Box Score
Blake Jennings scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season to help Wabash to a 3-2 North Coast Athletic Conference victory at Hiram Saturday afternoon.

Wabash took an early lead on a miscue by the Terriers' defense, kicking the ball into their own net. Jennings added a second goal near the end of the first half  with a bicycle kick to put the Little Giants in front 2-0 at the break.

Hiram answered when Ryan Minick scored on a penalty kick against back-up goalkeeper Pat West, playing for the injured Matt Paul, to cut the lead to 2-1. Another mistake by the Hiram defense led to a second own goal to put Wabash up 3-1. Ty Smith scored a goal with the Little Giants playing a man down late in the match to trim the lead to one, but Wabash held on for the victory.

"This was a must-win for our team," Wabash Head Coach Roberto Giannini said. "We showed a lot of heart as a team, making along trip to Hiram for their senior day. I'm very proud of the guys. We had five or six good chances on offense even with the 2-0 lead, but Hiram also had some good chances. It was a very wide open game.

"Hiram really came out strong in the second half and had us on our heels for about 20 minutes. We really put some good pressure on them, however, after the penalty kick and got a cross behind their defense that ended in the second own goal."

Hiram outshot Wabash 23-9 overall and held a 9-5 advantage in shots on goal. West recorded seven saves in his first start of the season in net for the Little Giants.

Jennings, George Vinihakis, and Evan Coudriet each had shots on goal for Wabash.

The win by the Little Giants keeps hope alive for a possible NCAC Tournament berth. Wabash (8-7-2, 3-4 NCAC) is tied with Hiram (8-5-1, 3-4 NCAC) in fifth place with nine points and trails Denison (8-6-2, 4-4 NCAC) in fourth place with 12 points. The Little Giants have a home match on Wednesday against Wittenberg (5-9-1, 1-5-0 NCAC), followed by the final regular season match on Saturday at Kenyon (5-7-2, 2-3-1 NCAC). Denison is off until Saturday when the Big Red will play host to Hiram.