A few feet.
If George Padgitt's opening header goes a few feet to the left or right, who knows what the score might have been. Instead, Padgitt's shot was saved by Earlham's Jon O'Neil, leading to an eventually 3-0 win by the Quakers at Mud Hollow Field Wednesday afternoon.
Padgitt got another chance a minute after his header was handled by the Earlham defender. He blasted a shot at O'Neil, who made the save but couldn't come up with the ball. The rebound came right back to Padgitt, but sent the second attempt over the crossbar.
Earlham wouldn't give the Little Giants another chance to take the lead. The Quakers got a pass over the top of the Wabash defense on a restart, allowing Mamary Diarra to race to the net for a goal and a 1-0 lead for Earlham. Wabash fired two more shots at O'Neil, who finished the match with seven saves. Each time he turned aside the Little Giants' efforts.
While Wabash could not convert any of its attempts, the Quakers picked up another quick goal on a restart after a foul. Omar Dreidi fired the direct kick into the net for a 2-0 lead just before halftime. The Quakers added a third goal in the 61st minute for the 3-0 final.
The Little Giants outshot Earlham 19-9 and had seven shots on goal compared to four for the Quakers.
"It's the same thing over and over again this season," head coach Roberto Giannini said. "We should have won 6-0 tonight the way we played up front. Earlham had one shot in the second half. We outshot them 19-9 and gave up only four shots on goal.
"We played as well up front as we did against Hiram Saturday. But that doesn't matter when we make mistakes in the back and give up easy goals."
Wabash (2-9-1, 1-2-1 NCAC) travels to Denison University Saturday for a noon match.