Consistently Strong
Just a couple of years ago, the Wabash soccer team hoped to reach the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament.
That’s not a goal anymore. That’s the expectation.
“Our mindset as a program and as a team has shifted,” NCAC Coach of the Year Chris Keller says. “We’ve started stepping it up a level, in the classroom and on the field.”
On October 26, Wabash soccer scored its first-ever victory against Ohio Wesleyan. The team entered the conference tournament as the number-three seed and made it to the semifinal match.
The team is saying goodbye to six seniors, including Michael Tanchevski ’20, who was awarded NCAC Defensive Player of the Year.
“We fought through some ups and downs this season, but our seniors led their teammates by example to the very last second of the last game of the season,” Keller says.
“I’m proud of this team. We accomplished a lot of good things this season, and I’m excited about the future of the Wabash soccer program.”
—Christina Egbert
“TAPE DOES NOT DO HIM JUSTICE”
Head football coach Don Morel calls his freshman quarterback Liam Thompson a fighter.
Morel saw it three years ago when Thompson was a sophomore at North Central High School. Kevin Clifford ’77 saw it as he was helping recruit Thompson to Wabash.
The North Central College defense saw it during the first round of the NCAA Division III Football Tournament each time Thompson stayed on his feet and made plays that shouldn’t have been possible.
“Tape does not do him justice,” North Central coach Jeff Thorne told Athletic Communications Director Brent Harris.
So it was no surprise to Morel, the North Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, when Thompson was awarded the NCAC Newcomer of the Year.
“It’s in him to be the best,” Morel says. “He wants to be excellent in whatever he takes on, and he makes people around him better because of it.”
Thompson is the first freshman to lead the Little Giants to a conference title.
“It’s hard for a freshman to be a leader, but it’s easy for older guys to follow Liam,” Morel says. “Beyond just football, I think he is going to be a great Wabash man. We are going to be extremely proud of him in 25 years.”
—Christina Egbert