zach Woloshin, who tallied his first assist on the year in the process.

The Little Giants would spend the majority of the afternoon on the attack, but the final score would remain 1-0. The shutout was the team’s ninth on the season, a new program record. After the match, Keller discussed his takeaways from the contest.

“I thought [the first half] was the best half we’ve played,” Keller said. “We were creating opportunities and doing well. In the second half their goalkeeper had some phenomenal saves one some shots that could have put us up 2-0. We could have iced it. But credit Oberlin for the way they came out the last twenty minutes and really put some pressure on us.”

George Vinihakis and Pelton paced the Little Giants with three shots a piece. Stojan Krsteski, Ivaylo Mantchev, and Spase Dorsuleski each registered two shots on the day. Wabash led in the shot tally by a margin of 17-10 and in the shots on goal column 9-5.

Dayton Jennings picked up the win in the match. He had five saves on the afternoon to record his seventh shutout of the season, also setting a new Wabash record. He passed JR Dunn, who recorded 6-1/2 shutouts in goal for the Little Giants in 1997.

Wabash is off until Sunday when the Little Giants will play at Allegheny College. Keller returns to familiar territory for that match, having served as an assistant coach for the Gator program for five seasons before coming to Wabash.