Soccer continues to struggle against defense-minded teams

First published in The Bachelor, September 16, 2022.

PRECIOUS AINABOR ’26 & BENJAMIN BULLOCK ’23 | SPORTS WRITER & SPORTS EDITOR • It was a mixed weekend for the Wabash College soccer team who, on September 10 and 11, hosted the 2022 installment of the Robbie Dreher Soccer Classic.

Despite taking an emphatic 4-1 victory against Fontbonne University in their first game of the weekend, the Little Giants fell 2-0 to eventual Robbie Dreher champions Webster University on Sunday, September 11. Wabash got back to winning ways, however, on September 14 with a 4-1 away win against Anderson University.

In the first game, Wabash put four goals past Fontbonne goalkeeper Dominic Haggard. Emilio Paez ’25 opened the scoring after 18 minutes, connecting on a through ball from right-back Quinn Leous ’23. Winger Alexis Delgado ’23 then doubled the Little Giants lead after Haggard poorly handled a cross from Caleb Castaño ’26. In the second half, Austin Hughes ’23 added a third and Delgado completed his brace, giving Wabash a comfortable 4-0 lead.

Fontbonne pulled back a conciliation goal with six minutes left on the clock. Alex Wigge played in a free-kick from the right-side of the field, Eldar Kladnjakovic flicking it well beyond the reach of Wabash goalkeeper Soren Russell ’26. At the final whistle, the game ended 4-1.

However, Wabash struggled on attack in their second game of the weekend against Webster. In total, the team only had one shot on goal courtesy of Castaño. The closest the Little Giants came to scoring was through Jose Escalante ’26 whose second half shot rattled off the crossbar.

“I feel like we’ve been creating a lot more space in the middle,” said forward Delgado. “We’re moving off each other and I feel like we’re just missing that final third piece, scoring those goals.”

Webster’s Noah Abraham was a thorn in the side of Wabash’s defense all afternoon. He provided his side’s first goal after just nine minutes. Abraham later added to his tally, a penalty kick in the second half.

“I thought we played really well the first day,” said Head Soccer Coach Chris Keller. “The second day we struggled a bit against Webster. They sat in deep with 10 guys behind the ball and had one good forward. We struggled to break through the low block, something we definitely need to work on.”

Wabash was missing key players over the weekend, including last season’s top goal scorer Coledon Johnson ’23 who was out with an ankle injury. The prolific striker scored 12 goals in all competitions last year but has only played 27 minutes across six games so far in 2022.

“He’s one of the best strikers in the region, if not the country,” said Keller. “What he brings is a hold up play which is key in the 4-3-3 or the 4-2-3-1 formation. He scored a lot of big goals last year, so of course we miss him. We’re hopeful he’s ready for the conference.”

One of Wabash’s standout players all weekend was goalkeeper Russell. Despite conceding two goals, he also made four saves against Webster, the first real test of his full goalkeeping potential. He is slowly cementing his position as Keller’s first-choice custodian.

On the evening of Wednesday September 14, the Little Giants traveled to Anderson for their first away game of the year. A repeat of the scoreline against Fontbonne, Wabash ran out 4-1 winners with goals from Escalante, Hughes and Cameron McIntosh ’26, as well as a 19th minute own goal.

This brings the Little Giants’ record to five wins and two losses on the season so far. Having scored a total of 23 goals, the Wabash offense is clearly capable of hammering home quality finishes. But the question remains: can Coach Keller’s side break down strong opposition defense?