Soren saves the day: Penalty save propels soccer to victory over DePauw

First published in The Bachelor, October 21, 2022.

BENJAMIN BULLOCK ’23 | SPORTS EDITOR • Last season’s top goal scorer Coledon Johnson ’23 made his return to the field, but goalkeeper Soren Russell ’26 was the star of the Little Giants’ shutout victory over DePauw on October 19. Russell’s 16th minute penalty kick save changed the course of the game and propelled Wabash to a 1-0 win.

Goalkeeper Soren Russel '26 makes a diving save to keep DePauw at bay.

The Little Giants opened the scoring early on, but it wasn’t without controversy. In the ninth minute of the game, striker Caleb Castaño ’26 skipped past three DePauw defenders and struck a shot low into the bottom left corner. The ball evaded the reach of Tigers goalkeeper Alexander Lundin, but on first glance also appeared to have drifted wide of the post. There was a moment of confusion as Castaño looked eagerly toward the referee, who eventually decided that the ball had fallen through a hole in the net and awarded the goal.

But disaster almost struck immediately thereafter. In the 16th minute, a DePauw attacker pushed over Wabash center back Hugo Garcia ’24 on a free kick routine. However, as Garcia fell, he brought the attacker down with him in the area and the referee awarded a penalty kick to the Tigers.

Up stepped San Thiel, DePauw’s prolific junior striker, to take the spot kick against Russell. Thiel, who had already scored seven goals on the season, took a short run up and aimed towards the bottom right corner. Fortunately for Wabash, Russell was more than equal to the shot. The Little Giant keeper dove spectacularly to his left and, with perfect technique, tipped the shot around the post to keep the score at 1-0.

“The save felt great, it was amazing to support the team in that way,” said Russell. “It also really helped that the entire bench was pointing for me to dive to my left.”

Neither team had many clear-cut opportunities in the remainder of the first half. The best chance fell in the 36th minute to Jackson Grabill ’24 whose low shot was easily saved by the Tigers custodian.

In the second half, the Little Giants battled hard to fend off the Tigers. Early on, top goal scorer Alexis Delgado ’23 had two good opportunities saved and then, in the 55th minute, Castaño fired a shot over the bar.

Wabash played their usual attacking game, getting seven shots on goal in the second period compared to DePauw’s two. The biggest news pregame was the return of striker Johnson to competitive action. Johnson, last season’s top goal scorer, has been out all year with an ankle injury. He started the match and played 53 minutes, managing one shot on goal.

“Today was my first day back, so I don’t think they [DePauw] were expecting to see me start up top,” said Johnson. “That threw them off a bit. We were looking to play through the middle because we thought we had an advantage there to hold it up top, lay it off and play through the back. Those are the things we were focused on, and that’s what we did today.”

Tensions boiled over in the 80th minute when, aggravated by an exchange of heated words, Sam Thiel pushed Hayden Eaton ’25 in an off-the-ball incident. Eaton retaliated, earning himself a yellow card and igniting a brawl in the middle of the field. When things calmed down, Wabash got back to business and saw the game out, sealing a 1-0 victory.

“I thought in spurts we completely dominated the play,” said Head Soccer Coach Chris Keller. “We executed our game plan, we kept our composure in the final third and we created more opportunities. As usual in a DePauw-Wabash game, things got frantic and insane, but we were very composed; didn’t panic.”

The Little Giants’ triumph over the Tigers was a much-needed good result after two consecutive defeats to Kenyon College and Denison University. Against Kenyon on October 8, Wabash fell to a lone goal scored early on in the second half. But despite the result, the feeling among supporters after the match was overwhelmingly positive.

“I don’t like moral victories, but if you look at how we played – we had three clear chances in the last 20 minutes to score and take control of that second half,” said Keller. “I left thinking that if we can play like that, we can play with anybody. We played well enough to win.”

Fans did not share that same optimism after the defeat to Denison on October 11. The Big Red set the tone from the very beginning when Niko Argyros opened the scoring in the 18th minute. Matters were made worse for Wabash when, on the verge of halftime, Denison’s Rohan Tripathy doubled his team’s lead. In the second half, the Big Red sat back deep and defended their position, the game finishing 2-0 in Denison’s favor.

The victory over DePauw puts the Little Giants right back on track for playoff contention. Wabash now sits fourth in the standings, level on points with fifthranked Wittenberg University, a team that has played one game more than the Little Giants. With just three games left in the regular season, the heat is on for soccer and their hunt for NCAC tournament play.