Soccer 9/14/2011 7:52:00 PM Brent Harris

Little Giants Beat Back Rain, Hanover in 3-1 Victory

Ryan Fier worked through the middle of the Hanover defense in the second half, leading to the game-winning goal by Ivaylo Mantchev.

Box Score The soccer at Wednesday night's match between Wabash and Hanover was a beautiful at times as the weather was ugly. The Little Giants' passing game proved to be too much for Hanover, leading Wabash to a 3-1 victory.

The match was played in a steady drizzle, the first bad weather game at the Little Giants' new Mud Hollow Stadium. The FieldTurf Duraspine Pro surface held up throughout the contest, allowing both teams to play in the otherwise difficult conditions.

View photos from the match here.

Match boxscore

Wabash took the early lead when Tommy Pecar drilled a pass from the right corner into the box. Austin Jennings connected on his second goal of the season for a 1-0 Little Giant lead.

Hanover answered with a goal by former local player Chris Rash, a 2011 Southmont High School gradute. Rash took the ball near the top of the box and worked to his left before finding an opening. He launched a shot just past Wabash goalkeeper Matt Paul to even the match at 1-1.

The two teams remained even through the end of the first period and the first 20 minutes of the final half. The Little Giants mounted several series of passes and attacks that eventually led to a total of five shots on goal. At the start of the 73rd minute, Ryan Fier and Ivaylo Mantchev worked the ball through the middle of the field, teasing the Hanover goalkeeper until Mantchev found a clearing to blast home the eventual game-winning goal.

"I really have to give a lot of credit to the players," head coach Roberto Giannini said. "They really came prepared to play, getting out to the field after a hard day of classes to play in really bad weather. That was great to see how ready they were to play.

"We played well and created a lot of chances. Now we also missed some chances, so tomorrow we will work on finishing those chances. But it's always better to create an opportunity to score and not get the goal than it is to never have created the opportunity. Today we created those chances in both halves. We even changed out five field players at the start of the second half and never dropped off at all."

Freshman Blake Jennings added a final score in the last 35 seconds of the match to the contest out of reach.

Wabash outshot Hanover 19-3 overall and forced the Panthers' defense to chase the attacks all match long. Paul was only asked to make one save in the contest.

The Little Giants improve to 3-2-1 overall and will play Centre College on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Mud Hollow Stadium.

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Players Mentioned

#5 Ryan Fier: MF; 5' 8"; Junior

#13 Austin Jennings: F; 6' 1"; Senior

#1 Matt Paul: GK; 6' 0"; Junior

#12 Tommy Pecar: D-MF; 5' 9"; Senior

#11 Blake Jennings: F; 5' 10"; Freshman

#17 Ivaylo Mantchev: MF; 6' 0"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#5 Ryan Fier
: 5' 8"; Junior
: MF

#13 Austin Jennings
: 6' 1"; Senior
: F

#1 Matt Paul
: 6' 0"; Junior
: GK

#12 Tommy Pecar
: 5' 9"; Senior
: D-MF

#11 Blake Jennings
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: F

#17 Ivaylo Mantchev
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: MF