Wabash Drops 5-3 Soccer Match to Millikin

It was an offensive explosion at Mud Hollow Field on Tuesday night. But unfortunately for the Wabash soccer team, it finished on the short side of the scoreboard, falling to Millikin 5-3.

The first goal of the match came just over three minutes into the game when Millikin’s Brett Linn found a loose ball in the middle and slipped it into the net to give Millikin the early lead. That early goal opened up the Wabash offensive attack. The Little Giants pounded four shots on goal out of their ten shot attempts over the next 25 minutes. A nearly perfect pass from junior Colin Smith (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville) from the right side of the field found sophomore forward Jeff Diebel (Ft. Wayne, IN/Homestead) (photo) in front of the goal. Diebel, who had an earlier goal called off because of an offside penalty, would not be denied on this attempt, blasting the shot past the Big Blue’s goalkeeper to tie the game at 1-1.

Four minutes later, Millikin answered on a restart after a foul when Matt Reed put a shot in the upper right-hand corner of the net to give the Big Blue a 2-1 lead. After the halftime break, Millikin added two more goals in the 53^rd and 59^th minutes to move in front 4-1.

The Little Giants battled back. Pressing the attack once again. After a foul by Millikin, junior Morgan Patchell (Kalamazoo, MI/Loy Norrix) slammed a restart kick into the goal, drawing Wabash to with two goals. Millikin responded with its fifth goal, however, in the 70^th minute when Tony Douglass, who had assists on three of the previous four goals, stole a pass and dropped a shot into the net for his fifth point of the afternoon.

Wabash attempted another comeback when senior Galen Collins (Cranbury, NJ/Home school) lifted a shot toward the net that was headed away by Millikin. Diebel stepped into the rebounded ball and fired home his second goal of the afternoon and third of the season to cut the lead to two goals. But Wabash would be unable to add more points to the scoreboard over the final eight minutes of the match.

The Little Giants finished with 19 shots and 10 shots on goal. Millikin had a total of 25 shots and 12 shots on goal. Junior Jon Taggart (Carmel, IN/Hampton Roads Academy) and sophomore Will McAdams (Carmel, IN/Carmel) combined for seven saves. Neamen Lewis, the Big Blue goalie, finished with seven saves.

Wabash drops to 1-2 with the loss. The Little Giants will travel to Allentown, Pennysylvania over the weekend to play in the Mule Invitational, hosted by Muhlenberg College. The Little Giants open against the Muhlenberg Mules on Friday afternoon at 5 p.m., then conclude the trip with a 2 p.m. match against Delaware Valley College on Saturday at 2 p.m.