By Andrew McGlothlen
Crawfordsville, IN — The Wabash College soccer team defeated the Hiram College Terriers 2-0 in the 2004 North Coast Athletic Conference season-opening match on Saturday afternoon at Mud Hollow Field.
The shutout was the second in a row for the Little Giants and goalkeeper Will McAdams (Carmel, IN/Carmel). The victory also marked the first time since a double-overtime 2-1 win against the College of Wooster in 1999 that Wabash has opened the NCAC portion of its schedule with a win.
Wabash displayed its true potential in the match. For the third game in a row, Wabash was up at the half (1-0), this time by a goal from senior captain Colin Smith (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville), assisted by Jeff Diebel (Ft. Wayne, IN/Homestead) and Chris Serak (Avon, IN/Avon) in a scramble in front of the goal in the 19th minute. Serak knocked the ball in from the left, Diebel touched it over to Smith, and Smith knocked it up and over the goalie in the first of Wabash’s two goals. In the 27th minute, Wabash fans held their breath after a daring play by Gary Simkus (Highland, IN/Highland) left him injured on his back in Terrier territory.
Up 1-0 at the half, Wabash came out strong and ready to play in the second half. In the 57th and 58th minutes, Hiram received red and yellow cards, respectively, putting the Little Giants up a man in the final period. Wabash took the advantage when, in the 80th minute, Morgan Patchell (Kalamazoo, MI/Loy Norrix) knocked another goal in from a pass by freshman Matt Potasnik (Fishers, IN/Hamilton Southeastern).
Wabash had 12 shots on goal, while the Terriers were never allowed to test McAdams in goal as the Little Giants held Hiram to
The Little Giants will hit the road to take on Denison on Saturday, October 2.