Sophomore defender Levi Noblitt broke a scoreless tie with the first goal of his career to give Wabash a 1-0 road victory over Franklin College Wednesday evening.
Noblitt took a pass from teammate Allan Swan in the 54th minute before blasting home the game-winner.
“We beat a much improved Franklin squad tonight,” head coach Roberto Giannini said. “The match was very even through the first half with a couple of scoring chances for both teams. We wanted to turn up the rhythm of the game in the second half. We tried to attack on the flank.
“Our lads executed the game plan to perfection. We had good exchanges in the midfield, good penetration on the flank, good crosses, and all of that created good chances in front of the Franklin goalkeeper.”
Wabash and Franklin each took five shots in the first half before the Little Giant offense erupted in the final 45 minutes. Wabash outshot the Grizzlies 14-1 in the final period with a 4-0 edge in shots on goal.
Noblitt and Bobby Thompson each had one shot on goal, while Swann, Dylan Andrew, and Phil Rosborough each tallied two shots on goal. Ian MacDougall recorded two saves to post his third shutout of the season.
“Overall I’m very satisfied, not just because we won, but the way we adapted. This is a good launching platform for our game Saturday against Hiram to start the North Coast Athletic Conference portion of our season.”
The Little Giants will play Hiram at 12 p.m. Saturday at Mud Hollow Field as part of Wabash’s annual Homecoming weekend.
