Box Score Wabash recognized the senior members of its 2011 soccer team Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately the celelebration was short lived with the Little Giants losing 5-1 in North Coast Athletic Conference play to Allegheny.

Box score

"It's really dissapointing to have such a bad performance, particularly on defense, after celebrating the accomplishments of your senior players," Wabash head coach Roberto Giannini said. "We could have defended better as a team, not just the back line players but everyone. Allegheny scored five goals out of set plays --- corner kicks and a free kick --- and all of them were balls that were bouncing in our box and we didn't clear.

"I don't necessarily think they outplayed us. The stats show we were even in terms of total shots. But they definitely outran us and were stronger than we were. That allowed them to win a lot of the 50-50 balls."

The Gators took an early lead when Tyler Danzey scored off a corner kick 13 minutes into the match. The second goal came off another corner that hit off a Wabash player and sailed into the net. Allegheny scored a third goal just before halftime.

Wabash had an opportunity to cut into the lead with a penalty kick shortly after the start of the second half, but the kick was turned aside by Allegheny's goalkeeper. A short time later the Gators' deflected a ball into their own net to make the score 3-1, but Allegheny tacked on two more goals in the final 30 minutes for the win.

Seniors Dylan Andrew and Femi Oluyedun led Wabash with two shots on goal apiece. Junior Matt Paul made six saves in the loss.

Andrew and Oluyedun were joined by fellow seniors Mike Hegeman, Allan Swan, Josh Pedersen, Tommy Pecar, Austin Jennings, Pat West, Phil Rosborough, and Ian Kelly before the match to honor them for their efforts as members of the Wabash soccer team.

The Little Giants (6-5-2, 1-2-0 NCAC) face another tough opponent at home on Wednesday when nationally-ranked Ohio Wesleyan travels to Mud Hollow Stadium for a 4:30 p.m. match.